Anti-ICE activists block LA freeway while waving Mexican flags

According to Fox News, the protest began on Olvera Street at 9 am and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) announced approximately 30 minutes later that there were several street closures due to "a non-permitted demonstration blocking traffic.” Bus service was also disrupted as a result of the activists blocking roadways.

The California Highway Patrol (CHP) advised people to avoid downtown LA, writing on X, "Please avoid the 101 freeway in DTLA between I-110 and Mission Rd., as we work to remove a protest from the freeway. Accessing state highways or roads to protest is unlawful and extremely dangerous because it puts protesters, motorists and first responders at great risk of injury.”

Activists blocked traffic on both sides of the 101 Freeway while waving Mexican flags and carrying signs protesting Trump’s immigration policies. Officers were seen in riot gear in a standoff with the protesters. Videos on social media showed radicals spraying graffiti on the freeway walls and vandalizing at least one car.

Radicals were forced off the freeways but according to independent journalist Anthony Cabassa, police were “completely overwhelmed due to many police still dealing with post fire operations. There are THOUSANDS of protestors.”

As hundreds of officers converged on the scene with zip ties, squad cars suddenly left the area, leaving the protestors to declare victory and return to blocking streets.

In response to the protests, Rep Mike Collins (R-GA) posted on X, “I will soon reintroduce legislation to make blocking a highway intentionally a federal crime. First Hamas supporters, now illegals and their enablers, are stopping traffic. To make America safe again, we must have law and order.”

Other cities, including Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix and Seattle, also saw anti-ICE protests. At Seattle's Alki Beach, thousands of anti-ICE protesters shut down the streets and a car burst into flames, as the activists chanted "f*ck the police" while flying Mexican flags. According to The Post Millennial’s Katie Daviscourt, some Antifa members wearing black bloc infiltrated the crowd, which eventually dispersed when it began snowing.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has announced arrests of over 7,400 illegal immigrants and placed nearly 6,000 ICE detainers across the US since Trump was inaugurated.

Trump’s border czar Tom Homan said the administration is targeting violent illegal aliens that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called the "worst of the worst." The Trump administration has pledged to send the most violent illegal immigrants to Guantánamo Bay.