Archive June 12, 2025

The National Guard members deployed to the protests in Los Angeles have been trained to temporarily detain civilians if necessary, according to the troops’ commander.

Nevertheless, as of Wednesday, Major General Scott Sherman clarified that no troops have detained any protester, despite an earlier statement that suggested otherwise.

The National Guard’s deployment came in response to protests against United States President Donald Trump’s push for mass deportation, which recently targeted hardware stores and other businesses in southern California, prompting outrage.

Protesters flooded the streets starting on Friday to denounce the immigration raids. Trump responded by sending the military to the scene, denouncing what he considered “third-world lawlessness” in the city. Since then, however, the protests have spread beyond Los Angeles, to major cities in other parts of the country.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Sherman said authorities “are expecting a ramp-up” in national unrest in the coming days.

“I’m focused right here in LA, what’s going on right here. But you know, I think we’re very concerned,” he said.

Sherman explained that 500 of the more than 4,000 National Guard members deployed to Los Angeles have also received training to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the immigration raids.

His remarks came as condemnation continues to grow over Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard to California without the permission of the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom.

Since the National Guard arrived on Sunday, Trump has sent nearly 700 Marines to the Los Angeles area as well.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Wednesday accused the Trump administration of using the military to escalate tensions in the city, where the protests first broke out on Friday.

“We started off by hearing the administration wanted to go after violent felons, gang members, drug dealers,” Bass said of Trump’s deportation push.

“But when you raid Home Depots and workplaces, when you tear parents and children apart, and when you run armoured caravans through our streets, you are not trying to keep anyone safe. You’re trying to cause fear and panic.

“And when you start deploying federalised troops on the heels of these raids, it is a drastic and chaotic escalation and completely unnecessary.”

Newsom, meanwhile, filed an emergency motion on Tuesday to block Trump from expanding the military presence in Los Angeles beyond federal buildings, with a court hearing set for Thursday.

Bass and Governor Newsom have maintained that local law enforcement were able to handle the situation before Trump intervened and that the military presence prompted more unrest, not less.

Speaking alongside 30 other California mayors and city leaders on Wednesday, Bass questioned if Trump was seeing how far he could push his presidential power.

“This was provoked by the White House. The reason why? We don’t know,” said Bass.

“I posit that maybe we are part of a national experiment to determine how far the federal government can go in reaching in and taking over power from a governor, power from a local jurisdiction.”

So far, Trump has maintained that the soldiers’ deployment was needed to protect federal property and agents — and was therefore within his executive authority.

He has not yet invoked the Insurrection Act of 1807, a federal law that would suspend prohibitions against the military directly taking part in domestic law enforcement. Until that happens, the troops are generally barred from making arrests.

Speaking during a news conference on Wednesday, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt repeated Trump’s claims that sending in the National Guard and Marines had prevented Los Angeles from spiralling into chaos.

She charged that Bass and Newsom had “shamefully failed to meet their sworn obligations to their citizens”.

“They’re attempting to use a violent mob as a weapon against their own constituents to prevent the enforcement of immigration law,” she said. “This is deeply un-American and morally reprehensible.”

Questions about ‘migrant invasion’

Amid the unrest, the Trump administration has pledged to continue its aggressive immigration raids, with officials last month setting a quota of 3,000 arrests a day.

Advocates say the pressure has motivated ICE agents to take increasingly drastic measures, targeting anyone in the country without documentation, even those who have not committed criminal offences and those with deep community ties.

Reporting from Los Angeles, Al Jazeera’s Phil Lavelle said authorities have been conducting blanket raids at Home Depot hardware stores, where undocumented day labourers often gather to find work.

At one location, labourers told Lavelle “that they will continue to come even though they know that these stores are being targeted – even though they know that they will be targets – because quite simply, they’ve got to work”.

“These are people who are communicating by WhatsApp and other methods,” Lavelle added. “If anybody is seen in the area who looks like an ICE agent, straight away, there are reports so that people know that they have to leave.”

So far, 61 Mexican nationals had been detained in Los Angeles during the recent raids, according to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that the influx of migrants into the US constitutes an “invasion”, which in turn necessitates emergency actions.

Speaking on Tuesday from the Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina, he called the protests in California a “full-blown assault on peace, on public order and our national sovereignty carried out by rioters bearing foreign flags with the aim of continuing a foreign invasion of our country”.

But during a congressional hearing on Wednesday, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine was asked whether he believed the US was being invaded by a foreign power. His answer appeared to contradict Trump.

Manager: Xabi Alonso
Star player: Kylian Mbappe
Club World Cup record: Five-time winners
Fixtures: Al Hilal (June 18), Pachuca (June 22), FC Salzburg (June 26)

For most teams, second place in their domestic league, runners up in both domestic cups and reaching the quarterfinals of the Champions League would mark a season of relative success.

For Real Madrid, it means it is time to change the manager.

Following two successful spells in charge of Los Blancos, a trophyless season, and not making the last four of the Champions League, marked the end for Carlo Ancelotti – the most successful manager in history.

The Italian’s boots are big ones to fill, but that is the task that former Real midfielder Xabi Alonso has taken on.

A title winner in Germany, in his first managerial job with Bayer Leverkusen, Alonso was always hot favourite to replace Ancelotti when the time came.

What is Alonso’s greatest challenge at Real?

The 43-year-old is hardly walking into a minefield in Madrid with the Spanish giants claiming a league and European double only a season ago.

Added to that squad last year was the latest Galactico, Kylian Mbappe. In the French forward, Alonso may face his biggest challenge – not due to Mbappe’s personality or work rate, but purely his position in the side.

In the words of Alonso’s predecessor, Real are unbalanced but also lack “collective commitment”.

In short, the squad had too many attackers that Ancelotti felt he had to cram onto the field, while injuries left the defence in tatters, and Madrid did not sign someone to replace midfielder Toni Kroos, who retired last year.

Veteran midfielder Luka Modric’s departure after the Club World Cup means Alonso will be losing yet more poise, technique and wisdom from the midfield.

Two seasons ago, prior to the retirement of Kroos, Real swept all before them with their then-new signing, Jude Bellingham, playing in an advanced role through the middle, flanked by Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo.

The arrival of Mbappe forced Bellingham deeper, and something of a false-nine formation was changed to a straight 4-3-3 set up. The chemistry didn’t blend easily.

Mbappe ended up as the leading scorer in La Liga, helped in some part by a late-season injury to his closest competitor, Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski. The former PSG striker netted 43 goals across all competitions with his new club.

That did not mask the fact that the team was not as fluid as the one that glided through the previous campaign to finish 10 points clear of Barcelona. Ancelotti’s final season saw his side trail their fierce rivals from Catalonia by only four points.

Still, the conundrum of making Madrid tick again, with a side that has no choice but to pick Mbappe, Bellingham and Vinicius for all the big games, is Alonso’s great challenge – and that begins at the FIFA Club World Cup.

How important is the Club World Cup for Real Madrid?

On the eve of the final El Clasico of the season, and what would be the last of Ancelotti’s career, the Italian politely reminded everyone that Real Madrid would be competing in FIFA’s showpiece club event and not their rivals, Barcelona.

The pressure was growing on Real’s then-manager, and the speculation was mounting that his time at Santiago Bernabeu was coming to an end, potentially before the end of the season.

Real would lose the match at Barcelona 4-3, and with it any final realistic chance of retaining their La Liga title, having already seen their Champions League defence ended by Arsenal. Ancelotti was not one to be pushed quietly aside after a glittering career across Europe.

“Playing Barcelona is special,” Brazil’s new national manager said on the eve of the game. “And this will be the last El Clasico of the season, because Barca are not in the Club World Cup.”

Whatever the merits of FIFA’s Club World Cup, long term, there is little doubt that, short term, the importance off the field far outweighs the significance of the tournament on the field.