Anti-ICE riots, protests in LA cost taxpayers over $30 million: city official

The anti-ICE riots and protests that took place in Los Angeles earlier this month will result in $30 million in costs to taxpayers, according to a city official. The riots and protests took place earlier this month in response to the Trump administration ramping up immigration enforcement efforts in the state.

Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia posted the figure on X, saying that the cost of LAPD's response and work to patrol the riots and protests added up to $29.5 million and public property as well as clean-up efforts will cost $1.4 million.

He wrote the "$29.5 million or 92% relates to LAPD's response to protests against ICE including citywide tactical alert costs," and that the "$1.4 million relates to clean-up / public property damage."

Downtown LA became what was the epicenter of a number of anti-ICE riots that took place around the nation earlier this month in Democrat-controlled cities. Over the course of the weekend of June 8, rioters burned Waymo cars, assaulted police officers, and mass looting ensued in downtown LA. Amid the violence, the Trump administration was forced to deploy the National Guard to LA as the violence took place, costing around $134 million.

California Governor Gavin Newsom blamed the escalation of violence on Trump for sending in the National Guard and sued the president over the move.

Similar anti-ICE riots also broke out in Seattle and Portland over the last few weeks, some taking place the day of the anti-Trump "No Kings" protests. The FBI said in the wake of the riots around the country, the agency and its law enforcement partners made over 700 arrests related to the riots. On June 10 along, over 200 people were arrested in LA after LA Mayor Karen Bass—after calling the deployment of the National Guard "dangerous"—issued an emergency curfew to stop the vandalism and looting taking place.