At least 60 people were arrested on June 8 after protests against federal immigration raids in San Francisco escalated into violence, according to the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD).
The SFPD said officers began monitoring the assembly near Sansome and Washington streets at about 7 p.m. on June 8 as protesters engaged in “First Amendment activity.”
Several protesters had refused to leave and continued to engage in illegal activity as they moved toward Market and Kearny streets, where they vandalized buildings and an SFPD patrol vehicle, according to the statement.
The SFPD said its officers detained protesters who refused to comply with the dispersal order. Three police officers were injured during the incident, with one transported to a hospital for medical treatment. Police also recovered a firearm at the scene.
“Individuals are always free to exercise their First Amendment rights in San Francisco but violence—especially against SFPD officers—will never be tolerated,” the department stated, adding that an investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Footage shared on social media shows police in riot gear forming a barricade to block protesters gathered outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building in San Francisco.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said the protest has since “wound down” and that the city is working to clean up the damage and restore public transportation services to full operation.
Protests against ICE raids began in Los Angeles on June 6, following the arrest of dozens of illegal immigrants in the city as part of the Trump administration’s mass deportation operation. Sporadic protests later broke out in New York City and San Francisco.
President Donald Trump has directed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Attorney General Pam Bondi to take all actions necessary “to liberate Los Angeles from the Migrant Invasion” and bring an end to the riots.
“We didn’t have a problem until Trump got involved. This is a serious breach of state sovereignty—inflaming tensions while pulling resources from where they’re actually needed,” Newsom stated.
The confrontation broke out in front of the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, as a group shouted insults at National Guard members lined shoulder to shoulder behind plastic riot shields. Near downtown, at least four Waymo self-driving cars were set on fire. Flash-bang crowd control grenades were deployed throughout the evening.
