Sen. Cory Booker calls Los Angeles riots 'peaceful,' slams Trump for deploying National Guard

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., suggested the Los Angeles riots that have wreaked havoc on the city are "peaceful" on NBC’s "Meet the Press," Sunday, and accused President Donald Trump of "sowing chaos" with his nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration. 

"The reality is, we see peaceful protests launching in Los Angeles," the New Jersey senator said, "A lot of these peaceful protests are being generated because the president of the United States is sowing chaos and confusion by arresting people who are showing up for their immigration hearings."

The City of Angels was plunged into chaos over the weekend after hundreds of rioters violently clashed with federal immigration authorities, attempting to impede their ability to carry out deportations. 

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Sen. Cory Booker called the riots in Los Angeles "peaceful." (REUTERS/Barbara Davidson)

Federal agents attempted to disperse the belligerent rioters with flash grenades and tear gas on Saturday. In Compton, rioters set a car on fire and two motorcyclists circled the flaming wreck while waving a Mexican flag. Elsewhere, anti-ICE rioters attempted to block a federal bus carrying illegal immigrants, physically pushing against the vehicle as it inched forward. 

One rioter hurled rocks through the windshield of a Border Patrol pickup truck, wounding the agents inside. Images released by the Department of Homeland Security show buildings throughout LA that have been defaced with graffiti of violent messages like "Kill ICE."

"Now they know that they cannot go to anywhere in this country where our people are, and try to kidnap our workers, our people – they cannot do that without an organized and fierce resistance" a rioter told Reuters. 

Trump deployed 2,000 federalized National Guard troops to the scene against the wishes of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who the president claimed weren’t doing their jobs. 

Booker called Trump "hypocritical" for deploying the National Guard.  (Getty)

"If Governor Gavin Newscum, of California, and Mayor Karen Bass, of Los Angeles, can’t do their jobs, which everyone knows they can’t, then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!" Trump posted on TruthSocial.

Newsom spoke out against Trump’s deployment, saying that the president was only sending in the National Guard because he wanted a "spectacle."

"The federal government is taking over the California National Guard and deploying 2,000 soldiers in Los Angeles — not because there is a shortage of law enforcement, but because they want a spectacle,’ Newsom posted on X. 

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Federal agents attempted to disperse violent rioters with tear gas.  (REUTERS/Daniel Cole)

Booker called Trump’s response to the LA riots "hypocritical at best" due to his pardoning of the January 6 Capitol rioters. The Garden State senator said that Trump’s deployment of the National Guard was a break from tradition and would only "incite" the situation. 

While Booker called the protests against ICE deportations "peaceful," he also called the attacks on law enforcement "unacceptable."

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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth threatened to deploy active-duty Marines to the scene if the violence was not quelled. 

Hegseth mocked Newsom in a post on X showing a picture of a group of rioters posing in front of a burning car waving a Mexican flag, saying, "Another ‘mostly peaceful protest’ brought to you by @GavinNewsom. DEPORT."