Alert – CNN reporter exposes the truth about ICE ‘protesters’ descending on LA’s streets

A CNN correspondent has claimed protestors in Los Angeles were smoking weed and only there to cause trouble as he gave a live report on the riots. 

National correspondent Nick Watt was reporting live on the ground from the disorder on CNN News Night on Tuesday evening as a curfew was brought in. 

Watt said: ‘Some people who I would suggest might be interested in causing some trouble a little later on, wearing masks and swimming goggles for tear gas.

‘They have been protesting against all of these National Guardsman, there is graffiti behind these officers that says “F Trump”.’

He added: ‘The mood in the crowd is getting more agitated as that curfew comes close, the smell of weed is in the air.

‘People are not looking at all like they are gonna abide by this curfew and get out of here.’

Mayor Karen Bass declared a local emergency on Tuesday after the downtown area was ravaged by violent demonstrators who looted buildings and attacked officers.

Police said multiple groups stayed on the streets in some areas despite the curfew and ‘mass arrests are being initiated’. 

National correspondent Nick Watt said the smell of people of smoking weed was in the air as he gave a report on Tuesday night 

Mayor Karen Bass declared a local emergency on Tuesday after the downtown area was ravaged by violent demonstrators who looted buildings and attacked officers

Demonstrators wave flags from atop a wrecked car as protesters clash with law enforcement in in Los Angeles on June 8, 2025

Less than an hour after the curfew was imposed, Governor Gavin Newsom lashed out at President Donald Trump in a speech that aired on national television.

The Golden State governor blamed the federal government for the ongoing crisis and issued a chilling warning that chaos could soon engulf other states too.

‘Authoritarian regimes begin by targeting people who are least able to defend themselves, but they do not stop there,’ Newsom warned.

‘This is a president who in just over 140 days, has fired government watchdogs that could hold him accountable, accountable for corruption and fraud. 

‘He’s declared a war, a war on culture, on history, on science, on knowledge itself. Databases, quite literally, are vanishing.’

Newsom said: ‘When Donald Trump sought blanket authority to commandeer the National Guard. He made that order apply to every state in this nation.

‘This is about all of us. This is about you. California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next.

‘Democracy is under assault before our eyes, this moment we have feared has arrived.’

While Newsom did urge protesters to remain peaceful if they took to the streets, he encouraged Americans to stand up against Trump.

On Tuesday night hordes of protesters were zip-tied and forced on to LAPD buses en masse

There were 27 arrests on Saturday, with 40 on Sunday, 114 on Monday and nearly 200 by 6pm on Tuesday 

‘What Donald Trump wants most is your fealty, your silence, to be complicit in this moment. Do not give in to him.’

Rioters have been on the streets for days now causing havoc as they railed against Trump’s efforts to rid the city of illegal migrants. 

They were only further enraged when Trump gave orders to send 700 Marines and 4,100 National Guard troops in to take over policing efforts and assist the LAPD.

Bass said at least 23 businesses have been looted during the unrest and condemned the horrifying images which have emerged from the days of carnage. 

The regions impacted by the lockdown span from the five freeway to the 110 freeway, and from the 10 freeway to the point where the 110 and the five merge. 

On Tuesday night, hordes of protesters were zip-tied and forced onto LAPD buses en masse as authorities sought to bring an end to days of chaos and destruction. 

LAPD chief Jim McDonnell said protests had grown more violent as the week progressed.

There were 27 arrests on Saturday, with 40 on Sunday, 114 on Monday and nearly 200 by 6pm on Tuesday.

He said public safety personnel, journalists and homeless people would be exempt from the order.