Nationwide protests against immigration raids escalate, leading to arrests and curfews

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Protests over federal immigration enforcement raids have been flaring up around the country as officials in cities large and small prepare for major demonstrations against President Donald Trump.

Although many demonstrations against Immigration and Customs Enforcement have been peaceful, others have led to clashes with police and hundreds of protesters have been arrested.

Trump ordered the deployment of roughly 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to Los Angeles following protests over his stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws. A federal appeals court on Tuesday will hear the government's challenge to a judge's order that Trump exceeded his authority by taking control of California's Guard troops.

The Trump administration has said the immigration raids and deportations will continue.

Volatile protests against those raids led officials to enforce curfews in Los Angeles and Spokane, Washington, and Republican governors have mobilized National Guard troops to be ready to help law enforcement manage demonstrations in Texas and Missouri .

Activists are also planning “No Kings” protests across the country on Saturday to counter Trump's planned military parade in Washington, D.C.

Here's a look at some recent protests and reactions across the country:

Protesters locked arms and pushed against the gates of a federal immigration detention center on Thursday after learning of unrest inside over delayed meals.

Officers responded to the protest outside Delaney Hall by pepper-spraying the demonstrators and dragging them away, according to Amy Torres, executive director of New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice. Torres said some protesters suffered minor injuries during the fracas.

On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security said four detainees escaped from the 1,000-bed facility late Thursday and that law enforcement personnel were searching for them.

Hundreds of demonstrators packed a park plaza near Lake Michigan on Thursday. Veronica Castro, an organizer with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, urged people to learn how to protect themselves and called on elected officials to speak out.

The group later marched through a popular downtown shopping district flanked by their own security marshals and Chicago police officers on bicycles and in slow-moving patrol cars.

Mayor Lisa Brown imposed an overnight curfew in downtown Spokane after a protest Wednesday outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office that ended with more than 30 arrests and police firing pepper balls at the crowd.

Brown said the majority of the protesters were peaceful.

“We respect their right to peacefully protest and to be upset about federal policies,” she said. “I have been that person who has protested federal policies, and that is a right we have.”

A small group of demonstrators protested for a fourth straight day Thursday outside the Anchorage Correctional Complex, where ICE has detained nearly 40 people. Using a bullhorn aimed at the facility's front doors, demonstrator Courtney Moore declared, “ICE out of Anchorage, ICE out of Alaska.”

Betsy Holley, a spokesperson with the Alaska Department of Corrections, said 39 people were in ICE custody at the Anchorage jail. The department said its facilities will be on lockdown through the weekend as a “proactive response to calls for grassroots protests across the state.”

No Kings demonstrations are planned for nearly 2,000 locations around the country, organizers said on the movement's website.

A flagship march and rally are planned in Philadelphia, but no protests are scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C., where Trump's military parade will take place.

In Florida, Republican state Attorney General James Uthmeier warned that any No Kings protesters who become violent will be dealt with harshly.

In a message sent Thursday, a Justice Department official told U.S. attorneys across the country to prioritize cases against protesters who engage in violence and destruction. The email cited several potential federal charges, including assault, civil disorder and damage of government property.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe mobilized National Guard troops in their states ahead of the weekend demonstrations.

Abbott said more than 5,000 Guard troops and more than 2,000 state police officers would be ready to help local law enforcement if needed.

Several No Kings rallies are planned in Texas, and there were brief clashes between protesters and police in Austin and Dallas this week.

Kehoe called his decision a “precautionary measure” and did not provide specific troop levels or duties.

Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington, D.C.; Curt Anderson in Tampa, Florida; David Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri; and Mark Thiessen in Anchorage, Alaska, contributed.

A member of the National Guard stands outside the Wishire Federal building on Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

Demonstrator Courtney Moore uses a bullhorn Thursday, June 12, 2025, in Anchorage, Alaska, to protest the detainment of about 40 people being held there under the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement federal agency. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Demonstrators sit on the lawn of the Anchorage Correctional Complex Thursday, June 12, 2025, in Anchorage, Alaska, to protest the detainment of about 40 people being held there under the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement federal agency. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Demonstrators hold signs as they protest, Thursday, June 12, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

Demonstrators hold signs during a protest, Thursday, June 12, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

A protester holds up an American flag in front of a dumpster that was set on fire during a protest against federal immigration arrests, Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

A woman waves a Mexican flag during protests over President Donald Trump's stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws, Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A demonstrator with carrying a Mexican flag chants during a protest against deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New York, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Anti ICE protesters gather in downtown San Antonio, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

People hold up signs during a protest against federal immigration arrests, Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Anti ICE protesters gather near the Alamo as Texas state troopers keep watch in downtown San Antonio, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Protestors surround a dumpster that was set on fire in front of the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building during a protest against federal immigration arrests, Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

SYDNEY (AP) — Two gunmen attacked a Hannukah celebration on a Sydney beach Sunday, killing at least 11 people in what Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called an act of antisemitism and terrorism.

The massacre at one of Australia’s most popular and iconic beaches followed a wave of antisemitic attacks that have roiled the country over the past year, although the authorities didn’t suggest those episodes and Sunday’s shooting were connected. It is the deadliest shooting for almost three decades in a country with strict gun control laws.

One gunman was fatally shot by police and the second, who was arrested, was in critical condition, authorities said. Police said one of the gunmen was known to the security services, but that there had been no specific threat.

At least 29 people were confirmed wounded, including two police officers, said Mal Lanyon, the police commissioner for New South Wales state, where Sydney is located.

Police said officers were examining a number of suspicious items, including several improvised explosive devices found in one of the suspect’s cars.

“This attack was designed to target Sydney's Jewish community,” the state's premier, Chris Minns, said. The massacre was declared a terrorist attack due to the event targeted and weapons used, Lanyon said.

Hundreds had gathered for the Chanukah by the Sea event celebrating the start of the eight-day Hanukkah festival.

Chabad, an Orthodox Jewish movement that runs scores of centers around the world that are popular with Jewish travelers and sponsors large public events during major Jewish holidays, identified one of the dead as Rabbi Eli Schlanger, assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and a key organizer of the event.

Video footage filmed by onlookers appeared to show two gunmen with long guns firing from a footbridge leading to the beach. One dramatic clip broadcast on Australian television showed a man appearing to tackle and disarm one of the gunmen, before pointing the man’s weapon at him, then setting the gun on the ground.

Minns called the man a “genuine hero.”

Police said emergency services were called to Campbell Parade in Bondi about 6.45 p.m. responding to reports of shots being fired.

Lachlan Moran, 32, from Melbourne, told The Associated Press he was waiting for his family nearby when he heard shots. He dropped the beer he was carrying for his brother and ran.

“You heard a few pops, and I freaked out and ran away. ... I started sprinting. I just had that intuition. I sprinted as quickly as I could," Moran said. He said he heard shooting off and on for about five minutes.

“Everyone just dropped all their possessions and everything and were running and people were crying and it was just horrible," Moran said.

The violence erupted at the end of a hot summer day when thousands had flocked to the beach.

“It was the most perfect day and then this happened,” said local resident Catherine Merchant.

“Everyone was just running and there were bullets and there were so many of them and we were really scared,” she told Australia’s ABC News.

Albanese told reporters in the Australian capital, Canberra, that he was “devastated” by the massacre.

“This is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy, a celebration of faith. An act of evil, antisemitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation,” Albanese said.

“Amidst this vile act of violence and hate will emerge a moment of national unity where Australians across the board will embrace their fellow Australians of Jewish faith,” he said.

World leaders expressed condolences. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the “ghastly terrorist attack” and offered his condolences to the families who lost their loved ones.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was being updated on the “appalling attack.” Police in London said they would step up security at Jewish sites.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X that “The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Australia targeting a Jewish celebration. Antisemitism has no place in this world.”

Australia, a country of 28 million people, is home to about 117,000 Jews, according to official figures. Antisemitic incidents, including assaults, vandalism, threats and intimidation, surged more than threefold in the country during the year after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel launched a war on Hamas in Gaza in response, the government's Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal reported in July.

Throughout last summer, the country was rocked by spate of antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. Synagogues and cars were torched, businesses and homes graffitied and Jews attacked in those cities, where 85% of the nation’s Jewish population live.

Albanese in August blamed Iran for two of the attacks and cut diplomatic ties to Tehran. The authorities didn't make such claims about Sunday's massacre.

Israel urged Australia's government to address crimes targeting Jews.

“The heart of the entire nation of Israel misses a beat at this very moment,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said. “We repeat our alerts time and time again to the Australian government to seek action and fight against the enormous wave of antisemitism which is plaguing Australian society.”

Mass shootings in Australia are extremely rare. A 1996 massacre in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur, where a lone gunman killed 35 people, prompted the government to drastically tighten gun laws and made it much more difficult for Australians to acquire firearms.

Significant mass shootings this century included two murder-suicides with death tolls of five people in 2014, and seven in 2018, in which gunmen killed their own families and themselves.

In 2022, six people were killed in a shootout between police and Christian extremists at a rural property in Queensland state.

McGuirk reported from Melbourne, Australia, and Graham-McLay from Wellington, New Zealand. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.

A small Christmas tree is at the center of an abandoned holiday picnic at Bondi Beach after a reported shooting in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Bystanders stay where police cordon off an area at Bondi Beach after a reported shooting in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Emergency workers standby at Bondi Beach after a reported shooting in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)