The president defends his decision on using the military in the city before an audience at Fort Bragg. California officials blame the administration for inflaming tensions.

By Brad Brooks, Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali and Dietrich Knauth LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Hundreds of U.S. Marines arrived in the Los Angeles area on Tuesday under orders from President Donald Trump, as the city's mayor declared a curfew for parts of the downtown area and police arrested 197 people in a fifth day of street protests.

Tensions flared in Los Angeles late Monday. On Tuesday, teams worked to scrub away, cover up or fade out protesters' graffiti.

With the political and legal battle heating up over the deployment of military forces to Los Angeles in response to protests spurred by amped-up immigration sweeps, officials braced themselves for

It's been five days since anti-ICE demonstrations erupted in Los Angeles, some turning violent between protesters and law enforcement officers, prompting President Trump to deploy National Guard troops and hundreds of Marines.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared a local emergency and issued a curfew for downtown L.A., from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., in an effort to “stop the vandalism.” Bass said several businesses have been affected by the looting and urged individuals to avoid the area.

Regional Transportation District bus and light rail lines through Denver’s Civic Center were detoured or suspended Tuesday night because of planned protests downtown, agency officials said.

Unlike the 1992 riots, protests have mainly been peaceful and been confined to a roughly five-block stretch of downtown LA, a tiny patch in the sprawling city of nearly 4 million people. No one has died. There’s been vandalism and some cars set on fire but no homes or buildings have burned.