FBI Deputy Director Dan Bondingo on Saturday warned that some protesters could be prosecuted following Friday’s disturbances in downtown Los Angeles in reaction to multiple ICE raids in the city.

“The right to assemble and protest does not include a license to attack law enforcement officers, or to impede and obstruct our lawful immigration operations,” Bondingo wrote on X. “We are thoroughly reviewing the evidence from yesterday’s incident in Los Angeles and we are working with the US Attorney’s Office to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice.

“The days of chaos ruling the streets are over,” Bondingo said. “Either obey the law, or go to jail, there’s no third option.”

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the federal building in downtown Los Angeles on Friday evening and marched through the area to denounce the raids.

Video from outside the center and posted on social media showed a protester clad in all-black and wearing a mask over his mouth using a hammer on a cement block. A small group of people threw “large pieces of concrete” in the area near the Metropolitan Detention Center, according to the LAPD.

Images of graffiti on and near the jail taken by Cabassa included the phrases, “Death to Amerikka” and “Dead Cops.”

Police responded to the disturbances with less-lethal munitions, including pepper spray, and California Highway Patrol vehicles blocked the Alameda Street on-ramp to the 101 Freeway adjacent to the Federal Detention Center in an attempt to keep protesters from walking onto the freeway.

Around 7 p.m. Friday, the LAPD declared an unlawful assembly on Alameda Street between Aliso and Temple streets, warning that individuals who remain in the area were subject to arrest. Alameda Street was closed between Temple and Commercial streets, police said.

Two hours later, the department issued a citywide tactical alert, requiring all officers to remain on duty after their shifts end due to the protests in downtown Los Angeles.

Around 11:30 p.m. Friday, a large group of federal agents set up a staging site in a parking lot on the 700 block of North Hill Street in Chinatown, KTLA 5 reported.

Though not responding directly to the Los Angeles raids, Todd M. Lyons, acting director of ICE, hit back at criticism of the agency’s tactics in a video posted on social media Friday.

“My officers and agents walk into danger so other people can sleep safely at night … so while it’s easy to be an armchair quarterback and make up talking points to get activists riled up, the bottom line is my officers and agents are out there protecting the same people who are threatening their safety,” Lyons said. “Law enforcement is common sense. Politicians need to stop putting my people in danger. I’m not asking them to top; I’m demanding that they stop …

“These are real people with real families you’re hurting with your ridiculous rhetoric and inflammatory comments, and it’s time to remember that.”

City News Service contributed to this report.

Immigration agents target multiple downtown LA locations, clash with protesters