BET Awards organizers plan to move forward with Monday’s awards ceremony in Los Angeles, where protesters have been facing off with police officers and military troops amid anger over federal immigration raids.
“BET remains committed to the safety of our guests and staff. We are working closely with LAPD and monitoring the situation,” the network said Sunday night in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.
Organizers did not immediately respond to Urban Hollywood 411′s request for comment on the ceremony, which is scheduled to air live on June 9, from the Peacock Theater in downtown L.A. at 8 p.m. Eastern.
The theater is located in the LA Live entertainment complex at South Figueroa Street and West Olympic Boulevard. Late Sunday, the LAPD issued a traffic advisory, saying protesters had marched to LA Live and were “blocking all lanes of traffic.”
Related: Newsom to Sue Trump Administration Over National Guard in LA
LA Live is about 3 miles from both the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and the federal Metropolitan Detention Center, where undocumented immigrants detained during sweeps by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are being held.
Protesters have faced off with local and federal law enforcement since Friday, over the raids ordered by President Donald Trump’s administration.
Fox 11 showed footage of protesters trying to break into the federal detention center, apparently hoping to free people taken into custody by ICE. A reporter on the scene described the situation as “very volatile.”
On Sunday night, NBC News aired footage of thousands of protesters flooding the streets and taunting LAPD officers in downtown L.A.
CNN ran video of self-driving Waymo cars being set on fire. There were also reports of businesses being looted in the area.
KTLA5 reported protesters on an overpass “tossed rocks, scooters and other items at police cars parked on the 101 Freeway.” Authorities closed a portion of the freeway in downtown L.A. “until further notice.”
CBS showed a car being set on fire at an intersection in the suburb of Paramount, as protesters clashed with a line of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies in riot gear.
Combined, the LAPD and the California Highway Patrol said they arrested 29 people as of Sunday night. There were no reports of serious injuries.
In a statement, ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons called the protests “appalling.”
“Our brave officers were vastly outnumbered, as over 1,000 rioters surrounded and attacked a federal building,” the statement read. “It took over two hours for the Los Angeles Police Department to respond, despite being called multiple times. The brave men and women of ICE were in Los Angeles arresting criminal illegal aliens including gang members, drug traffickers and those with a history of assault, cruelty to children, domestic violence, robbery, and smuggling.”
In a news conference on Sunday night, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell disputed the claims made by Lyons. McDonnell said many of the protests were initially peaceful, but the gatherings were starting to “devolve” into violence.
In response, Trump ordered 2,000 National Guard troops to L.A. County and hundreds of Marines to squash the protests.
California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom blasted the move, and said Trump is “hoping for chaos” so he can justify “more crackdowns, more fear, more control.”
The LAPD declared a citywide “tactical alert,” placing the department on a heightened state of readiness.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called the violence “unacceptable” in an interview with local news station ABC7. Still, Bass said she had spoken with Trump advisors and told them, “I’m very disappointed that he chose to do this, because it’s just not necessary.”
L.A. County is the nation’s most populous county, with just over 10 million residents. A November 2024 report by the county government noted “an estimated 810,000 undocumented immigrants” live in the county.
BET Awards organizers are caught in the middle of the mayhem.
Each year the awards draw musicians, actors, athletes, journalists, influencers and fans from across the U.S., to celebrate Black entertainment and culture.
Kevin Hart is set to host the star-studded 25th annual ceremony. The list of nominations can be found here.
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