WASHINGTON — During a news conference Tuesday morning at the U.S. Capitol, 16 House Democrats from California condemned the Trump administration’s actions in Los Angeles, accusing the president of attempting to incite unrest, test the limits of executive power and distract from the failures of his own leadership.

Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., led the news conference after arriving back in Washington from Los Angeles, where he was denied entry Saturday to the immigration detention facility inside the Roybal Federal Building.

Gomez told reporters he attempted to conduct a lawfully permitted oversight inspection after receiving reports of immigrants being held in basement cells for up to 24 hours without food, water or sunlight.

On Tuesday, Gomez said that what’s happening in California could happen in any state.

“The chaos is the bait and the switch is a constitutional crisis,” he said. “President Trump created this political distraction to divide us and keep our focus away from his policies that are wreaking havoc on our economy and hurting working families.

“He’s not keeping us safe; he’s not restoring order. He’s ratcheting up the tension, wishing for it to reach a boiling point — and we all knew that this day would come.”

Rep. Norma Torres, D-Calif., a former 9-1-1 dispatcher, recalled the violent unrest of 1992 following the police beating of Rodney King.

“During that time, the city of Los Angeles did request the National Guard,” she said. “They were standing in corners without weapons, in uniform, trying to show support for the community, show stability and bring calm to the situation. That is what we need.”

Another time that leaders asked for the National Guard, recalled former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was when a pro-Trump mob descended on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The riot left around 150 police officers injured and one person dead.

A bipartisan Senate report found that at least seven people lost their lives in connection with the Jan. 6 attack.

Upon his return to office, Trump pardoned those who had been convicted of crimes by the Biden administration.

“We begged the president of the United States to send in the National Guard,” Pelosi recalled. “He would not do it.”

Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., said the protests were inevitable. Chu and other California lawmakers went to the Adelanto ICE processing center Sunday to conduct congressional oversight after learning that some immigrants who were arrested during the raids in Los Angeles had been taken to the facility, north of San Bernardino.

Federal agents refused to let them in, she said.

“What is happening in Los Angeles is a manufactured crisis by Trump, all done while flaunting the law,” she said. “He is the one that conducted these massive raids ... without names on these warrants.”

The lawmakers repeatedly said that while they support peaceful protest, those who are acting unlawfully should be punished.

Pelosi cautioned that any time there is a large gathering, “anarchists see it as an opportunity.”

“Whether you see a burned car, a broken window or whatever it is — it may be the exuberance of the moment, but it may be the anarchists setting in,” she said.

The images published by news outlets show only “a small portion of downtown” where violence occurred, said Rep. Nanette Barragan, D-Calif.

Rep. Luz Rivas, D-Calif., said those images show people “hijacking this for their own cause.”

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., warned that martial law could come next.

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