Austin, Jun 12 (AP) Protests over federal immigration enforcement raids are flaring up around the US, as officials in cities from coast to coast get ready for major demonstrations against President Donald Trump over the weekend.

While many demonstrations against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency have been peaceful, with marchers chanting slogans and carrying signs, others have led to clashes with police who have sometimes used chemical irritants to disperse crowds. Hundreds have been arrested.

Volatile protests prompted city officials to enforce curfews in Los Angeles and Spokane. And Republican governors in Texas and Missouri mobilised National Guard troops to be ready to help law enforcement manage demonstrations in those states.

Activists are planning "No Kings" events across the country on Saturday to coincide with Trump's planned military parade in Washington, DC. While those were already scheduled, they will happen amid the rising tensions of the week.

The Trump administration said immigration raids and deportations will continue regardless.

A look at some recent protests and reactions across the country: Las Vegas: Police said 94 people were arrested on "various criminal and traffic" charges, and four officers were injured in a Wednesday night protest. Some in the estimated crowd of about 800 threw bottles and rocks at law enforcement, police said.

A large crowd gathered on Las Vegas Boulevard near the city's federal courthouse and blocked several streets before police deemed the gathering an unlawful assembly. Police announced in English and Spanish that protesters must leave the area. Local media reported that tear gas, flash-bang grenades and rubber bullets were used to disperse the crowds.

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

Demonstrators chanted "No hate, no fear." The group later marched along the city's iconic Michigan Avenue, flanked by their own security marshals and Chicago police officers on bicycles and in slow-moving patrol cars.

The crowd, including parents with strollers, students and longtime organisers chanted, "Power to the people, no one is illegal." Seattle: Hundreds of protesters marched through downtown Seattle on Wednesday evening to a federal building where immigration cases are heard. Some of them dragged a dumpster nearby and set it on fire. The building was covered in graffiti, with "Abolish ICE Now" written in large letters across its front window. They moved electric bikes and cones to block its entrance.

Dozens of officers squared off with protesters near the federal building, with some shooting pepper spray. Police worked to move the crowd away and some protesters threw fireworks and rocks at officers, according to the Seattle Police Department.

Spokane, Washington: Mayor Lisa Brown imposed an overnight curfew in downtown Spokane after a protest on Wednesday afternoon outside an ICE office that ended with more than 30 arrests and police firing pepper balls at the crowd.

Brown said the curfew would "protect public safety", and that the majority of 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." San Antonio: Several hundred protesters marched through downtown San Antonio and near the historic Alamo mission. Although Texas National Guard troops were seen in the area, the demonstration was mostly peaceful with no significant clashes with law enforcement.

The Alamo building and plaza, among the most popular tourist attractions in the state, was closed to the public early and police guarded the property as the crowd gathered and marched nearby.

Tuscon, Arizona: A protest on Wednesday outside an ICE office in Tuscon, Arizona, turned into a clash between masked security officers and demonstrators who blocked a roadway, threw balloons filled with paint and spray painted anti-ICE graffiti on the gates and walls of the facility.

Video clips showed a security officer who was hit with a water bottle. Masked protesters held makeshift shields as they inched toward the security team, and a member of the security team set off what appeared to be a flash-bang device.

At one point, a security officer sprayed a chemical irritant at protesters and a protester responded by firing irritant back at the officers. It was unclear if the officers were private security or federal agents. The Associated Press left messages with the Tucson Police Department and ICE's operation in Arizona.

No Kings This week's protests are leading into the scheduled "No Kings" demonstrations that organisers say are planned in nearly 2,000 locations around the country, from city blocks to small towns, courthouse steps to community parks, according to the movement's website.

Organisers plan a flagship march and rally in Philadelphia, but no protests are scheduled to take place in Washington, DC, where the military parade will be held.

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

"If you want to light things on fire and put people in danger, you are going to do time. We do not tolerate rioting," Uthmeier said on Thursday.

Federal prosecutors are watching as well. (AP) RC