Los Angeles awoke this morning after its first night of a curfew in a pivotal downtown area, spurred by nights of protest, clashes with law enforcement, vandalism and unprecedented political turmoil.

LAPD officers enforced Mayor Karen Bass’ downtown curfew Tuesday evening, making arrests moments after it took effect, while deploying officers on horseback and using crowd control projectiles to break up a group of hundreds demonstrating against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Related: Here’s what you need to know about LA’s just-imposed curfew

Members of the National Guard stood watch behind plastic shields, but did not appear to participate in the arrests Tuesday night.

Hours later, many of the protesters had dispersed, although sporadic confrontations continued that were much smaller than in previous nights. Officials said the curfew was necessary to stop vandalism and theft by agitators looking to cause trouble.

The demonstrations have been mostly concentrated downtown and the curfew covers a 1-square-mile  section that includes an area where protests have occurred since Friday in the sprawling city of 4 million. The city of Los Angeles encompasses roughly 500 square miles but the protests have been largely focused on the downtown area.

Protests have been reported in the past six days all over Southern California, most of them peaceful. But demonstrators clashed with police at some, including Monday in Santa Ana, where National Guard troops remained visible Tuesday.

A march in Long Beach late Tuesday was declared an illegal assembly late in the evening, but the demonstrators quickly dispersed when police in riot gear arrived.

Just before the curfew kicked in, clergy leaders and community members across diverse religious traditions turned to their faith at a downtown vigil.

“As people of faith, we call for nonviolence,” said Yesenia Padilla, a spokesperson with interfaith advocacy group LA Voice. “Advocating for the values of Los Angeles — welcoming and protecting our immigrant neighbors who are indelible threads in the fabric of our county, in this city. We affirm the dignity of our immigrant loved ones.”

Members of different faith communities came together late  for a peaceful prayer gathering in support of immigrants held at Gloria Molina Grand Park in downtown L.A.

The interfaith vigil — co-organized by LA Voice, PICO California, the Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice and a host of pro-immigrant groups — was “the faith community’s response to militarized, coordinated ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids; a call of prayerful peace,” organizers said.

The solemn evening called for faith communities to stand together amid growing immigration raids and actions across the Southern California region. People representing Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and other faith traditions gathered peacefully, echoing calls to stop ongoing ICE operations as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

With the curfew in place the overnight scene was much calmer in Los Angeles, though some arrests were made.

The curfew was ordered as Mayor Bass declared that nights of protests that had sometimes dissolved into vandalism and looting had reached a “tipping point.” It took effect at 8 p.m. Tuesday and was set to last until 6 a.m. Wednesday, with violators subject to arrest, Bass said. The curfew will be re-evaluated Wednesday but Bass said she expects it to last for several days.

As night fell Tuesday, law enforcement descended swiftly to enforce the new curfew, with long lines of police vehicles, their red-and-blue lights flashing, snaking along freeways and through downtown streets. Officers clad in riot gear, both on foot and horseback, swarmed into formation on the streets, vastly outnumbering hundreds of protesters who had marched into the area hours earlier.

The curfew had been under consideration in recent days, Bass said during a Tuesday news conference, but after violence, looting and extensive vandalism that affected nearly two dozen businesses Monday night, “we reached a tipping point and declared a state of emergency and called for the curfew.”

The move came as police and other law enforcement ramped up their efforts on the ground and as protesters continued to condemn recent ICE sweeps and the federal deployment of the California National Guard and Marines. Police Chief Jim McDonnell said that 197 arrests were made Tuesday, more than any day since the unrest began Friday. He said more officers would be added to the streets Wednesday.

An overnight arrest total was not yet available Wednesday morning.

The area affected by the curfew order is a loop between the 5 Freeway and 110 Freeway north of the 10 Freeway to where the 5 and 110 merge. It encompasses about a square mile, Bass said, in a city of 502 square miles.

Residents of the area, people traveling to and from work, public safety employees and credentialed media were exempt.

The curfew also had an immediate impact on the local economy, as several downtown L.A. businesses and restaurants closed early once the curfew was announced. The performance of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Disney Hall was canceled, as were theatrical shows at the Music Center’s Mark Taper Forum and Ahmanson Theater.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has challenged President Donald Trump’s move to send troops into his state, filed an emergency motion to block Marines and National Guard from what he called “the illegal deployment of Marines and National Guard in Los Angeles.”

A California judge denied Newsom‘s request for a temporary restraining order. Instead, U.S District Judge Charles R. Breyer, who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton, set a hearing for Thursday.Federal officials told members of Congress on Tuesday that it would cost $134 million to send the troops to L.A. and defended Trump’s decision to send them, saying they are needed to protect federal agents as they do their jobs.

Newsom urged Americans to “not give in to” President Donald Trump, whom he lambasted as a “dictator” during an livecast address to the public on Tuesday evening.

The roughly 8-and-a-half-minute address occurred four days after Trump first ordered National Guard troops to Los Angeles in response to demonstrators protesting actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in detaining immigrants through large-scale operations.

Newsom warned the public that while the president has been focused on sending National Guard troops and members of the Marines to California, Trump’s actions in California are only the beginning.

“California may be first, but it clearly will not end here,” Newsom said. “Other states are next. Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes. This moment we have feared has arrived.”

Newsom also urged protesters exercising their First Amendment right to free speech to do so peacefully and not play into Trump’s hands. Democrats have in recent days accused the president of intentionally provoking protesters in order to justify sending in more troops.

Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that “If I didn’t ‘SEND IN THE TROOPS’ to Los Angeles the last three nights, that once beautiful and great City would be burning to the ground right now, much like 25,000 houses burned to the ground in L.A. due to an incompetent Governor and Mayor” — a reference to the deadly January wildfires that swept through L.A. County.

Protests, too, have begun to spread across the country, with more planned into the weekend.

From Seattle to Austin and Washington, D.C., marchers have chanted slogans, carried signs against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and snarled traffic through downtown avenues and outside federal offices. While many were peaceful, some have resulted in clashes with law enforcement as officers made arrests and used chemical irritants to disperse crowds.

Activists are planning more and even larger demonstrations in the coming days, with “No Kings” events across the country on Saturday to coincide with Trump’s planned military parade through Washington.

Staff writers Kaitlyn Schallhorn, Linh Tat, Christina Merino, Allyson Vergara and the Associated Press contributed to this report