Hi everyone!
LA was awash in violence over the weekend as protests over Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions turned into riots. By Sunday, agitators had taken over part of the 101 freeway, had set fire to and vandalized self-driving Waymo cars, torched law enforcement vehicles, and attacked ICE with rocks and fireworks.
It all started Friday night after rumors of workplace raids spread and organizations like CHIRLA began staging protests and direct actions that quickly got out of hand. CHIRLA, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, was funded nearly $500,000 by the Biden administration's Department of Homeland Security. $100,000 of that grant is still to be paid out by September.
By Saturday, Trump had called in 2,000 National Guard troops under Title 10 of the United States Code to protect federal law enforcement and property. Trump was roundly condemned by California leaders for taking charge of the situation, even as they seemed reluctant to do so. In fact, they had more tolerance for the mayhem taking over Los Angeles streets and the attacks on law enforcement than they did for federal leadership.
Trump, however, had learned his lesson during his first administration when he hadn't called in the National Guard in Portland and Seattle until things really got out of hand. In the summer of 2020, what then-Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan called "the summer of love," comparing riots to a "block party," two young black men were killed in the 6-block occupation of Capitol Hill. In Portland, riots raged on for over 100 straight nights as Antifa and BLM agitators attempted to set fire to a federal courthouse. Trump is loathe to let something like that happen again.
LAPD said they were "overwhelmed" by the violence and protests. Governor Gavin Newsom said he was aiming to sue Trump over bringing in the National Guard. Kamala Harris said "Deploying the National Guard is a dangerous escalation meant to provoke chaos. In addition to the recent ICE raids in Southern California and across our nation, it is part of the Trump Administration's cruel, calculated agenda to spread panic and division."
Notably, Harris' contribution to border security under Biden was to shirk her responsibilities as appointed border czar and say that a root cause of migration was violence against LGBTQ persons in South and Central America, causing her boss to prioritize LGBTQ persons for asylum. Super helpful, Kamala.
LA Mayor Karen Bass blamed Trump—but she's big on passing blame. She wasn't even in LA during the wildfires that claimed thousands of homes in January and lashed out at those within her own government for failures that were her own. Bass also repeated the false claim that the riots were sparked by workplace enforcement at a Home Depot, which actually didn't happen. The New York Times made the claim too but then had to correct their reporting. The claim was initially made by CHIRLA leaders on Friday night, and by the time the truth made an appearance, no one cared and the damage was already done.
"When you raid Home Depot," she said, "and workplaces, when you tear parents and children apart, and when you run armored caravans through our streets you cause fear and you cause panic. And deploying federalized troops is a dangerous escalation," Bass said. Another dangerous situation is when a local government harbors criminals and refuses to turn them over to authorities.
Here's what's on my desk today:
California leadership blames Trump for anti-ICE riots as city descends into chaos
“What we’re seeing in Los Angeles is chaos that is provoked by the administration.”
California anti-ICE protest group funded by Biden DHS grant
Alejandro Mayorkas’ imperative was to create more semi-legal and legal roads to immigration.
LIBBY EMMONS: Anti-ICE chaos on LA streets is Democrats’ wet dream
Sanctuary state laws are designed to put ICE officers in harm’s way.