A DHS spokesman defends the use of military in LA
The Los Angeles Police Department is a Test of the First Amendment Right to assemble in the Era of the California Protests, as Declared by the Los Angeles Mayor
The Trump administration responded to the weekend of protests in California by sending more Marines and National Guard troops to Los Angeles, sparking angry exchanges with politicians.
Most of the protests have been quiet and confined to a small part of the city. But some protesters have clashed with law enforcement, set cars ablaze, and vandalized buildings with graffiti.
Los Angeles is being used as a test case for what will happen if the federal government takes authority away from the state, according to the mayor.
In Los Angeles, 50 people were arrested between Saturday and Monday morning, the LAPD said. Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell has said the department supports the First Amendment right to assemble.
Peaceful protest is legal. Abbott posted on X that she would be arrested if she harmed a person or property. Every tool and strategy will be used to help law enforcement maintain order.
The department stated that some people were throwing objects at officers. Police used tear gas canisters and more than 600 rounds of “less lethal munitions” to disperse the crowds. Five officers had minor injuries. The department is being investigated if they used excessive force.
Some of the charges those arrested are facing include attempted murder with a Molotov cocktail, assault on a police officer, looting and failure to disperse, LAPD said. One of those arrested was David Huerta, the president of the Service Employees International Union California, who was released Monday afternoon.
Los Angeles Police Department is preparing for the inauguration of the First Lady of the U.S. Senate Major Insights into the State of the National Guard
700 Marines have been sent to the state, according to two government officials. Police Chief McDonnell said Monday he had not been briefed about the Marines showing up.
“The Los Angeles Police Department, alongside our mutual aid partners, have decades of experience managing large-scale public demonstrations, and we remain confident in our ability to do so professionally and effectively,” he said.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegstad must decide on whether to allow 2,000 National Guard troops to be federalized for 60 days. The armed forces may be dispatched to support, said Trump. He ordered another 2,000 troops Monday.
In his order, Trump said that acts of violence and protests are acts of rebellion against the authority of the government of the United States.
The LAPD was not accused of taking more than two hours to respond to the federal request. He said the LAPD did not know federal forces were coming and thus took longer to respond to calls about the protest due to traffic conditions and hazardous conditions caused by tear gas used by federal troops. In 38 minutes the department was on the scene.
The governor of California is subbing the vice president for sending troops into the state despite the President’s refusal to declare remorse
The governor of California said Monday he is suing the administration for sending National Guard troops into the state. California’s Constitution allows the governor to control the state’s National Guard.
President Trump on Tuesday said – without evidence – that California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass had paid people protesting immigration enforcement operations. Hours later, he walked back the assertion.
“This isn’t about public safety,” he said. “It’s about stroking a dangerous President’s ego. This is Reckless. Pointless. And Disrespectful to our troops.
The governor said Monday that he did his job after the vice president told him to do it. Before Trump got involved, there was no problem. Suppressed the order. Control to California should be returned.
New York City’s No Kings Day protest is the “real battle” of the U.S. immigration crisis, as witnessed by many demonstrators on Tuesday night
Immigration raids in Los Angeles late last week, as well as the decision to send in the military, sparked the five day protest.
However, things on Wednesday quieted down in some parts of the country, including New York City, where just a few hundred protesters gathered outside the city’s immigration court.
“When you raid Home Depots and workplaces, when you tear parents and children apart, and when you run armored caravans through our streets, you’re not trying to keep anyone safe,” Bass said. “You’re trying to cause fear and panic.”
“I believe that anybody that’s involved in violence, or looting, or vandalism is not supporting the cause of immigrants,” Bass said at a press conference. “Otherwise they wouldn’t be doing that because they know that that can trigger an even greater reaction from the administration.”
Demonstrations are expected across the nation on Saturday as part of No Kings Day, a nationwide event organized by progressive groups to protest Trump’s second term actions. Trump will host a military parade in Washington, D.C. that day to celebrate the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary, which is also his 79th birthday.
The chant was used by thousands of people in the city on Tuesday night to protest the immigration sweeps and the deployment of the U.S. military in California.
“There are many voices in my community that can’t be here today out of fear of what the administration is doing, so I want to be here for them,” 19-year-old Jeanet told NPR as she joined hundreds of other protesters in lower Manhattan Tuesday night.
She asked that her last name not be used because she was afraid of her safety. She said she was going to the protest because she wants to join the military.
Jeanete said that she felt more important to voice her opinion and show the world that there are other people who are against what the administration is doing.
The Los Angeles anti-immigration protests: when the New York Police Department gets out of the prison, it’s more boots on the ground
The New York Police Department did not immediately reply to questions about how many arrests were made, but NPR reporters saw at least half a dozen people placed in handcuffs.
Lopez toldNPR in Spanish, “I lived that, so it hurts me to see families being separated.” “We come here to work … to progress — it’s not fair.”
The man who asked NPR not to use his last name, Arfraz, believed that people couldn’t attend the rallies because they might be picked up by ICE. Those who are able to stand have an urgent responsibility to do it.
The government is investigating if there is a backer for the anti-immigration enforcement protests in Los Angeles.
“There’s some activity on the ground that it seems that is highly coordinated and that there might be a financial backer that could be even a foreign adversary,” she said.
“No, I don’t say the governor and the mayor — I said, somebody’s paying them — I think. And if they’re not, they’re just troublemakers. What can I tell you. But I believe somebody’s paying them,” Trump told reporters who had traveled with him to North Carolina.
In a conversation with NPR’s Steve Inskeep, McLaughlin also criticized California leaders for failing to restore order, spoke about deportation numbers and discussed Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador, who the Trump administration brought back to the U.S. to face criminal charges in Tennessee.
McLaughlin: It’s the same as the National Guard. These are highly trained members of our military. They have means to control crowds when things get out of hand. We’ve seen our members of law enforcement being pummeled with rocks. We’ve seen fires and cars being lit on fire, as well as buildings and public property being vandalised and/or assaults on ICE enforcement officers. Highly trained members of the military have a means of regaining control.
McLaughlin: I believe it to be more boots on the ground. It’s more men and women wearing uniforms in uniform to make sure law enforcement, our government property, and protesters are safe. It was decided that we would return law and order after seeing from the leadership that things had not been peaceful or smooth.
Inskeep: Marines have been sent into Los Angeles. It’s very early, but what skills did the Marines have that apply in this particular urban situation that even the national guard does not have?
Inskeep: I’ve seen the video and the photos of the cars. But I think about the role the military plays and what Secretary Hegsha wants the military to do. He has emphasized the mission as lethality and readiness, which means readiness for combat. How does sending Marines to protect buildings and cars in Los Angeles match up with that mission, if at all?
Inskeep: The President’s memorandum in sending National Guard troops to California said that the protests can be construed as a kind of rebellion. That’s the word that’s used. I want to understand how this could be construed as a rebellion. I would think of a rebellion as a group of people where they have a leader and an objective. Are you able to identify who’s in charge of this rebellion?
How Hard have We Been? Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Most Injunctions in American History under a Single President?
McLaughlin: Last month? I do not have that number on my hand. I’d have to tell you about that. I know deportations are around in the last 125 days, about 150,000.
McLaughlin said that it was roughly. I think we have been able to ramp up efforts. I mean, we did inherit, you know, a very broken ICE, a very broken CBP, people who are not able to do their jobs for the last four years.
We don’t know the exact number for this year, but it seems that the rates of deportations are higher than average under President Biden, and still lower than under President Trump. Why do you think the numbers have been hard to get up?
McLaughlin: We’ve had a lot of injunctions handed to us by a lot of these judges. We knew that coming in though. I think it’s a matter of, partially, of resources. Congress needs to pass the bill to make sure that we give our ICE officers enough resources to deal with these kinds of protests. You’re going from zero to 100 very quickly because these officers haven’t been allowed to do their jobs for the last four years.
McLaughlin: I would definitely counter that. This has been the most injunctions in American history under a single president. Absolutely, Steve. Look at the numbers.
McLaughlin is a person. No. I think. I mean, take the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The eight people who were convicted in South Sudan had their final deportation orders. A Massachusetts judge ordered those eight individuals to come back. This is unprecedented. Why don’t we have district judges who really want to bring the child rapists and killers who have been deported from the US back to us? It is pure activism, Steve, and it’s quite disturbing, really.
The Supreme Court insists that people should have cases heard in court, even though they may be terrorists. And that does lead to one more question. You brought Kilmar AbregoGarcia back to the US to face criminal charges after you brought him up. He’s facing an indictment and he will get his day in court. But the administration said for months that he could not be brought back. Do you think it was always possible for the United States to bring him back?
McLaughlin: I would leave that to the Department of Justice, but I think that what really matters here, Steve, is the egg on the face of a lot of Democrats and the media who have been hell bent on saying that this is an innocent Maryland man. They’ve been saying that for months. He was a full time human trafficker. Allegedly. Steve, I completely disagree and I have to counter that. I think the environment that we’re in, from a judicial standpoint, is far, far different than anything under Obama or even under the first administration of President Trump.
Just to clarify, you said you’d leave it to the Department of Justice. I understand. But given that it is now clear that it was possible to bring him back, why did the government not previously bring him back?
McLaughlin: I mean, there’s, of course, you’ve heard the facilitate versus effectuate argument multiple times. He is now – Kilmar Abrego Garcia before was not facing a grand jury in Tennessee and now he is. So the facts on the ground have changed.
