logo
Chabria: The insurrection that wasn't, and other Trump fantasies

Chabria: The insurrection that wasn't, and other Trump fantasies

Yahoo12 hours ago

To hear our national leaders tell it, Los Angeles is in chaos and our governor and mayor are out to lunch with the police, blissfully ignoring reality as the city burns.
"These Radical Left protests, by instigators and often paid troublemakers, will NOT BE TOLERATED," President Trump wrote on social media, shortly after ordering the National Guard onto our streets.
"To the extent that protests or acts of violence directly inhibit the execution of the laws, they constitute a form of rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States," he wrote in a memo Saturday, authorizing 2,000 National Guard troops to be deployed in L.A. for at least 60 days.
Put down your macha lattes and trade in your Birkenstocks for boots, folks. We are the revolution, apparently, so dangerous only a seasoned military can stop us. The only problem, of course, is that Los Angeles is not in chaos on this particular sunny Sunday and the vast majority of Angelenos are just trying to enjoy the weekend without becoming a federal prisoner.
Read more: What really happened outside the Paramount Home Depot? The reality on the ground vs. the rhetoric
Trump's memo will go into the history books as a moment when presidential power expanded to put under his control a military force aimed at U.S. civilians. While not unprecedented, the dean of UC Berekley's law school, Erwin Chemerinsky, said it was "stunning."
All the more so because the deployment is based on a lie. Yes, there has been some violence in the past few days as federal immigration authorities round up criminals and regular folks alike in deportation sweeps. If you keep the camera angle tight on those protests, as many media outlets have done, it does look dire.
Rocks being thrown, even Molotov cocktails. Masked protesters hammering at concrete pillars outside of a downtown federal building. Cars on fire.
All of this is terrible and those responsible should be arrested — by our local police and sheriffs, who are more than up to the job of handling a few hundred protesters.
But 99% of this city business as usual, with brunches and beach walks and church and yoga classes. And even in those few pockets where the protests are happening, such as a march downtown Sunday, this is Los Angeles — I've seen more chaos after a Lakers game.
Jessica Levinson, a law professor at Loyola Law School, told my colleague Seema Mehta that while it's extremely unusual for a president to take federal control of troops, it's not unprecedented and maybe not illegal. It happened in 1992 during the Los Angeles riots after the Rodney King verdict.
"One of the exceptions is when there is violence and the inability of the federal government to enforce federal laws," Levinson said. "And that is exactly what the president is arguing is happening."
My intrepid colleagues at this paper have been on the ground since the first protests began, and, as their reporting shows, the majority of what is happening is peaceful, and isolated.
Even the cops agree. And seriously, when the cops are agreeing there's no riot — there is no riot.
"Demonstrations across the City of Los Angeles remained peaceful and we commend all those who exercised their First Amendment rights responsibly," the LAPD wrote in a statement Saturday night.
Still, by Sunday morning, those troops, in full military gear with guns in hand, (presumably with less-lethal ammo, I hope) were arriving. The U.S. Northern Command tweeted that the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team has some members on the ground in Los Angeles, with more to come.
"These operations are essential to halting and reversing the invasion of illegal criminals into the United States. In the wake of this violence, California's feckless Democrat leaders have completely abdicated their responsibility to protect their citizens," Karoline Leavitt, the White House Press Secretary, further explained before they arrived.
Read more: News Analysis: A political lesson for L.A. from an unrestrained president
Also, as you plan your week, there is now a dress code — at least for civilians, not the authorities intent on hiding their identities.
"(F)rom now on, MASKS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED to be worn at protests. What do these people have to hide, and why???" Trump wrote.
All this, Gov. Gavin Newsom said, is "Not to meet an unmet need, but to manufacture a crisis."
He's right — Los Angeles has landed a starring role in Trump's war on brown people. It makes sense. We are a city of immigrants, of all colors, and a Democratic — and democratic — one at that. What's not to hate?
Mayor Karen Bass told my colleague Rachel Uranga that her office had tried to talk to the White House to tell them "there was absolutely no need to have troops on the ground," but got nowhere.
"This is posturing," Bass said.
"They want violence," Newsom added in a Sunday email. "Don't give them the spectacle they want."
I'm not sure that's possible. There will always be the bad actors, the violent ones, at any protest. And again — they should be arrested.
But Trump is going to laser-focus on those few to make an example of this city, and to increase his own power.
Because while this "insurrection" is a fantasy, his dream of more power seems all to real.
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Protests intensify in Los Angeles after Trump deploys National Guard troops
Protests intensify in Los Angeles after Trump deploys National Guard troops

Yahoo

time18 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Protests intensify in Los Angeles after Trump deploys National Guard troops

Tensions in Los Angeles escalated on Sunday as thousands of protesters took to the streets in response to US President Donald Trump's deployment of the National Guard. They blocked off a major road and set self-driving cars on fire as law enforcement used tear gas, rubber bullets and flash bangs to control the crowd. Many protesters dispersed as evening fell and police declared an unlawful assembly, a precursor to officers moving in and making arrests of people who do not leave. Some of those remaining threw objects at police from behind a makeshift barrier that spanned the width of a street and others hurled chunks of concrete, rocks, electric scooters and fireworks at California Highway Patrol officers and their vehicles parked on the closed southbound 101 freeway. Officers ran under an overpass to take cover. Sunday's protests in Los Angeles, a sprawling city of four million people, were centred in downtown several blocks. It was the third and most intense day of demonstrations against Mr Trump's immigration crackdown in the region, as the arrival of around 300 Guard troops spurred anger and fear among many residents. The Guard was deployed specifically to protect federal buildings, including the detention centre where protesters concentrated. Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said officers were 'overwhelmed' by the remaining protesters. He said they included regular agitators who appear at demonstrations to cause trouble. Several dozen people were arrested throughout the weekend of protest. One was detained on Sunday for throwing a Molotov cocktail at police, and another for ramming a motorcycle into a line of officers. Let's get this straight: 1) Local law enforcement didn't need help. 2) Trump sent troops anyway — to manufacture chaos and violence. 3) Trump succeeded. 4) Now things are destabilized and we need to send in more law enforcement just to clean up Trump's mess. — Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 9, 2025 Mr Trump responded to Mr McDonnell on Truth Social, telling him to arrest protesters in face masks. 'Looking really bad in L.A. BRING IN THE TROOPS!!!' he wrote. Starting in the morning, the troops stood shoulder to shoulder, carrying long guns and riot shields as protesters shouted 'shame' and 'go home'. After some closely approached the guard members, another set of uniformed officers advanced on the group, shooting smoke-filled canisters into the street. Minutes later, the Los Angeles Police Department fired rounds of crowd-control munitions to disperse the protesters, who they said were assembled unlawfully. Much of the group then moved to block traffic on the 101 freeway until state patrol officers cleared them from the roadway by late afternoon. Nearby, at least four self-driving Waymo cars were set on fire, sending large plumes of black smoke into the sky and exploding intermittently as the electric vehicles burned. By evening, police had issued an unlawful assembly order shutting down several blocks of downtown Los Angeles. Flash bangs echoed out every few seconds into the evening. Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom requested that Mr Trump remove the guard members in a letter on Sunday afternoon, calling their deployment a 'serious breach of state sovereignty'. He was in Los Angeles meeting local law enforcement and officials. The deployment appeared to be the first time in decades that a state's national guard was activated without a request from its governor, a significant escalation against those who have sought to hinder the administration's mass deportation efforts. Mr Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass blamed the increasingly aggressive protests on Mr Trump's decision to deploy the Guard, calling it a move designed to inflame tensions. They have both urged protesters to remain peaceful. 'What we're seeing in Los Angeles is chaos that is provoked by the administration,' she said in an afternoon press conference. 'This is about another agenda, this isn't about public safety.' But Mr McDonnell, the LAPD chief, said the protests were following a similar pattern for episodes of civil unrest, with things ramping up in the second and third days. He pushed back against claims by the Trump administration that the LAPD had failed to help federal authorities when protests broke out on Friday after a series of immigration raids. His department responded as quickly as it could, and had not been notified in advance of the raids and therefore was not pre-positioned for protests, he said. Mr Newsom, meanwhile, has repeatedly said that California authorities had the situation under control. He mocked Mr Trump for posting a congratulatory message to the Guard on social media before troops had even arrived in Los Angeles, and said on MSNBC that Mr Trump never floated deploying the Guard during a Friday phone call. He called Mr Trump a 'stone cold liar'. The admonishments did not deter the administration. 'It's a bald-faced lie for Newsom to claim there was no problem in Los Angeles before President Trump got involved,' White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement. The arrival of the National Guard followed two days of protests that began Friday in Los Angeles before spreading on Saturday to Paramount, a heavily Latino city south of the city, and neighbouring Compton. Federal agents arrested immigrants in LA's fashion district, in a Home Depot parking lot and at several other locations on Friday. The next day, they were staging at a Department of Homeland Security office near another Home Depot in Paramount, which drew out protesters who suspected another raid. Federal authorities later said there was no enforcement activity at that Home Depot. The weeklong tally of immigrant arrests in the LA area climbed above 100, federal authorities said. Many more were arrested while protesting, including a prominent union leader who was accused of impeding law enforcement. The protests did not reach the size of past demonstrations that brought the National Guard to Los Angeles, including the Watts and Rodney King riots, and the 2020 protests against police violence, in which Mr Newsom requested the assistance of federal troops. The last time the National Guard was activated without a governor's permission was in 1965, when President Lyndon B Johnson sent troops to protect a civil rights march in Alabama, according to the Brennan Centre for Justice. In a directive on Saturday, Mr Trump invoked a legal provision allowing him to deploy federal service members when there is 'a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States'. He said he had authorised the deployment of 2,000 members of the National Guard. Mr Trump told reporters as he prepared to board Air Force One in Morristown, New Jersey, Sunday that there were 'violent people' in Los Angeles 'and they're not going to get away with it'. Asked if he planned to send US troops to Los Angeles, Mr Trump replied: 'We're going to have troops everywhere. We're not going to let this happen to our country.' He did not elaborate. About 500 marines stationed at Twentynine Palms, about 125 miles (200 kilometres) east of Los Angeles were in a 'prepared to deploy status' on Sunday afternoon, according to the US Northern Command.

Woman killed in Napa; homicide suspect at large: PD
Woman killed in Napa; homicide suspect at large: PD

Yahoo

time19 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Woman killed in Napa; homicide suspect at large: PD

(KRON) — A woman was found dead of a suspected homicide at the 4300 block of Dale Drive in Napa at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, according to the Napa Police Department. Officers with Napa PD responded to the area and found a woman who was later pronounced dead. Detectives with the Napa Police Investigations Unit deemed the woman's death a homicide. Oracle Park evacuated after fire breaks out before Giants-Braves game Officers have identified a suspect in the case who is still at large. Napa PD is withholding the suspect's name at this time. 'Currently the suspect has been identified, however he is not in custody and not believed to be in Napa,' Napa PD said. 'Detectives have obtained an arrest warrant for the arrest of the suspect and are currently attempting to locate him.' ICE protests turn violent in downtown L.A., local officials blame Trump The victim's identity is also being withheld from the public at this time. The case remains under investigation. 'No further information will be released at this time,' Napa PD said. 'There is no current threat to public safety and the investigation has indicated this is an isolated event.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Newsom says California will sue Trump over National Guard, dares Homan to arrest him
Newsom says California will sue Trump over National Guard, dares Homan to arrest him

Yahoo

time19 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Newsom says California will sue Trump over National Guard, dares Homan to arrest him

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said California will sue the Trump administration on Monday over its deployment of the National Guard to quell Los Angeles protests against federal immigration raids. In an interview Sunday evening on MSNBC, Newsom said the lawsuit would challenge Trump's federalizing of the California National Guard without the state's consent, a move with little precedent in U.S. history. 'Donald Trump has created the conditions you see on your TV tonight. He's exacerbated the conditions. He's, you know, lit the proverbial match. He's putting fuel on this fire, ever since he announced he was taking over the National Guard — an illegal act, an immoral act, an unconstitutional act,' Newsom said on MSNBC. 'And we're going to test that theory with a lawsuit tomorrow,' he added.. Asked to elaborate on the lawsuit, Newsom said that under Trump's executive order, 'it specifically notes — and under what the [Department of Defense] did — is they had to coordinate with the governor of the state. They never coordinated with the governor of the state,' he said. Newsom noted that he has deployed the National Guard before to respond to various emergencies. 'We have no problem, working collaboratively in a mutual aid system with local law enforcement. But there's a protocol, there's a process. He didn't care about that. And the worst part, he completely lied,' he said. The governor pointed to Trump's Truth Social post earlier on Sunday, in which he said the National Guard had done a 'great job.' Newsom said the state forces had not even been deployed at the time. 'It's Orwellian, simply lying to people, unconstitutional, illegal act, his mess. We're trying to clean it up,' he added. Later in the interview, Newsom was asked about border czar Tom Homan's comments indicating he would not rule out arresting Newsom or Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass if they interfered in his efforts. 'Come after me, arrest me. Let's just get it over with, tough guy, you know? I don't give a damn. But I care about my community. I care about this community,' he continued. 'The hell are they doing? These guys need to grow up. They need to stop and we need to push back. And I'm sorry to be so clear, but that kind of bloviating is exhausting.' Newsom added. 'So, Tom, arrest me. Let's go.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store