Masked protestor waving Mexican flag is hailed as symbol of anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles
Dramatic visuals showing a masked protester biking around a blazing car in Los Angeles have rapidly become a symbol of the anti-ICE riots in the California city.
Several images and a video show the man circling the burning vehicle while waving a Mexican flag through dark smoke clouds as the demonstrations escalated on Sunday.
Rioters seized control of the 101 Freeway through the afternoon, and violent clashes broke out between protesters against the National Guard, LAPD and immigration officials in response to President Trump's efforts to arrest illegal migrants.
Horrifying scenes of violence have stretched into a third day and sparked a political war of words between Trump and California Governor Gavin Newsom, who accused the federal administration of making matters worse with divisive rhetoric and threats.
The Los Angeles Police Department has been issuing a series of rapid fire directives as authorities seek to regain control of the rioters and contain the spread of the protests.
Extraordinary video shows the protesters as they commandeered both sides of the freeway on Sunday, grinding traffic to a complete halt as they march down the streets waving flags and holding signs high above their heads.
In nearby Alameda and Temple, arrests are now underway as officers report 'people in the crowd are throwing concrete, bottles and other objects.'
The LAPD issued an urgent dispersal order for the regions, warning 'those at Alameda and Temple must leave the area.'
Protesters gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center were warned that the LAPD incident commander had approved the use of 'less lethal munitions' to break up the crowd.
This came as authorities declared the area an 'unlawful assembly' and warned any protester who chose to stay would be subject to arrest.
The LAPD began issuing rolling dispersal orders and declaring some of the protests acts of 'unlawful assembly' as violence ramped up on Sunday afternoon.
Authorities issued a separate warning that the city has been placed on 'tactical alert', meaning all of the department's officers are now on notice that they could be called up for service at any given moment.
Officers who are already on duty are not allowed to end their shift until they have been relieved by their commanders, and residents of Los Angeles are warned that low priority calls may go unanswered while the alert is ongoing.
These officers will now join the 2,000 California National Guard troops Trump earlier deployed to Los Angeles to quell the protests, which he called 'a form of rebellion.'
Trump issued an extraordinary directive on Sunday vowing to 'liberate Los Angeles' from illegal aliens which have 'invaded and occupied a once great American city.'
A combined effort led by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and Attorney General Pam Bondi will restore order, Trump said.
He has directed his key personnel to 'to take all such action necessary to liberate Los Angeles from the Migrant Invasion, and put an end to these Migrant riots.
'Order will be restored, the Illegals will be expelled, and Los Angeles will be set free,' Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday afternoon.
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Finextra
41 minutes ago
- Finextra
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an hour ago
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Sherrill has faced recent attacks for her House campaign accepting donations from a corporate PAC tied to Elon Musk's SpaceX, and for being late to disclose two stock trades related to her husband's work. Sherrill's House campaign donated the PAC money to charity. She also paid a fine for the late disclosure and supports a stock trading ban for members of Congress. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka has been pitching himself as the true progressive in the race who's willing to take on the president. He garnered national attention when he was arrested last month at a federal immigration detention facility. (The charges were later dropped, and Baraka is now suing New Jersey U.S. Attorney Alina Habba in response.) The attention has given Baraka's campaign a last-minute boost, with recent fundraising reports showing that his campaign raised $962,000 in the 17 days following the arrest, more than twice as much as his next closest Democratic competitor. Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop is also appealing to the party's liberal voters, describing his supporters as 'pragmatic progressive' voters. Fulop has been running an anti-establishment campaign, criticizing the state's Democratic political machine and Murphy, whom he described at a recent campaign stop as a 'sub-average' governor. Teachers' union president Sean Spiller has said he also considers himself a progressive and has criticized those in his party who he says are backed by wealthy corporate interests. Spiller himself has been boosted by Working New Jersey, a super PAC funded by the New Jersey Education Association, which Spiller leads. Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer, one of the more moderate members of Congress, has been pitching an economic-focused message, saying he will work to bring down the state's high cost of living. And former state Senate President Steve Sweeney, who lost re-election in 2021 to an underfunded GOP challenger, has argued that he is best equipped to lead the state government given his legislative experience. Sweeney, who is also stressing his blue-collar roots as a former ironworker, could have a geographic advantage as the only candidate from South Jersey. How influential is Trump's endorsement? The GOP primary will be a key test for Trump's endorsement and determine whether the president has helped consolidate his supporters around Ciattarelli, his preferred candidate in the race. Ciattarelli sharply criticized then-candidate Trump in 2015, calling him a 'charlatan' and unfit to be president, and he notably did not campaign with Trump when he ran for governor in 2021. Trump knocked Ciattarelli for failing to do so in a radio appearance last year with Ciattarelli's chief competitor in the GOP primary, Bill Spadea. 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Bramnick, a longtime state legislator who is also a standup comedian, has called for a return to civility, and he has sharply criticized Trump in the past. Two other candidates are also on the Republican primary ballot: former Englewood Cliffs Mayor Mario Kranjac, a a self-described 'forever Trumper' who has been endorsed by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and contractor Justin Barbera. Will the millions of dollars matter? Tuesday's primaries in New Jersey will also test outside groups' influence as they've spent millions of dollars in the pricey New York and Philadelphia media markets to reach Garden State voters. The pro-Spiller super PAC Working New Jersey, which is tied to the state's teachers' union, had spent a whopping $35 million on the race as of May 27, according to the latest campaign finance reports, while Spiller's campaign itself had spent $342,000. The group has spent $12.1 million on ads this year, according to AdImpact. That ad-spending sum was surpassed only by Affordable New Jersey, a super PAC supporting Gottheimer, which was funded largely by transfers from Gottheimer's congressional campaign. That group has spent $14.8 million on the airwaves. Fulop has also gotten a boost by a super PAC called Coalition for Progress, which has spent $8.1 million on ads this year. Sherrill's aligned super PAC, One Giant Leap PAC, has dropped nearly $5.9 million on the airwaves, largely over the last month of the race. Ciattarelli has had a financial advantage in the GOP primary, spending $6 million on ads, compared to Spadea's $1.7 million and Bramnick's $1.2 million, according to AdImpact. Both Ciattarelli and Spadea have also gotten boosts from super PACs, but both groups have spent less than $1 million on ads in the race.
