Letters to the Editor: Readers have mixed feelings about what it means to have an American pope
To the editor: It would be difficult not to find columnist Gustavo Arellano's observations and suggestions authentic, accurate and admirable ('In the election of Pope Leo XIV, a call for Americans to be great again,' May 10). How much Dramamine did Vice President JD Vance need after reading it?
Ted Rosenblatt, Hancock Park
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To the editor: Many readers will applaud Arellano's opinion piece. It is indeed inspirational. But, as often happens with these inspirational pieces, the writer gets carried away in places. For example, he gushes that the U.S. remains 'the greatest country on Earth."
Oh, really? Does military-economic hegemony add up to the greatest? The U.S. is a great nation and offers opportunity to many immigrants. But when factors like healthcare satisfaction and infant mortality are considered, we don't rate so highly.
Juan Bernal, Santa Ana
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To the editor: Arellano, rather than merely express his elation over the election of Pope Leo XIV as the first American pope, manipulates the occasion to submit another polemic against President Trump.
Realistically, Robert Francis Prevost's election as Pope Leo has nothing to do with his charitable virtues and 'peace of the risen Christ.' It has everything to do with political motivations. The Catholic Church has always been immersed in politics, which have constantly been its guiding light.
Giuseppe Mirelli, Los Angeles
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To the editor: Thank you for your beautiful article about our new pope. For months, the citizens of America have lived in darkness experiencing the vindictive hatred the president has for the poor, underprivileged and foreign born.
As we see on Easter Vigil, the light of Christ resurrected eliminates the darkness. I finally have hope for my country.
Joan Andersen, Apple Valley
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To the editor: In his column about the newly elected pope, Arellano writes, 'I'm not sure how many of us — Catholic or not — will heed Pope Leo's invitation to embrace peace and reflect on what we can do to better us all.' I have a question for Arellano: Will he also heed the pope's teachings on abortion, homosexuality, traditional marriage and gender ideology? I'd be willing to bet my mortgage that he won't.
Sam Chaidez, Mission Hills
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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Clip of Pope Leo XIV addressing Burkina Faso leader is fake
What was claimed: A video shows Pope Leo XIV addressing a speech to Burkina Faso's military ruler Captain Ibrahim Traoré. Our verdict: This clip has been edited and likely includes deepfake audio of the Pope. He hasn't delivered such a speech and the edited clip was first shared with a note saying it was a work of fiction. A clip supposedly showing Pope Leo XIV addressing a speech to Burkina Faso's military ruler Capt Ibrahim Traoré is being shared on social media. But this is not a real speech and the clip was edited, most likely using artificial intelligence. The 36-minute video appears to show Pope Leo, who was elected head of the Catholic church on 8 May, reading a speech from sheets of paper. The speech begins: 'We will no longer sit at global summits in silence when African leaders are told to privatise their future. To His Excellency President Ibrahim [Traoré], president of the sovereign nation of Burkina Faso, son of the African soil, defender of his people, may grace and peace be multiplied.' He then continues to speak about colonialism in Africa, the church, and politics on the continent today, among other things. The video, which is grainy and glitchy, has music playing in the background and was shared by a Facebook page called Ghanaba News. Graphics saying 'Ghanaba News' appear at the start and end of the clip. It was shared with a caption saying: 'Pope Leo XIV speaks truth as he back [sic] Burkina Faso leader Captain Ibrahim Traore'. Captain Traoré became Burkina Faso's military leader after seizing power in a coup in September 2022. However, this is not a real speech delivered by the Pope. It was originally shared on YouTube on 17 May 2025 with a note low down in the description saying: 'This video is a work of fiction inspired by the life of Ibrahim Traoré. While some elements are based on real events, the situations and dialogues described are entirely imaginary and do not reflect any actual events'. While the footage used in the clip is genuine, we could find no evidence that this is real audio of the Pope speaking. It is very likely a deepfake audio clip created with artificial intelligence. The footage comes from a real recording of him delivering a speech in Italian on 12 May 2025, in which he called for press freedom to be defended, and urged the world to 'reject the paradigm of war'. The Pope can be seen shuffling his papers and looking up at the audience in the real footage [13:00], which matches his movements in the edited clip [9:58]. The Vatican published an official transcript translated into English, which shows the Pope was not addressing President Traoré, and did not mention Africa. Several things suggest the audio of Pope Leo speaking is a deepfake. Associate Professor from the University of Reading and expert in generative AI, Dr Dominic Lees, told Full Fact that the presence of an unlikely music soundtrack over a video like this is 'frequently used to mask the poor qualities of voice cloning'. Voice cloning is when AI uses a sample of someone speaking to identify speech patterns it then replicates. Dr Lees said: 'No official video of a speech by a Pope has ever been given a music backing, so this one by Pope Leo XIV has certainly been manipulated. Note that there is no room ambience around the voice in this fake video: the voice clone used here has been produced by a text-to-speech AI process, which is unable to create the natural sound of a recording made of a person in a room.' Another sign that this is a deepfake is that the Pope pronounces Capt Traoré's name differently in successive sentences [2:56]. The clip is also blurry around the mouth. Dr Lees has previously said this is a sign a deepfake has been poorly lip synced with footage because artificial intelligence finds it 'very difficult to generate a natural look in the teeth so often leave this blurry and out-of-focus.' While it is very likely that this is a deepfake, we can't be certain because there are other methods, such as different editing techniques or using a voice actor, that could have been used instead. We've contacted Ghanaba News and the Vatican for comment, and will update this article if we receive a response. As technology advances, deepfakes are becoming increasingly realistic and harder to distinguish from genuine footage. Our guide to spotting deepfake videos and AI audio provides practical tools to help tell whether they're genuine. This is not the first time we've fact checked content relating to Pope Leo XIV, including an altered image showing him with rappers and a quote widely attributed to him that we could find no evidence he actually said.
an hour ago
President Donald Trump pushes ahead with his maximalist immigration campaign in face of LA protests
WASHINGTON -- Donald Trump made no secret of his willingness to exert a maximalist approach to enforcing immigration laws and keeping order as he campaigned to return to the White House. The fulfillment of that pledge is now on full display in Los Angeles. The president has put hundreds of National Guard troops on the streets to quell protests over his administration's immigration raids, a deployment that state and city officials say has only inflamed tensions. Trump called up the California National Guard over the objections of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom — the first time in 60 years a president has done so — and is deploying active-duty troops to support the guard. By overriding Newsom, Trump is already going beyond what he did to respond to Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, when he warned he could send troops to contain demonstrations that turned violent if governors in the states did not act to do so themselves. Trump said in September of that year that he 'can't call in the National Guard unless we're requested by a governor' and that 'we have to go by the laws.' But now, the past and current president is moving swiftly, with little internal restraint to test the bounds of his executive authority in order to deliver on his promise of mass deportations. What remains to be seen is whether Americans will stand by him once it's operationalized nationwide, as Trump looks to secure billions from Congress to dramatically expand the country's detention and deportation operations. For now, Trump is betting that they will. 'If we didn't do the job, that place would be burning down," Trump told reporters Monday, speaking about California. 'I feel we had no choice. ... I don't want to see what happened so many times in this country.' The protests began to unfold Friday as federal authorities arrested immigrants in several locations throughout the sprawling city, including in the fashion district of Los Angeles and at a Home Depot. The anger over the administration's actions quickly spread, with protests in Chicago and Boston as demonstrations in the southern California city also continued Monday. But Trump and other administration officials remained unbowed, capitalizing on the images of burning cars, graffiti and Mexican flags — which, while not dominant, started to become the defining images of the unrest — to bolster their law-and-order cause. Leaders in the country's most populous state were similarly defiant. California officials sued the Trump administration Monday, with the state's attorney general, Rob Bonta, arguing that the deployment of troops 'trampled' on the state's sovereignty and pushing for a restraining order. The initial deployment of 300 National Guard troops was expected to quickly expand to the full 4,000 that has been authorized by Trump. The state's senior Democratic senator, Alex Padilla, said in an interview that 'this is absolutely a crisis of Trump's own making.' 'There are a lot of people who are passionate about speaking up for fundamental rights and respecting due process, but the deployment of National Guard only serves to escalate tensions and the situation,' Padilla told The Associated Press. 'It's exactly what Donald Trump wanted to do.' Padilla slammed the deployment as 'counterproductive' and said the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department was not advised ahead of the federalization of the National Guard. His office has also pushed the Pentagon for a justification on the deployment, and 'as far as we're told, the Department of Defense isn't sure what the mission is here," Padilla added. Much of this was predictable. During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump pledged to conduct the largest domestic deportation operation in American history to expel millions of immigrants in the country without legal status. He often praised President Dwight D. Eisenhower's military-style immigration raids, and the candidate and his advisers suggested they would have broad power to deploy troops domestically to enact Trump's far-reaching immigration and public safety goals. Trump's speedy deployment in California of troops against those whom the president has alluded to as 'insurrectionists' on social media is a sharp contrast to his decision to issue no order or formal request for National Guard troops during the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, despite his repeated and false assertions that he had made such an offer. Trump is now surrounded by officials who have no interest in constraining his power. In 2020, Trump's then-Pentagon chief publicly rebuked Trump's threat to send in troops using the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law that empowers the president to use the military within the U.S. and against American citizens. Current Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signaled support on his personal X account for deploying troops to California, writing, 'The National Guard, and Marines if need be, stand with ICE,' referring to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The Defense Department said Monday it is deploying about 700 active-duty Marines to Los Angeles to support National Guard troops already on the ground to respond to the protests. Protesters over the weekend blocked off a major freeway and burned self-driving cars as police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades in clashes that encompassed several downtown blocks in Los Angeles and led to several dozen arrests. Much of the city saw no violence. But the protests prompted Trump to issue the directive Saturday mobilizing the California National Guard over Newsom's objections. The president and his top immigration aides accused the governor of mismanaging the protests, with border czar Tom Homan asserting in a Fox News interview Monday that Newsom stoked anti-ICE sentiments and waited two days to declare unlawful assembly in the city. Trump told Newsom in a phone call Friday evening to get the situation in Los Angeles under control, a White House official said. It was only when the administration felt Newsom was not restoring order in the city — and after Trump watched the situation escalate for 24 hours and White House officials saw imagery of federal law enforcement officers with lacerations and other injuries — that the president moved to deploy the Guard, according to the official, who was granted anonymity to discuss private deliberations. 'He's an incompetent governor,' Trump said Monday. 'Look at the job he's doing in California. He's destroying one of our great states.' Local law enforcement officials said Los Angeles police responded as quickly as they could once the protests erupted, and Newsom repeatedly asserted that state and city authorities had the situation under control. 'Los Angeles is no stranger to demonstrations and protests and rallies and marches,' Padilla said. 'Local law enforcement knows how to handle this and has a rapport with the community and community leaders to be able to allow for that.' The aggressive moves prompted blowback from some of Trump's erstwhile allies. Ileana Garcia, a Florida state senator who in 2016 founded the group Latinas for Trump and was hired to direct Latino outreach, called the recent escalation 'unacceptable and inhumane.' 'I understand the importance of deporting criminal aliens, but what we are witnessing are arbitrary measures to hunt down people who are complying with their immigration hearings — in many cases, with credible fear of persecution claims — all driven by a Miller-like desire to satisfy a self-fabricated deportation goal," said Garcia, referring to Stephen Miller, a White House deputy chief of staff and key architect of Trump's immigration crackdown. The tactics could be just a preview to what more could come from the Trump administration and the Republican-controlled Congress. GOP lawmakers are working to pass a massive tax-and-border package that includes billions to hire thousands of new officers for Border Patrol and for ICE. The goal, under the Trump-backed plan, is to remove 1 million immigrants without status annually and house 100,000 people in immigration detention centers.
an hour ago
Pentagon draws up rules on possible use of force by Marines deployed to LA protests
WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon was scrambling Monday to establish rules to guide U.S. Marines who could be faced with the rare and difficult prospect of using force against citizens on American soil, now that the Trump administration is deploying active duty troops to the immigration raid protests in Los Angeles. U.S. Northern Command said it is sending 700 Marines into the Los Angeles area to protect federal property and personnel, including federal immigration agents. The 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines are coming from Twentynine Palms, California, and will augment about 4,100 National Guard members already in LA or authorized to be deployed there to respond to the protests. The forces have been trained in deescalation, crowd control and standing rules for the use of force, Northern Command said. But the use of the active duty forces still raises difficult questions. The Marines are highly trained in combat and crisis response, with time in conflict zones like Syria and Afghanistan. But that is starkly different from the role they will face now: They could potentially be hit by protesters carrying gas canisters and have to quickly decide how to respond or face decisions about protecting an immigration enforcement agent from crowds. According to a U.S. official, troops will be armed with their normal service weapons but will not be carrying tear gas. They also will have protective equipment such as helmets, shields and gas masks. When troops are overseas, how they can respond to threats is outlined by the rules of engagement. At home, they are guided by standing rules for the use of force, which have to be set and agreed to by Northern Command, and then each Marine should receive a card explaining what they can and cannot do, another U.S. official said. For example, warning shots would be prohibited, according to use-of-force draft documents viewed by The Associated Press. Marines are directed to deescalate a situation whenever possible but also are authorized to act in self-defense, the documents say. The AP reviewed documents and interviewed nine U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet public, about the guidance being determined for the Marines. The Pentagon also is working on a memo with clarifying language for the Marines that will lay out the steps they can take to protect federal personnel and property. Those guidelines also will include specifics on the possibility that they could temporarily detain civilians if troops are under assault or to prevent harm, the first U.S. official said. Those measures could involve detaining civilians until they can be turned over to law enforcement. Having the Marines deploy to protect federal buildings allows them to be used without invoking the Insurrection Act, one U.S. official said. The Insurrection Act allows the president to direct federal troops to conduct law enforcement functions in national emergencies. But the use of that act is extremely rare. Officials said that has not yet been done in this case and that it's not clear it will be done. President George H.W. Bush used the Insurrection Act to respond to riots in Los Angeles in 1992 after the acquittal of white police officers who were videotaped beating Black motorist Rodney King. If their role expands if the violence escalates, it is not clear under what legal authority they would be able to engage, said Elizabeth Goitein, a senior director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law. 'If in fact those Marines are laying hands on civilians, doing searches, then you have pretty powerful legal concerns,' Goitein said. 'No statutory authority Trump has invoked so far permits this.' Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth tweeted late Saturday that he was considering deploying the Marines to respond to the unrest after getting advice earlier in the day from Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to one of the U.S. officials. Still, the tweet, which was posted to Hegseth's personal X account and not to his official government account, caught many inside the Pentagon by surprise. As late as Monday, the military's highest offices were still considering the potential ramifications. But the Marine Corps were asking broader questions, too: Do they send more senior, experienced personnel so as not to put newer, less experienced troops at risk of potentially making a judgment call on whether to use force against a civilian? What's lawful under a domestic deployment — where troops may end up in a policing role — is governed by the Fourth Amendment in the U.S. Constitution, which forbids seizure of persons, including temporarily restraining them, unless it could be considered reasonable under the circumstances.
