Reaction to Trump's crackdown on LA protests splits sharply on party lines
Unrest in Los Angeles has become a microcosm of US political divisions on immigration enforcement operations, with political leaders offering vastly different interpretations of the Trump administration's deployment of national guard troops and the mass targeting of undocumented communities.
The divide over the same events came into full view when the California Democratic congresswoman Maxine Waters was denied entry to an LA detention center over the weekend, with Marjorie Taylor Greene, her Republican colleague from Georgia, mocking her on social media.
'Maxine Waters is big mad she got turned away by ICE when she went to go check on her CRIMINAL ILLEGALS!!' Greene posted on X, comparing Waters' situation to her own denial of access to the DC jail to visit 'AMERICAN CITIZENS being held in solitary confinement.'
Related: Los Angeles gears up for fourth day of protests against immigration raids
Greene later added: '2,000 National Guard is not enough for the LA insurrection and Democrat led war on America!!!'
The exchange crystallizes the demonstrable split over the politicians: Democratic lawmakers condemn what they characterize as cruelty and federal overreach, while Republicans defend Trump's actions as necessary law enforcement.
The California Democratic senator Adam Schiff urged restraint from protesters, warning on social media that 'violence is never the answer' and cautioning that attacking law enforcement officers 'plays directly into the hands of those who seek to antagonize and weaponize the situation for their own gain'.
On the other hand, Senator Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, posted 'deportations have never sounded better'.
Several thousand protesters have so far gathered around federal facilities and city hall in Los Angeles, with demonstrations spilling on to freeways and disrupting traffic throughout downtown – with instances of law enforcement officers shooting non-lethal bullets at an Australian reporter and a British news photographer, heavy clashes with law enforcement, and setting fire to autonomous vehicles.
It is unclear how many national guardsmen have actually been deployed, but the Los Angeles police department declared the downtown area an unlawful assembly zone early on Monday morning.
The Florida Democratic congressman Darren Soto criticized the administration's immigration enforcement sweep, arguing that 'American citizens are even getting snatched up just for looking Hispanic' and that 'due process has also been largely ignored'.
But Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio branded the demonstrations 'a violent uprising in defense of criminal illegal aliens', declaring that 'President Trump is absolutely right to restore law and order.'
Eli Crane, a Republican congressman from Arizona, mocked California's leadership over the chaos, while the California Republican Darrell Issa accused Democrats of believing 'enforcing our immigration laws should incite people to attack Ice agents and riot in the streets'.
Democrats fired back with accusations of federal tyranny. Former vice-president Kamala Harris called the national guard deployment 'a dangerous escalation meant to provoke chaos' and part of a 'cruel, calculated agenda to spread panic'.
The California Democratic congresspeople Sam Liccardo and Lateefah Simon focused on supporting immigrant communities.
Liccardo warned that Trump's actions risk 'pushing our nation down a dangerous path toward tyranny', while Simon said that immigrant communities 'are not alone' and vowed to protect community rights.
The senior Democratic congresswoman Pramila Jayapal condemned 'weaponizing the military against US citizens and immigrants alike'.
The enforcement battle in Los Angeles has created an unusual dynamic where state and federal law enforcement agencies operate in the same area with different mandates, contributing to confusion and escalating tensions on the streets. But the confusion, mixed with Trump's heavy-handed approach, is causing some Democrats to echo calls for non-violence.
'If you are protesting please do it peacefully,' the California Democratic congressman Mike Thompson posted on X. 'We do not need to give this President and his administration any excuses to further escalate the situation.'
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Politico
29 minutes ago
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George Floyd unrest informs Trump's response to Los Angeles protests
President Donald Trump's response to the Los Angeles protests isn't just an opportunity to battle with a Democratic governor over his signature issue. The president sees it as a chance to redo his first-term response to a wave of civil unrest. As protests broke out after the killing of George Floyd in 2020, Trump's instincts were to deploy thousands of active-duty troops across U.S. cities. But some administration officials resisted the idea and reportedly urged the president against invoking the Insurrection Act to do so. Five years later, Trump sees something familiar as protests rage across Los Angeles in response to the administration's immigration raids. He moved quickly to deploy 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines to support law enforcement, a decision he credited on Tuesday with preventing a 'great City' from 'burning to the ground.' And he repeatedly signaled his willingness to invoke the Insurrection Act if protests continue to escalate. There's a chief motivating factor driving Trump's aggressive response: The president is eager to avoid a repeat of the summer of protest that followed a Minneapolis police officer's killing of Floyd. The civil unrest added another layer to the turmoil facing Trump, as the country reeled from the Covid pandemic and voters prepared to return to the ballot box. And this time, he has stacked his Cabinet with loyalists and is less restrained by officials such as those in his first administration who feared deploying active-duty military troops would further inflame tensions and be viewed as a step toward martial law. 'The president is trusting his gut here,' said a person close to the White House, granted anonymity to discuss the president's response, reflecting back to former Chair of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley and former Defense Secretary Mark Esper breaking with Trump's desire to send troops. 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Trump's decision to deploy troops has also set off a legal firestorm: California sued the administration for deploying the National Guard without consultation, arguing that using the military to quell the immigration protests is illegal and unconstitutional. Gov. Gavin Newsom filed another suit on Tuesday, asking a federal judge for a restraining order to block Hegseth from ordering troops to support immigration raids in the city 'immediately.' 'There is no invasion or rebellion in Los Angeles; there is civil unrest that is no different from episodes that regularly occur in communities throughout the country, and that is capable of being contained by state and local authorities working together,' California Attorney General Rob Bonta and other lawyers wrote in the new motion. Rallies protesting the administration's ICE raids and immigration agenda spread across U.S. cities this week. And so-called 'No Kings' rallies, coinciding with the president's military parade in Washington on Saturday, are planned in more than 1,800 cities across the country, including the nation's capital. Trump warned on Tuesday that any protests during this weekend's parade will be met with 'very heavy force.' 'If there's any protester who wants to come out, they will be met with very big force,' the president said in the Oval Office. 'I haven't even heard about a protest, but [there are] people that hate our country.' Dasha Burns contributed to this report.
UPI
30 minutes ago
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Defense Secretary Hegseth defends LA deployments at Capitol Hill hearing
1 of 5 | Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth testifies at a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. Hegseth argued "ICE has the right to safely conduct operations," as he defended the recent deployment of troops to Los Angeles. Photo by Aaron Schwartz/UPI | License Photo June 10 (UPI) -- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sparred with Democrats on Capitol Hill on Tuesday over the decision to send 5,000 Marines and National Guard troops into Los Angeles as some protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids turned violent. Hegseth, a former National Guardsman, testified before the House Appropriations subcommittee, where he defended the decision to deploy troops and the role of ICE. "We ought to be able to enforce immigration law in this country," Hegseth testified. "I think we're entering another phase, especially under President Trump with his focus on the homeland, where the National Guard and Reserves become a critical component of how we secure that homeland." "In Los Angeles, we believed ICE had the right to safely conduct operations," Hegseth added. "We deployed National Guard and the Marines to protect them." Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., asked Hegseth why he was sending "war fighters to cities to interact with civilians?" "ICE agents need to be able to do their job," Hegseth responded. "They are being attacked for doing their job, which is deporting illegal criminals. The governor of California has failed to protect his people, along with the mayor of Los Angeles. And so President Trump has said he will protect our agents and our Guard and Marines." Aguilar fired back against Hegseth's answer and said, "The law also says Mr. Secretary that the orders for these purposes shall be issued through governors of the states." Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota also sparred with Hegseth about the cost of deploying the National Guard and Marines, and whether their absence would impact trainings in other parts of the country. The two talked over each other repeatedly as Hegseth referenced the George Floyd murder protests and accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of "abandoning a police precinct" in 2020. "We're both from Minnesota. I was in the Twin Cities during the riots that followed the murder of George Floyd. Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets for days," said McCollum. "At no point did we need Marines to be deployed. This is a deeply unfair position to put our Marines in. Their service should be honored. It should not be exploited." "You are right," Hegseth testified. "We are both originally from Minnesota. Which is why I recall 2020 quite well, when Gov. Walz abandoned a police precinct and allowed it to be burned to the ground -- and also allowed five days of chaos to occur inside the streets of Minneapolis." "We believe that ICE has the right to safely conduct operations in any state and any jurisdiction in the country," Hegseth continued. "Especially after 21 million illegals have crossed our border under the previous administration. ICE should be able to do their job." "Chairman, I have limited time," McCollum declared. "I asked a budget question." After repeated questioning about the budget by several committee members, Hegseth finally gave an answer. "We have a 13% increase in our defense budget and we will have the capability to cover contingencies, which is something the National Guard and the Marines plan for. So we have the funding to cover contingencies, especially ones as important as maintaining law and order in a major American city," Hegseth testified. During the hearing, Hegseth was also questioned about spending cuts to foreign aid programs, including USAID, and staffing cuts at the Defense Department, to which he argued the administration is reducing any program considered "wasteful and duplicitous."
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