‘Hit a cop, you're going to jail': FBI chief Kash Patel warns protesters amid LA immigration raids, sparks backlash over Trump's pardon to Capitol rioters
FBI chief Kash Patel
FBI director
Kash Patel
issued a statement Saturday night as immigration-related protests flared for a second night in Paramount, a suburb of Los Angeles. Patel warned that anyone who assaults law enforcement officers, including federal agents, would face jail time.
'Hit a cop, you're going to jail… doesn't matter where you came from, how you got here, or what movement speaks to you. If the local police force won't back our men and women on the thin blue line, we
@FBI
will.' Patel wrote in a post on X.
The warning came following the unrest over federal immigration enforcement raids which led to clashes between protesters and agents.
Demonstrators reportedly surrounded federal vehicles outside a Home Depot, which was being used as a staging area.
Federal agents in gas masks deployed flash-bang grenades and tear gas to disperse the crowd, and a section of freeway was briefly shut down.
California governor Gavin Newsom condemned the federal response, calling the deployment of agents 'purposefully inflammatory,' and accused the Trump administration of provoking tensions.
Patel's remarks drew criticism online, with social media users pointing to what they called a double standard. Many contrasted his tough message with the leniency shown to January 6,2021 rioters, some of whom were pardoned by Trump despite having assaulted law enforcement officers.
'Unless you're doing it for Trump,' one user replied to Patel's post. Another added, 'Unless you are trying to overturn an election.'
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