LA riots backed by pro-Hamas activists who called for city to burn

Telegraph

20 hours ago

The violent protests engulfing Los Angeles are backed by pro-Hamas activists who called for the city to be 'burned', it can be revealed.
Unity of Fields (UoF) celebrated attacks on police and encouraged an 'intifada' in response to the detention of illegal migrants.
They shared details of upcoming protests with their members, encouraging them to take part in the 'uprising' and to spread the unrest across the US, The Telegraph can reveal.
The group also celebrated a rioter who burned a self-driving Waymo car while wearing a Hamas armband and waving a Mexican flag.
'Wearing a Hamas armband and a PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) headband while burning a Waymo vehicle and waving a Mexican flag at the militant anti-ICE resistance is some real unity of the fields type s—,' the group wrote of the man.
Protests against ICE raids targeting illegal migrants in California, some taking place at their workplaces, erupted in the state on Friday, with some turning violent.
UoF organisers encouraged the followers to intervene to thwart ICE agents from arresting illegal migrants writing: 'Direct confrontation is the only way.'
Formerly known as Palestine Action US, the group formed in 2023 shortly after the October 7 attacks.
UoF, a phrase referring to a unified Palestinian armed resistance against Israel, announced it was transitioning into 'militant propaganda' against the United States a year later.
'We don't mean unity for unity's sake, but the protracted struggle it will take to reach a principled, higher unity against the forces of imperialism, Zionism, and fascism,' it wrote at the time.
The group was subsequently banned from social media, including Meta, but remains on X.
Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, last year implored the Department of Justice to open a domestic terror investigation into the 'anti-zionist' group over fears it could harm American citizens.
Using Telegram, the encrypted messaging service, the group shared details of the LA riots to 10,000 supporters, who they have dubbed the 'Hamas Marxist army''.
Apple subsequently banned the Telegram channel on all iPhones and other iOS devices in recent days.
But their inflammatory language has continued online, where they referred to police officers as 'pigs' and urged them to be terrorised.
'Study the way that the broader community showed up to defend the UCLA encampment from zionist pigs and the LA pig department. This kind of community defence is embedded in the ground work that is happening in LA, learn from them,' a post read.
The group wrote on X: 'You know what are good optics? Burning s--- down, pushing fascists off your block, and keeping your loved ones out of the state's dungeons. (Some might even call that winning)'
In a statement to The Telegraph, UoF said its 'LA Intifada is one part of the international revolutionary sequence that was opened up by the Toufan Al-Aqsa,' a reference to the Hamas massacre of Israelis on October 7.
The group went on to describe as 'legitimate' the killing of two innocent Israeli embassy workers in Washington DC last month.
'We view any acts of resistance against the violence of US-led imperialism as legitimate, from the George Floyd Rebellion to the LA Intifada to Elias Rodriguez's martyrdom operation.'
Mr Rodriguez has been charged with federal and local murder offences in connection with the shooting of the Israeli embassy workers on May 27.
The statement concluded: 'The duty of every revolutionary is to make the revolution. Long live the global intifada!' They concluded the statement with 'Up the Ra!' seemingly a reference to the IRA.
As protests spread around the country, so too did the call for violence.
The Solidarity Network, a group of 'anarchist organisers' in South Florida, shared a post on social media suggesting peaceful protests do not work.
Writing that they were in 'solidarity with those fighting in LA', it said: 'Riots downtown are great, but what can you accomplish in small numbers, wearing a mask at night, with your phone at home?'
They wrote: 'How's your cardio? Do your friends and you have a unique sign language? Have you ever crushed up car spark plugs? Do you know how to dampen and treat tear gas and pepper agents?'
The group urged those interested to turn up to join protests 'in a mask', before adding it was 'not discouraging nor encouraging any specific illegal activity'.
While the groups' funding remains unclear, one billionaire with links to Shanghai is accused of bankrolling some of the radical organisations involved in this week's peaceful protests.
China-based Neville Roy Singham is expected to be called to testify in front of Congress about his funding of non-profits and Marxist groups.
They include the Party for Liberation and Socialism, which is thought to have organised the peaceful demonstrations against ICE officials. There is no suggestion they were involved with any of the violence that engulfed LA.
'Paid insurrectionists behind violence'
Donald Trump has claimed 'paid insurrectionists' were behind the violence in California.
The US president said well-equipped 'agitators' had been paid to cause chaos in the country's second-biggest city, which has been the scene of disorder since Friday.
'These are paid insurrectionists. These are paid troublemakers. They're agitators. They're paid,' Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday.
'Do you think somebody walks up to a kerb and starts hammering pieces out, has all the equipment necessary and starts handing it out to people to use as a weapon? These are paid insurrectionists or agitators or troublemakers.'
Using the term 'insurrectionists' opens the door to the president invoking the 1807 Insurrection Act, which would give deployed troops the power to arrest protesters.
While the majority of protesters have been peaceful in Los Angeles, agitators have been turning up looking for trouble.
Some have torched self-driving cars or thrown rocks, fireworks and Molotov cocktails at police.
These groups, who are often dressed in head-to-toe black, their faces completely covered by masks, become more active after dark.
Several journalists were shot by officers using non-lethal rounds as they covered the protests including a photographer employed by The Telegraph.
Mr Trump deployed 2,000 members of the National Guard to the city, prompting a power struggle with Gavin Newsom, the California governor.
A further 700 US marines have since arrived in the city.
On Monday evening, police made over 100 arrests while two officers were injured. Ninety-six of the arrests were for failing to disperse in the downtown Los Angeles area.