Latest news with #LosAngelenos
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
What started the LA protests? Immigration raids sparked outrage
The protests in Los Angeles County began as a reaction to a handful of immigration raids, including one outside a Home Depot and another at a clothing manufacturer in the city's garment district. The raids and subsequent outrage came as the Trump administration stepped up its detention and deportation of immigrants including at workplaces, traffic stops and routine legal check-ins. Protests against these moves have increased, too. While most have remained peaceful, the Department of Homeland Security reported a more than 400% surge in assaults on agents. After small protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles on June 6, Trump took several swift actions, calling in the 4,000 California National Guard troops and 700 Marines, drawing ire – and at least one lawsuit – from California officials who accuse the president of stoking tension and escalating unrest. Live updates LA police make 'mass arrests' after downtown curfew kicks in Trump has stood by his actions, saying the deployments were necessary to contain what he described as "violent, instigated riots." About 150 people have been arrested at the protests, which have included flareups of unruly clashes, vandalism and looting, but have remained limited to a few blocks in the city's downtown area. As authorities brace for another day of protests and Los Angelenos ready themselves for the increased military presence, here's what to know about how the protests began. On Friday, June 6, the protests began as a reaction to immigration raids that took place in several parts of the city, including outside a Home Depot and a clothing manufacturer in the city's garment district. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said local immigrant rights groups had confirmed at least five ICE raids in the Los Angeles region. The mayor said officials were still working to compile more information on the raids but noted that in some cases, ICE targeted day laborers and detained people who appeared for scheduled immigration appointments. "As you know, ICE does not tell anybody where they're going to go or when they're going to be there," Bass said. Relatives of detainees and other community members showed up to the ICE operations, taking videos and photos of the agents and beginning to protest. Some sought to interfere with the raids, blocking vehicles carrying people suspected of being in the country illegally. At one of the raids, federal agents arrested David Huerta, the president of the Service Employees International Union was arrested and accused of interfering with federal agents. The union said Huerta was exercising his First Amendment right to observe and document law enforcement activity. He was released June 9 on $50,000 bail. By the evening, demonstrators began to gather at the immigration services building and detention center in downtown Los Angeles. Police at 7 p.m. declared it an unlawful assembly and ordered the crowd to disperse. Soon, dozens of police officers arrived in riot gear. Some people rocks and chunks of concrete at officers, and law enforcement eventually used pepper spray, tear gas and flash bangs to disperse the crowd. Demonstrations stretched into Saturday, June 7, with protesters clashing with law enforcement in Paramount, a city about 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, where rumors spread about a potential raid at a Home Depot. Tensions flared, with some people in the crowd throwing objects and aiming fireworks at law enforcement, who threw tear gas and fired flash-bang rounds. Another protest broke out in the nearby city of Compton, where a car was lit aflame. Around 6 p.m. Trump signed a memo directing the Secretary of Defense to mobilize the California National Guard. Newsom shot back, saying law enforcement could handle the protests and did not need troops on the ground. The protests, which were concentrated over a few blocks in downtown Los Angeles, continued into Sunday, June 8. Flare ups led demonstrators to block traffic on the 101 Freeway and set several electric vehicles on fire. That night, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said he believed most protesters were nonviolent and blamed the violence on people "who come in from other places just to hurt people and case havoc." More arrests took place at demonstrations on Monday, June 9, as Trump made the decision to double the National Guard presence and send in hundreds of Marines. Authorities have begun to clean up graffiti downtown and are preparing for the possibility of more protests this week. Contributing: Elizabeth Weise and Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY; Reuters This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What started the LA protests? A look at ICE raids that sparked outrage
USA Today
a day ago
- Politics
- USA Today
Los Angeles is grappling with ‘collective grief and frustration' amid protests
Los Angeles is grappling with 'collective grief and frustration' amid protests Show Caption Hide Caption Trump calls LA protesters a security risk as clashes continue Demonstrators clashed with police on a freeway off-ramp in LA for a fifth day. President Trump called them a national security risk. Six months ago, Los Angeles County suffered a major blow from devastating wildfires. Now, the national spotlight is on the area amid intense protests over federal immigration raids. For some residents, all of it is compounding the fear. 'There's no question that we are grappling with collective grief and frustration,' one resident told USA TODAY. ALTADENA, Calif. – On the outskirts of Los Angeles, where the scars and scorched landscape from wildfires remain, uncertainty keeps rising. Sergio Hernandez said he felt it this week while standing on the lot where his family home of 44 years burned down six months ago from the deadly wildfires − and roughly 13 miles from where protesters set fire to self-driving Waymo taxis in downtown Los Angeles. Now, Hernandez's grief is compounded. The protests sparked by controversial raids carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement taking place across Los Angeles County are further heightening fears in America's largest county, a place still recovering from the wildfires tragedy. "I thought COVID was bad," Hernandez, 43, told USA TODAY. "But, no, I was wrong. This is much worse." Down the road, Eduardo Escobedo, 40, who runs his second-generation, family-owned tree trimming service, shares a similar sentiment. "There's so much uncertainty," said Escobedo, observing his crew throw branches into a shredder where another home once stood. "A lot of people don't feel safe." In a year that's already been punctuated by the devastating wildfires that will take years to rebuild, an emotionally weary Los Angeles County is back in an unwanted spotlight due to nearly a week of anti-ICE protests that are testing its character. California Gov. Gavin Newsom is blaming President Donald Trump for purposely fanning the flames in the county, accusing him of "pulling a military dragnet" on Los Angelenos by adding thousands of troops in the area, imperiling peaceful protesters and targeting hardworking immigrant families. "Donald Trump's government isn't protecting our communities — they're traumatizing our communities," Newsom said. "And that seems to be the entire point." During his address on June 10, the governor added that the president has chosen "theatrics over public safety," and Trump is hurting many in the process. "This brazen abuse of power by a sitting president inflamed a combustible situation, putting our people, our officers, and even our National Guard at risk," Newsom said. "That's when the downward spiral began. He doubled down on his dangerous National Guard deployment by fanning the flames even harder. And the president, he did it on purpose." Meanwhile, the president has countered and said he sent the National Guard in to control whom he called "paid insurrectionists, agitators, or troublemakers." "This should never have been allowed to start, and if we didn't get involved, Los Angeles would be burning down right now," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on June 10, while also quipping about the deadly wildfires. "Just as the houses burned down." For Los Angeles native Christian Arana, when he was younger, "it's almost a tradition" to attend protests and advocate for their immigrant family members. "And now, more than 30 years later, I'm doing the exact same thing, except we're being met with a militaristic response," said Arana, vice president of civic power and policy at the nonprofit Latino Community Foundation. "While the White House might call this chaos, within this pain and sadness, I see hope. We want to see better from our government." Too much?: Has Trump overblown the threat of protests? Residents, local officials say yes. 'It's already sad enough' This area here is still rebounding from the Palisades and Eaton fires that swept through Altadena and the Pacific Palisades regions earlier this year, killing at least 29 and burning over 37,000 acres, or 57.8 square miles. Now comes the ICE raids on undocumented residents and the uproar and uncertainty from the protests that have led to occasional violence. It's been a lot to bear, Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said. "There's no question that we are grappling with collective grief and frustration," Barger told USA TODAY. "But, this isn't the first time." The supervisor rattled off residents persevering through the civil unrest after the Rodney King riots in 1992, and then the George Floyd protests in 2020 amid the unprecedented public health crisis brought on by COVID-19. "Each time, it felt like we were standing on the edge. And each time, Los Angeles County pulled through, strong and determined to move forward," Barger said. "We are a region defined not by the challenges we face, but by how we respond to them." But even the optimistic supervisor who added whether it's fighting wildfires, cleaning up after protests, or "simply showing up for one another, that spirit and resolve is what gives me hope" knows it won't be easy. Pulling up his black bucket hat to rub his face, Hernandez, the son of Mexican immigrants who came to the U.S. in the 1970s, said he's trying to help rebuild his family's Altadena home. There will be permits to obtain and bills to pay if they move forward. "I'm not sure what the future will hold," he said. "But I think we can make it happen." Yet, the self-employed screen printer said he's extremely concerned about possible deportations of close family friends. "Even though my immediate family is not at risk of being deported, I know a lot of people who could potentially be deported," he said somberly. "I hope we can figure something out. It's just not right." Hernandez said seeing images of the ICE arrests and watching and hearing sounds from the destructive protests disturbs him. It triggers flashbacks from the wildfires as Hernandez points down to the thick black marks on his family home's driveway. He recalled the crackling and booms of exploding cars, ignited by the flames when the Eaton Fire tore through his town. 'Just sirens the whole night," Hernandez said about the recurring pain. "…I don't think I've had time to recover from the fire." It's catastrophic to deal with the loss of a home, but for some families who face possible separation from undocumented relatives it may even be more unbearable, said Patty Porter, an insurance inspector who was knocking on doors of those whose homes were spared in Altadena. "It's already sad enough," said Porter, 65. "Imagine if you're a 12-year-old child and you're separated from your parents. It's not good to separate families. You don't have to do all of this." Ground zero?: Demographics of Los Angeles show its a fertile ground for anti-ICE protests Palpable fear and pain On the same day Hernandez shared his grief with USA TODAY, 700 U.S. Marines arrived in Los Angeles. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act includes 10,000 new ICE agents and billions of dollars to carry out a million deportations a year. Los Angeles city and county become a ripe target for those pushing for the crackdown and reform. About a third of Los Angeles County's 10 million residents were born in another country, and nearly one in 10 lack documentation to remain legally, according to the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank. And many of those undocumented parents have children who are U.S. citizens, about 16% of the county's child population, according to a 2023 University of Southern California study. These stats make Trump's aggressive immigration enforcement unwarranted in this haven of immigrants, Arana said. That same USC study also shows that if there were a roadmap to U.S. citizenship, it could bring a projected $1.5 to $2.6 billion boost to the annual income of the currently undocumented. A 2024 study showed undocumented Californians paid nearly $8.5 billion in state and local taxes in 2022, according to estimates from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). The figure includes the sales and excise taxes paid on purchases, property taxes paid on homes or indirectly through rents, individual and business income taxes, unemployment taxes, and other types of taxes, the study said. Despite their contributions and support, this is all in jeopardy, Arana said before attending a prayer vigil for them featuring Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and local clergy on June 10. "You have to understand (the undocumented resident's) fear, it's a palpable fear and pain," Arana said. "They don't want to leave their homes, show up to work, send their kids to school, miss scheduled doctor's appointments, even go grocery shopping. This fear all forces them into the dark corners of society." While that fear is felt in places like Los Angeles and elsewhere, many Americans support a tougher deportation policy. A CBS News/YouGov poll earlier in June said 54% of Americans supported Trump's deportation policy, and 50% approved of how he's handling immigration. Additionally, more than 40% of Americans polled also said they think Trump's crackdown is making the country safer. The poll was conducted just before Trump ordered National Guard troops to L.A. Escobedo believes that ICE's widespread targeting, instead of focusing on undocumented criminals and public safety threats, is affecting Hispanics from all walks of life. "I believe if you're really doing bad, there should be consequences, but to go after the working class, those who are trying to support their families, is way overboard," Escobedo said. "That's where I disagree." He said what makes Los Angeles so unique is its diversity, not divisiveness. "Everyone's perspective is appreciated here," Escobedo said. "Even if we don't agree with one another, that's what makes Los Angeles so beautiful. We can agree to disagree and still respect each other. What's wrong with that?" While their resilience is being tested, Barger said the county has found the strength to pull through. "This year has left scars and is creating new ones," Barger said. "But I truly believe Los Angeles County will come out on top. We always do."
Buzz Feed
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Jimmy Kimmel Roasts Trump After Show Hiatus
returned to his show after a long weekend and devoted much of his opening monologue to attacking President Donald Trump for sending troops into Los Angeles to deal with protests in the city. Kimmel showed off footage of an ordinary scene outside his studio, saying it might surprise viewers 'who have been watching cable news and believe this city is some kind of totalitarian hellscape right now.' Disney is even holding a film premiere on the same block for the new movie Elio, which Kimmel noted is about aliens. 'Don't tell Trump,' Kimmel said. 'He'll send the Green Berets in.' He tore into Trump for using masked agents to 'abduct' migrants, most of whom 'have never done anything wrong.' Protesting that, he said, 'is not only our right as Americans, it's our responsibility.' 'Los Angelenos have been gathering to demonstrate ― and, with very few exceptions, peacefully demonstrate ― to voice their opposition to this disgusting and unnecessary abuse of power instigated by our mentally ill president,' he said. Kimmel noted how Trump earlier this year tried to take credit for stopping the wildfires that hit the Los Angeles area. Trump again tried to take credit for that this week and said he saved the city from 'burning' a second time by sending in the National Guard to stop the protests. 'He so desperately wants to be the hero putting out fires,' Kimmel said. 'He's starting fires. Putting out a fire you purposely start doesn't make you a firefighter. It makes you an arsonist with a hose.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Jimmy Kimmel Trashes ‘Mentally Ill' Trump for Disrespecting Gavin Newsom
In the ongoing feud between California Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Donald Trump, it may come as no surprise that Kimmel is fiercely on Team Newsom. 'Trump wants it to seem like anarchy,' Kimmel said about the Los Angeles ICE protests, 'So he goes around our governor, and he calls in 4,000 troops from the National Guard and 700 active-duty Marines.' Kimmel argued, 'You know, when we had the wildfires that devastated big chunks of our city, he did absolutely nothing. Now that we're in the middle of a non-emergency, send in the National Guard.' Kimmel showed a recent press conference clip of Trump claiming that Newsom is 'doing a bad job, causing a lot of death and a lot potential death.' Trump also claimed, 'If we didn't send out the National Guard ... Los Angeles would be burning right now.' 'No, it would be calm and sunny and 70 degrees, just like it is right now,' Kimmel said. Kimmel also defended Los Angeles from the narrative that the city is engulfed in total chaos: 'Los Angelenos have been gathering to demonstrate, with very few exceptions, peacefully demonstrate, to voice their opposition to this disgusting and unnecessary abuse of power instigated by our mentally ill president, who is dead set on exacerbating this,' Kimmel said. '[Trump] actually wants conflict,' Kimmel argued. 'He was intentionally inflaming and lying to make it seem like there's a war going on here.' This isn't the first time Kimmel defended Los Angeles' reputation from Trump's attacks in a time of crisis. In January this year, as Los Angeles suffered one of its worst wildfires in history, Kimmel had angrily ripped into Trump's 'vile' claims about his suffering hometown. Kimmel brought up the January wildfires again Tuesday, saying of Trump, 'What a hero. You know, he's always saving our city from burning.' 'Last time we were burning back in January, you remember he had them turn on that great big faucet that put all the fires out,' Kimmel said. He played a clip of Trump repeating his January claim that he'd saved L.A. by simply turning the water back on. 'Does anyone believe this?' Kimmel asked. 'That did not happen. He so desperately wants to be the hero, putting out fires.' Bringing it back to Trump's response to the current L.A. protests, Kimmel concluded, 'Putting out a fire you purposely started doesn't make you a firefighter. It makes you an arsonist with a hose.'
The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
How ICE raids triggered the ongoing LA protests
Protests against these moves have increased, too. While most have remained peaceful, the Department of Homeland Security reported a more than 400% surge in assaults on agents. After small protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles on June 6, Trump took several swift actions, calling in the 4,000 California National Guard troops and 700 Marines, drawing ire - and at least one lawsuit - from California officials who accuse the president of stoking tension and escalating unrest. Trump has stood by his actions, saying the deployments were necessary to contain what he described as "violent, instigated riots." About 150 people have been arrested at the protests, which have included flareups of unruly clashes, vandalism and looting, but have remained limited to a few blocks in the city's downtown area. As authorities brace for another day of protests and Los Angelenos ready themselves for the increased military presence, here's what to know about how the protests began. How did the Los Angeles protests begin? On Friday, June 6, the protests began as a reaction to immigration raids that took place in several parts of the city, including outside a Home Depot and a clothing manufacturer in the city's garment district. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said local immigrant rights groups had confirmed at least five ICE raids in the Los Angeles region. The mayor said officials were still working to compile more information on the raids but noted that in some cases, ICE targeted day laborers and detained people who appeared for scheduled immigration appointments. "As you know, ICE does not tell anybody where they're going to go or when they're going to be there," Bass said. Relatives of detainees and other community members showed up to the ICE operations, taking videos and photos of the agents and beginning to protest. Some sought to interfere with the raids, blocking vehicles carrying people suspected of being in the country illegally. At one of the raids, federal agents arrested David Huerta, the president of the Service Employees International Union was arrested and accused of interfering with federal agents. The union said Huerta was exercising his First Amendment right to observe and document law enforcement activity. He was released June 9 on $50,000 bail. By the evening, demonstrators began to gather at the immigration services building and detention center in downtown Los Angeles. Police at 7 p.m. declared it an unlawful assembly and ordered the crowd to disperse. Soon, dozens of police officers arrived in riot gear. Some people rocks and chunks of concrete at officers, and law enforcement eventually used pepper spray, tear gas and flash bangs to disperse the crowd. Protests escalated over the weekend Demonstrations stretched into Saturday, June 7, with protesters clashing with law enforcement in Paramount, a city about 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, where rumors spread about a potential raid at a Home Depot. Tensions flared, with some people in the crowd throwing objects and aiming fireworks at law enforcement, who threw tear gas and fired flash-bang rounds. Another protest broke out in the nearby city of Compton, where a car was lit aflame. Around 6 p.m. Trump signed a memo directing the Secretary of Defense to mobilize the California National Guard. Newsom shot back, saying law enforcement could handle the protests and did not need troops on the ground. The protests, which were concentrated over a few blocks in downtown Los Angeles, continued into Sunday, June 8. Flare ups led demonstrators to block traffic on the 101 Freeway and set several electric vehicles on fire. That night, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said he believed most protesters were nonviolent and blamed the violence on people "who come in from other places just to hurt people and case havoc." More arrests took place at demonstrations on Monday, June 9, as Trump made the decision to double the National Guard presence and send in hundreds of Marines. Authorities have begun to clean up graffiti downtown and are preparing for the possibility of more protests this week. Contributing: Elizabeth Weise and Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY; Reuters
