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Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
I Was at the L.A. Protests. They're Nothing Like What You're Seeing on TV.
On Sunday afternoon, I drove to the Los Angeles ICE protest down by Temple and Alameda. It's around 14 miles from my house and miraculously only took 35 minutes that day. Maybe people were already down at the protest, or maybe they were at the L.A. Pride Parade, or maybe they were just at brunch, but even the chronic arterial blockage on the 101 at Silver Lake Boulevard was moving pretty nicely. I pointed myself to the southeast side of where I knew the protests to be because I know a cheap parking lot down there. I situated myself right near the Geffen wing of the Museum of Contemporary Art, with the Barbara Kruger Untitled (Questions) mural on the exterior wall: Who is beyond the law? Who is bought and sold? Who is free to choose? I went and chanted and was home safe and sound by 7 p.m. And now the Marines are here. As with the fires earlier this year, people from all corners and chapters of my life have been texting to check in ever since. Also like the fires, everything happening in Los Angeles right now is happening around the corner and a world away. If you didn't know, if you didn't want to know, you could pretty easily keep not knowing. Los Angeles is crazy vast. It feels more like a patchwork of little cities than the great big city it is. That Sunset Fire was five miles away from where we live, from where we sat watching it on local news. We didn't even smell it until long after it had been contained. Our go bags didn't even move from the entryway to the car. We were protected by a freeway, by a distance that isn't actually that far. For Sunday, I had made a loose plan to meet up with a couple of friends who were also heading downtown. They'd gone to City Hall, and up where they were, at that end of it, the LAPD were trying to move the crowd, to kettle them using flashbangs and rubber bullets. I was a seven-minute walk from where this was happening and wouldn't have known if we hadn't been texting and trying to find each other. Where I was, things were peaceful and as orderly as these things get. As I crossed 1st Street on Alameda to approach a denser area, protestors were directing traffic. Warning cars that they might end up stuck in a crowd of people, giving them alternate directions to the freeway. Warning us pedestrians, 'Have an exit plan. They're about to declare this unlawful.' There was a skirmish line of officers, a bunch of protestors just close and just far enough. There were chants and signs, American flags and Mexican flags. There were abuelitas handing out cold bottles of water. There were dogs. There were people asking to pet the dogs. It was as peaceful and orderly as these things get, but there was the unshakable sense that it could all go to shit in an instant. It did not. After an hour or so, I went back toward my car, and there was an L.A. Pride block party around Angel City Brewery at 2nd and Alameda. I went in and another one of my friends made his way over to meet me. We each had a couple of pints of its limited-edition LGBTQ-IPA and roamed. DJs, face-painting, knockoff labubus, sweet and savory crepes. A block and a half from the unrest that was so violent and dangerous that the National Guard had been deployed, there was a packed and positive block party. Once you tuned out the white noise of the three choppers circling low overhead, you wouldn't have known anything was happening at all. There was black smoke in my rear view mirror on the drive back, and I thought, Well, that ain't good. It wasn't until I got home and turned on the local news that I found out it was Waymo driverless cars being burned. Five of them. When I turned on the national news after dark, that was pretty much all I saw: The black smoke and flaming carcasses of five empty cars owned by Google or something. Not the concerned citizens that showed up for their neighbors just to be greeted by flash grenades and rubber bullets. If you got all of your information from cable news, burning cars were all you'd think happened. Donald Trump called in the Marines the next morning, and they drove in from Twenty Nine Palms. They're here now, I guess. Right now, the local news is doing a segment on Father's Day gift ideas. The president thinks the situation is dangerous enough to require the military, but KTLA does not think it is important enough to preempt a piece on backgammon sets and coffee mugs repurposed from MLB game bats. They're here now, I guess, 700 strong, and nobody seems to know what they're going to do, nor even where they're going to stay or what they're going to eat, because now we know that nobody budgeted for the lodging or meals of the 2,000 National Guard members who've been sent here, who woke up on the cold stone floor of some federal building. The ICE activity we are protesting is allegedly being directed by White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. On Monday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Miller called a meeting of ICE officials last month and directed them to 'just go out there and arrest illegal aliens.' Not to target 'the worst of the worst,' as the president had indicated. Not even to target criminals or gang members at all. But to roll up to a Home Depot where day laborers gather. To post up outside of a grammar school graduation in a neighborhood with a high percentage of undocumented residents. Just go and grab them and pull them away from their homes and their babies and their lives. Just lock them up. Now, that's what they're doing. That's what we're protesting. And if it turns out their papers actually are in order, which it has more than a few times, then tough shit. As with New York, just about everyone who tells you Los Angeles is a crime-ridden hellhole has never actually spent time here. That's why it's so surprising that Stephen Miller is a Los Angeles native—well, kind of. He's from Santa Monica, twelve miles and anywhere from a forty five- to ninety-minute drive from here. To have a friend who moves to the West Side is to have a friend you never see anymore. To have an afternoon meeting on the West Side is to have your whole day spoken for. It's not that far, but it's a world away. There's a video that made the rounds in the early days of the first Trump administration, when Miller was a lower-level spokesghoul. It's our boy as a Santa Monica High School student and worth taking a fresh look at now that we know he's one of the architects of this ICE campaign of random terror. Look at this: There he is. The sneer for which he'd come to be known is already fully formed. His beard is largely too embarrassed to have anything to do with his face. He's got the general look of someone you'd see juggling outside of a Barenaked Ladies show because he's afraid to go inside the Barenaked Ladies show because someone in there might be doing pot. He's arguing for his right to leave his trash behind. And he seems to want to be cheered for it. Los Angeles is crazy vast. Santa Monica High School is twelve miles from where I sit writing. If I left right now, I'd be there in an hour. But do you know what's one half of one mile, one ten-minute walk away from Santa Monica High School? The beach. A really nice, clean, and well-maintained beach, as a matter of fact. Miller could have been taking a surf lesson, eating some Dippin' Dots, or watching a majestic sunset over the Pacific Ocean. Instead, he's sneering to a crowd about his right as a white person to leave his mess behind for a brown person to clean up. This behavior is rancid. This rancid behavior is motivated by a rancid worldview that is the kind of rancid you really don't grow out of. This is rancid, and now it's backed up by the United States government, and now the United States government is backed up by the United States military. These raids are the acting out of that entitled and bigoted and absolutely rancid worldview. That's what we're protesting. And on the whole we're doing it more peacefully than most groups of people who take to the streets after their city's team wins or loses the Stanley Cup. We do not need your help. Anyway, the Marines are here, and we're all just kind of waiting. Around the corner and a world away. And I'm thinking of Barbara Kruger's questions that hung above the protest I attended on Sunday. Who follows orders? Who salutes longest? Who dies first? Who laughs last? You Might Also Like Kid Cudi Is All Right 16 Best Shoe Organizers For Storing and Displaying Your Kicks
CBS News
12-03-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
Evacuation warning issued for Hollywood Hills residents near Sunset Fire
Ahead of the rainy weather, Los Angeles officials issued an evacuation warning for Hollywood Hills homes near the Sunset Fire burn scar. Residents like Reno Muren began preparing their belongings in case the rain caused mudslides or debris flows in the hillside community. "I felt the anxiety in my chest," she said. "I'm going to go home and kind of get my stuff together again. It would not be fun to have our place flooded." During a previous storm in mid-February, the rain soaked the canyon and caused a large debris flow on Mulholland Drive. "A couple of weeks ago when we had the big rain, it flooded," resident Diane Lander-Simon said. "We had a big mudslide. It's one way in and one way out. Everybody was sort of stuck." The evacuation warnings will affect neighborhoods somewhat around Wattles Garden Park, east and south of Runyon Canyon. The advisory will last from 7 a.m. on March 12 to 6 p.m. on March 13. The Los Angeles Fire Department also released a map showing evacuation warnings for communities near the Eaton, Hurst and Palisades burn scars.
CBS News
07-03-2025
- CBS News
Hollywood Hills neighbors raise concerns about homeless encampment fires
A KCAL News investigation has found a troubling connection between the county's homeless population and a growing number of fire-related instances in recent years. The news comes in the wake of a devastating January that saw several large wildfires erupt, including the Palisades and Eaton fires that combined to torch tens of thousands of acres, destroy thousands of homes and kill more than two dozen people. One of those fires was the Sunset Fire, which broke out in the Hollywood Hills the day after the wildfires began to rage in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena. That fire forced thousands to flee their homes when evacuation orders and warnings were issued, despite no structures burning from the intense flames. Video from that night shows the firefighters' urgency as they called for residents to leave the area as soon as possible. Homeowner Pete Boeschenstein said the entire ordeal gave him flashbacks to a similar incident two years ago. "I mean, it makes it really real," he said. "We've had a couple of close calls." Boeschenstein's home, located right above the Hollywood Bowl and below the Hollywood Cross, is just past where January's blaze erupted. It's also close to where another fire came dangerously close back in 2022. He believes that fire is connected to an unhoused man who set up camp in the hills behind their homes. He lives in a large campsite just underneath the Hollywood Cross. Neighbors have video of him around what appears to be a campfire, and despite neighbors going to both police and fire officials many times, he continues to return. "Well, they both said ... basically our hands our tied, there's nothing we can do at this point and time. 'Call us when there's a fire,'" Boeschenstein said. "It was totally shocking." Six days later, he woke up to the hillside on fire early in the morning. "I was really scared, I was really nervous," Boeschenstein recalled. Eventually, and several water-drops later, those flames were extinguished. Despite that blaze, the homeless man he had previously seen was neither arrested nor charged as investigators never connected him to the incident. LAPD arrested another unhoused man, but those charges were eventually dropped. "I was frustrated, didn't make sense to me. Just one of those helpless feelings," he said. Boeschenstein said that after that fire, the homeless man he knew was gone from the area for a while. But last year, neighbors noticed that he had returned, setting up his camp even farther into the hills, with a stunning view of the Hollywood Sign. Neighbors have shown the camp to authorities, as they have over the years, showing several blackened spots that appear to have been used for fires. They've documented his comings and goings, including their countless calls reporting his actions. "He can't be living back there, he can't be doing what he's doing, because it's putting all of us in danger," Boeschenstein said. He believes the system is broken and that more should be done when so many lives are at risk. KCAL News' investigation finds this is a growing issue across Los Angeles County. Since 2019, the number of fires connected to a homeless person has increased by between two and three thousand incidents every year. In 2024, there were almost 17,000 fires attributed to the same cause across the entire city. Local officials say that this trend is concerning. "Our job is to minimize the chances of that happening," said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Captain Geff Deedrick. He heads the county's outreach team to deal with the homelessness crisis. He says they've responded to every call over the years, just like when the Sunset Fire broke out. Although he was not connected to that fire, the homeless man Boeschenstein was concerned about was eventually arrested for trespassing near Boeschenstein's home. Captain Deedrick says addressing the issue is tougher than it appears. "Unless you have four walls, barring an individual from being in an area, it would require 24/7 manpower on a hill to ensure no one is there, and I'm not sure that's possible," Deedrick said. L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman says there's a bit more to be done when it comes to the legal realm, especially after his predecessor's term. "The fact that nothing has happened over the last several years does not mean that we're not going to do something at this point and time," Hochman said. He says that virtually no "quality of life crimes" were prosecuted during the tenure of previous D.A. George Gascón, which encompasses crimes like arson, trespassing, drug possession and loitering. In the four years he oversaw the District Attorney's Office, prosecutions for such crimes fell to around 25,000, a drop of nearly 90% from before he took over. He urges residents to bring any concerns to law enforcement before things get out of hand. "I say, 'Pete, please continue to bring anything you think of any particular concern to law enforcement's attention," Hochman said while passing a message to Boechenstein through KCAL News. "We will actually hold people accountable if they are violating the law." Hochman said that this is a message he's already sent to the county's top law enforcement officials. Sheriff Luna says it gives them more alternatives when it comes to handling alleged criminals, and ensuring proper justice is served. Los Angeles Chief of Police Jim McDonnell echoed that. "It's great to be able to know when an arrest is made it'll get the appropriate level of review ... and consideration for filing if it meets the criteria," McDonell said. "Officers didn't feel they had that over the last several years."
Axios
03-03-2025
- Climate
- Axios
Major SoCal storm triggers evacuation orders in LA County amid flood threats
A powerful atmospheric river -linked storm that began slamming Southern California on Wednesday prompted evacuation orders in Los Angeles County amid flood threats to burn scars from wildfires that erupted in January. Threat level: Flood and flash flood watches and high-wind advisories have been issued across Southern California. Zoom in: With the worst of the "significant storm system" set to hit Thursday with heavy rains and gusty winds, Santa Barbara County said on X an evacuation order was also issued for properties associated with a burn scar from the 2024 Lake Fire due to the potential for "flash flooding, debris flow." In LA County, evacuation warnings were also set to take effect from 7am Thursday through 2pm Friday "due to high mudslide and debris flow risk," according to a statement posted on the LA Fire Department's website. Among the recently burned areas that the LAFD notes are "especially susceptible to heavy rain" are those affected by the destructive Palisades Fire, including around the Getty Villa art museum, the Sunset Fire in the Hollywood Hills and the Hurst Fire in the San Fernando Valley. Situation report: Ahead of the storm, California Gov. Gavin Newsom directed teams to take emergency measures to prevent debris flows from burn scar areas, with up to 2 inches of rainfall expected in some places. The Cal OES Watershed and Debris Flow Task Force has "installed emergency protection materials," including straw wattles, compost silt socks, and silt fences "to contain hazardous materials from the Eaton and Palisades Fires from entering LA's creeks, rivers, and other bodies of water," per a Monday statement from the governor's office. The task force "is coordinating locally requested materials such as K-rails to divert debris flow and has completed debris basin clean-up activities over the last month to mitigate potential impacts in vulnerable areas," the statement added. Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District said all Malibu schools would be closed Thursday and possibly Friday "due to road closures and weather concerns." What to expect: While only light precipitation was expected on Wednesday evening, periods of moderate to heavy rain were forecast Thursday followed by scattered showers into Friday morning, per a National Weather Service LA forecast discussion. UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain noted in a Wednesday blog post that while the "whole region should see a good soaking, the SoCal mountains will see widespread 3-6 inch totals (locally higher), and that does include most of the major recent fire footprints." Thunderstorms were expected to hit Southern California from noon to 10pm Thursday and rainfall rates of just over 1" per hour were expected across parts of Santa Barbara County and Ventura Counties, according to the NWS LA. "However, any location is susceptible to rain rates between a half and one inch per hour, especially during the peak of the event when convection is most likely," it added. Meanwhile, heavy snow in addition to the rains was forecast in the Sierra Nevada. Between the lines: Southern California had already been hit by " hydroclimate whiplash" from very wet to drought conditions ahead of the atmospheric river. Swain said while it has "finally rained" in Southern California this winter, "nearly the entire region remains woefully behind average." Human-caused climate change is leading to more frequent and intense extreme precipitation events, research shows. Go deeper: Climate change made LA fires far more likely, study says Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
FOX 11 viewers help Hollywood Hills couple meet ‘mystery hero' who helped save home from fire
LOS ANGELES - Thanks to FOX 11 viewers, a Hollywood Hills couple has finally met the man who helped save their home from the Sunset Fire. Vince Brocato and his wife, Candice, had been searching for the Good Samaritan who appeared on their Ring security camera on Jan. 8, telling them their home was burning and successfully put out the flames. That "mystery hero" is Tony Alvarez, a Los Angeles photographer and former New York firefighter who rushed to help when he saw the flames from his nearby apartment. "I felt my building was safe, so I came out here and was just trying to do what I could do," Tony said. "The fire was advancing, and I realized — there's no resources." Tony said he had seen reports of other fires in the region stretching resources thin, and he knew residents had evacuated. "When I saw your house, I was like — this house is the first house on the hill that could be the catalyst to the whole block going up — especially with all the fuel in your house with three stories," he told Vince and Candice. With the help of a garden hose, he and a firefighter worked tirelessly to extinguish flames on the home's third-floor deck. The couple invited Alvarez to their home on Wednesday, where they watched video of the fire together. "This house is on fire already," Tony said in his recording, prompting gasps from Brocato and Candice. "What do you get someone who did this, right?" Candice said as she and Vince presented Tony with a bag of gifts, including a new hoodie and a fire blanket. "You're a good man. Good man," Brocato said, patting Alvarez on the shoulder. "Thank you, oh thank you," Candice added. Tony can be found on Instagram: @
