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South Africans of all hues should have felt a shudder this weekend when downtown LA was declared an “unlawful assembly” area. Those two words have a deeper meaning to us, and usually mean a group of aggrieved people are about to feel the sharp end of an oppressive stick.
Scenes from Los Angeles over the weekend showed mass demonstrations and police firing teargas, with reports of looting and chaos everywhere as anti-ICE protests erupted late Saturday evening.
The unrest was initially centred in the city of Paramount, California, where protesters clashed with federal authorities who were allegedly trying to conduct a raid at a local business.
In response, the Los Angeles Police Department declared an “unlawful assembly” Sunday night as protesters failed to disperse in the downtown area.
“Agitators have splintered into and throughout the Downtown Area,” the LAPD’s Central Division wrote on X.
“Residents, businesses and visitors to the Downtown Area should be alert and report any criminal activity. Officers are responding to several different locations to disperse crowds.”
“An UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLY has been declared for the Downtown Los Angeles area.”
Protesters eventually marched into the LA Live area, an entertainment complex in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, and blocked highways, according to the police.
With the police and FBI seemingly unable to suppress the bandana-wearing protestors, Trump then brought the boot down and sent in the National Guard. This is where the shudder came for most, as scenes of armed military flooding into Los Angeles were splashed across social media.
“What we’re seeing in L.A. right now is rare. While the FBI and National Guard have a long history of working together, especially through specialized units like Civil Support Teams (CST) during chemical or terror-related threats. This is fundamentally different.”
President Donald Trump condemned the anti-ICE riots and called on the LAPD chief to ‘not let the thugs get away with it.’
“Jim McDonnell, the highly respected LAPD Chief, just stated that the protesters are getting very much more aggressive, and that he would ‘have to reassess the situation,’ as it pertains to bringing in the troops,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
“He should, RIGHT NOW!!! Don’t let these thugs get away with this. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
In a concerning move, the Trump administration has now taken over the California National Guard and deployed 2,000 soldiers in Los Angeles. Talking via the US government’s unofficial mouthpiece, Truth Social, the US President declared:
“These Radical Left protests, by instigators and often paid troublemakers, will NOT BE TOLERATED.”
“Also, from now on, MASKS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED to be worn at protests. What do these people have to hide, and why??? Again, thank you to the National Guard for a job well done!”
Trump’s decision to deploy National Guard troops into Los Angeles, against the wishes of state and local officials, has sent shockwaves through American politics. California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, and other Democratic governors have sharply criticised the move, describing it as an “alarming abuse of power”.
“This is a serious breach of state sovereignty – inflaming tensions while pulling resources from where they’re actually needed. Rescind the order. Return control to California,” Newsom said.
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Newly appointed FBI Director Kash Patel, however, echoed the administration’s sentiments on Sunday night, saying Los Angeles was “under siege.”
“Just so we are clear, this FBI needs no one’s permission to enforce the constitution,” Patel wrote on X. “My responsibility is to the American people, not political punch lines. LA is under siege by marauding criminals, and we will restore law and order. ”
“I’m not asking you, I’m telling you,” he added.
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell was a little more tempered, saying, “We’ll continue to support peaceful protests and enforce the law when criminal acts occur,” he said. “The LAPD remains focused on its core mission to protect lives, safeguard constitutional rights, and serve every neighbourhood in Los Angeles with integrity.”
Good luck doing that with 2,000 armed troops stomping around the streets.
The decision marked a scary escalation in a broad crackdown on immigrants following raids across the country, which have triggered protests.
Trump’s federalisation of the guard troops is the first time an American president has used such power since the 1992 LA riots. At that time, widespread violence broke out in reaction to the acquittal of four white police officers for brutally beating Black motorist Rodney King.
As with everything these days, most of the news we see is carefully curated, but it’s hard to see troops marching into a supposedly first-world city to deal with “unlawfully assembled” residents and not feel like something is very wrong with this picture.
Something tells us that LA will not be the only city this year to see the military marching in its streets.
