How did Gaza impose its presence within the protests in Los Angeles?
Afrasianet - Robin Anderson: American writer and professor at Fordham University - The president's goal was not to pacify the streets in Los Angeles, but to deliberately provoke to turn the city into a battlefield.
On Friday, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) carried out a series of raids across Los Angeles.
Federal officers were armed with military-style rifles, dressed in tactical clothing and navigating convoys of armored vehicles and bearcats, turning the city's streets into a military arena while arresting dozens of hard-working migrants.
Individuals were arrested in front of the Home Depot shop, where workers queue daily in search of work. In the downtown garment district, more than 40 people were arrested at the Ambiance Apparel fast-fashion warehouse, including José Ortiz, where he worked for 18 years until he became shift manager.
When community members took to the streets in solidarity with their arrested, friends, family, and neighbors, federal agents used stun grenades and tear gas to disperse the crowds, quickly turning into hotbeds of tension rising. What began as a local story in Los Angeles quickly made headlines in the United States and the world.
After David Huerta, president of the International Service Employees Union (SEIU), was arrested, subjected to violence and shackled for filming the raids, union members from across the state began flocking to Los Angeles for a large peaceful demonstration in Grand Park downtown on Sunday. The Farm Workers' Union joined the protests, calling on people to join them, while emphasizing the peaceful nature of the demonstration.
Los Angeles is the second largest city in the United States, with Hispanics and Hispanics making up about half of the population, 35 percent of the population born outside the country, and an estimated 1 million undocumented immigrants, or about 10 percent of the population.
As a declared "sanctuary city", the city's police did not participate in ICE operations and refused to engage in Trump's political agenda of targeting non-citizens, practices Amnesty International considered a human rights violation and mass deportations without a fair trial.
In a video posted on Instagram, masked youths are seen throwing bricks at police cars. They didn't look like the other protesters who appeared without headscarves, and one of them in the clip was heard saying fearfully, "Oh my God, they're throwing bricks at the police!"
It's not possible to know if they were real protesters or Trump supporters who came as provocateurs — an old ploy often used to discredit peaceful protests and justify official violence against citizens exercising their right to demonstrate. The same applies to looting of the Apple Store and other stores.
The destruction of property is always considered an unacceptable form of "violence" and is often used as a justification to attack unarmed protesters. The controversy was sparked on social media when a line of officers appeared protecting Donut's shop, sparking ridicule and mockery of deployment priorities.
Mayor Karen Bass noted the "degree of fear and horror" Los Angeles residents feel, accusing Trump's raids of "inflamed tensions in the city" and sowing chaos.
Uncovering the true story
Gradually, the true story of the start of the raids began to emerge.
The Laten Times reported that Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, expressed anger at ICE for not meeting "deportation quotas" and criticized its focus on immigrants with a history of stay.
"What does it mean that you are after criminals? Why not go to Home Depot? To Sven-Eleven?" He also told Fox News that he seeks to raise the number of arrests to "at least 3,000 a day," stressing that President Trump "will continue to push for this number."
The raids in Los Angeles are not for "public security," as Trump promised during his 2024 election campaign. Comedian Jon Stewart said Trump's promises to arrest "criminals, murderers and drug dealers" contradicted reality when the raids took place in a Home Depot parking lot. He quipped, "Who is the worst of the worst to Home Depot? Oh my God, these people were looking for work!"
It is an authoritarian campaign. California Governor Gavin Newsom called it "inflammatory rhetoric," and the mayor said the city was "being used as an experimental laboratory" for federal authority. Legally, the president may not deploy the National Guard, which falls within the jurisdiction of the states. For this reason, California has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration demanding that the measure be declared unconstitutional.
According to reports, Trump was watching the scenes on television, before excitedly declaring, "It's time to call the soldiers." It was indeed a media play aimed at creating panic and chaos, and paved the way for his authoritarian movements.
Repression of the press
During the raids, press freedom was also violated. Lauren Tommasi, a reporter from Channel 9, was shot with a rubber bullet, not the only one. A LA Daily News reporter and freelance journalist were shot with pepper bullets and tear gas.
British photojournalist Nick Stern also underwent emergency surgery to extract a plastic bullet from his leg. The Los Angeles Press Club has documented more than 30 cases of assaults on journalists since the protests began.
After sending 700 Marines to Los Angeles and bolstering the number of National Guards, Trump succeeded in militarizing the city's streets.
Protest art and music
On Monday evening, June 9, the Black Entertainment Network's BET Awards were held, broadcast live from Los Angeles. In her speech, Best Hip Hop Artist winner Duche denounced Trump's "brutal attacks," saying, "Trump is using military forces to suppress protests, and I would like you to think: What kind of government is using the military every time we exercise our democratic right?".
She then linked what is happening in Los Angeles to what is happening in Gaza, saying: "People are being taken away from their families... As an artist, I would like to take this moment to speak on behalf of all the oppressed: blacks, Latinos, converts, and Gazans."
By Tuesday evening, a shocking headline had the New York Times: "Legal Scientists: Trump Declares Bogus Emergencies to Gather Power in His Hands." After calling the protests a "rebellion", which seemed ironic given his personal support for the January 6 rebellion and his pardon of 1,500 participants, his actions were nothing more than an attempt to seize power. As some jurists have emphasized: "The President's actions are not authorized by the laws on which he is based."
Trump's "spurious emergencies" undermine the Constitution and destroy civil liberties.