Various groups opposed to President Donald Trump politically have organized in advance and have now seized the moment to protest raids and arrests of illegal immigrants and attack ICE agents. That's according to Anthony Cabassa, an independent journalist covering the riots who was interviewed on Washington Watch Monday.
Cabassa explained that local groups associated with the Party for Socialism and Liberation and Democratic Socialists of America have helped to coordinate the riots, as has the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
“These are union leaders, labor leaders in Los Angeles, a lot of them immigrants themselves or family to immigrant families here in Los Angeles. They’ve become activists in style, in organizing, and in protesting,” Cabassa told show host Tony Perkins.
At least two of Monday’s protests, he said, had pre-scheduled start times and clearly were not spontaneous.
Some of the protesters may have family members who have been detained in ICE raids or are potential targets in future raids. But for many, the journalist shared, the protests are an opportunity to get in a few licks against law enforcement.
“Typically, from what I understand, these individuals are people who perhaps have previously been detained or incarcerated. So already they have a negative notion of law enforcement. Any opportunity to go and protest law enforcement, they take that opportunity,” Cabassa argued.
Claims from California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass that National Guard troops, federalized and placed by the Trump administration, have escalated tensions are way off base, he added.
“Everything began to unfold last Friday, where I was hearing that there were going to be scheduled protests in front of the federal building, which is an immigration detention center in downtown Los Angeles. This is, by the way, almost a full day before Donald Trump made any mention of the National Guard being activated,” Cabassa said.
Before Guard troops were in place Cabassa said he witnessed protesters taking sledgehammers to cement, breaking it down into smaller pieces so they could have something to throw at ICE agents.
“They were launching those at DHS [Department of Homeland Security]. The National Guard, speaking of it, actually came as a result of that footage going viral nationally of DHS agents under attack in Los Angeles,” he said.
The journalist contends the riots have put state and local government in a tough spot with the immigrant community.
Newsom and Bass (left), he explained, have made statements that “they were aware and are monitoring the ICE raids that had been begun months ago, and they were reminding the people of California that they didn’t need to worry because, you know, we are a sanctuary state, we have sanctuary cities. They will do everything in their power to make sure that the immigrant community is protected. That includes undocumented legal migrants as well.”
That emphasis on migrant care has produced budget deficits in California, which has funded healthcare for illegals, Cabassa said.
ICE agents are “raiding and collecting these violent criminals” as promised, he concluded.
“… That's why Donald Trump got elected in 2024, because he promised that this would happen. Now the federal agents are here – [and] they're collecting. And of course, the state and local government are being held accountable by protesters and labor union organizers.”
