Los Angeles unrest signals difficult choices ahead for cops An eyewitness account of a Trumpian powder keg. Justin Glawe Jun 20 A scene from downtown LA (Justin Glawe) 💥 PN is possible thanks to paid subscribers. If you appreciate our fiercely independent coverage of American politics, please support us. 👇 Just after 4pm Saturday, the officers on horseback lurched into the crowd. Their horses nosed protesters along as some of the officers swung their batons downward, causing the crowd to scatter and flee south on Los Angeles Street just outside the federal building that had been a focal point of protests here over the past two weeks. The fighting went on for hours after this first push. Police say the official cause of the unrest was “outside agitators” who threw debris, rocks, and “commercial-grade fireworks at officers,” according to statements released by the LAPD and the LA County Sheriff’s Office. But on Los Angeles Street where it meets the 101 freeway, I didn’t see anyone attacking police, nor did I hear orders to disperse. Like all riots, the matter of who started it remains, at best, an open question. But the police at the very least escalated the situation. This is a problem for several reasons, not the least of which is that what has transpired in Los Angeles over the past two weeks is a test to see how much the Trump administration can get away with in cities run by Democratic officials who stand in opposition to the president’s hyper-aggressive immigration policies. Mayor Karen Bass made this point during an MSNBC interview on Wednesday. Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com Karen Bass: "It's felt in LA like we're part of a grand experiment. How far will the public tolerate the federal government intervening and seizing power from a governor? I think it's being tried out here." Wed, 18 Jun 2025 18:24:48 GMT View on Bluesky It’s a test in the legal sense — can the president simply declare a rebellion and federalize the National Guard? (That’s a question that will likely head to the Supreme Court.) It’s also a test for Democratic officials who find themselves caught between their own citizens, masked ICE agents, and the troops Trump sent in to help those agents carry out their business of mass deportation. But it’s also a test for American law enforcement, which may find itself having to decide between defending Trump’s troops from protesters, or supporting the president in his efforts to crush dissent. “They’re always cranked up” On Saturday, the LAPD cleared the streets in front of the federal building for Trump’s troops there, signaling a willingness by law enforcement in a heavily-Democratic city not just to assist in cracking down on demonstrations, but also to provide the White House and its media allies with a convenient narrative of violent unrest. The scenes on Saturday — and this context-free narrative from right-wing politicians and the media — will be used as pretext to “send in the troops” in response to large-scale demonstrations in other blue cities. What happened to "states' rights"? Stephen Robinson · Jun 17 Read full story Trump has promised to create more of the chaos that has roiled LA over the past two weeks. In a Sunday evening post on his Truth Social account, the president ordered immigration authorities to even more aggressively expand their operations in the nation’s largest cities, where Trump said Democrats “use Illegal Aliens to expand their Voter Base, cheat in Elections, and grow the Welfare State, robbing good paying Jobs and Benefits from Hardworking American Citizens.” Yesterday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt promised more incendiary ICE raids in Democratic urban centers, saying that “illegal criminals who are hiding in America's so-called 'sanctuary cities' will be increasingly targeted for removal.” Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com Leavitt: "President Trump has directed all of our ICE officers to do everything in their power to carry out the single largest mass deportation operation in history. Illegal criminals who are hiding in America's so-called 'sanctuary cities' will be increasingly targeted for removal." Thu, 19 Jun 2025 17:33:46 GMT View on Bluesky Will police in Chicago, New York and elsewhere — either on their own or under the direction of Democratic elected officials — assist Trump in cracking down on protesters? If the events on Saturday in downtown LA are any indication, the answer is yes. Mayor Bass touted the fact that only five protesters were arrested on Saturday as evidence everything was under control, saying on CNN that “it’s not shocking that at the end of a protest, that you’re going to have some confrontation.” But from my vantage point, the situation remained mostly mostly peaceful in spite of the cops, not because of them. Police have claimed they were attacked, but haven’t provided much evidence to back it up despite the surveillance drones flying overhead and the officers filming protesters. A note from Aaron: Enjoying this piece from Justin? Then please sign up to support our work. Public Notice is 100 precent reader-funded.👇 The White House and trigger-happy allies like Tom Cotton are clearly pleased with all of this. Saturday’s unrest allows the Trump administration to claim not only that American leftists are obstructing efforts to purge the nation of violent undocumented immigrants, but also that cities are the frontlines of an out-of-control immigrants-rights insurgency. Local law enforcement in blue cities can avoid helping the Trump administration continue its path toward authoritarianism by simply not acting as an extension of the masked ICE agents and troops Trump uses enforce his aggressive immigration policies. This will require keeping a cool head in tense situations, and avoiding the ugly and wild scenes that left Angelenos on Reddit wondering why Saturday’s clashes haven’t merited more coverage. Angelenos I spoke to on Saturday were incensed but not surprised that the LAPD was at the vanguard of what, to them, felt like an unprovoked attack. “The LAPD is like a mob,” one man told me. “They’re always cranked up and ready to go.” Turning blue cities into warzones It was the presence of the Marines in front of the federal building on Saturday that enraged the crowd on its steps, prompting minor pushing and shoving and a lot of name-calling toward the young men in uniform. It wasn’t long after these dust-ups that the LAPD, in conjunction with the county sheriff’s office and California Highway Patrol, took care of the protesters so the Marines wouldn’t have to. The 4pm cavalry charge and ensuing launch of less-lethal munitions came as a surprise to those of who were on Los Angeles Street near the 101. There, I didn’t see anyone throwing anything at police, and heard no orders to disperse. Instead, the cops on horseback just went for it. Over the next four hours, police chased crowds of protesters in every direction throughout downtown LA. It was extremely intense. Police fired thousands — and probably more like tens of thousands — of foam munitions and other projectiles, including what looked like old-school pepper balls. Tear gas and flash grenades added to the chaotic atmosphere, providing Fox News and right-wing media the shocking images for their context-free coverage. MAGA political violence claims more victims Noah Berlatsky · Jun 16 Read full story What I saw was a crackdown on protesters who were largely peaceful, followed by a voluminous use of force by local police that included indiscriminately firing on protesters regardless of whether they were attacking police or simply walking on the streets. This included cops swinging batons at an elderly man, firing on a man at point-blank range who appeared to be doing nothing but filming them, kneeling on the back and neck of a petite young woman as she was arrested, and launching thousands of rounds of non-lethal weapons for hours as protesters mostly walked away or tried to hold their ground. Saturday’s unrest led to 10 injuries to law enforcement, police have said. At least two protesters were seriously injured. One man was struck in the eye by a foam bullet fired by police, bloodying his face and swelling the eye shut. After a five-hour surgery and being told he could lose vision in his right eye, Marshall Woodruff spoke from a hospital bed, explaining that he didn’t hear any orders to disperse from law enforcement. “Nobody on any megaphones, nobody, you know, shouting clear orders,” Woodruff told KTLA. “It was just, you know, chaos.” Additionally, at least one journalist claims he was targeted by police, leading to lawsuits from press organizations against the LAPD. While the LAPD did Trump’s bidding in LA, the president seems thirsty to use federal forces against civilians. During his Senate testimony this week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth repeatedly refused to answer questions about whether he’s given troops orders to shoot at unarmed protesters. Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com SLOTKIN: Have you given the order to be able to shoot at unarmed protesters in any way? HEGSETH: What is that based on? SLOTKIN: It is based on Trump giving that order to your predecessor, who I give a lot of credit to bc he didn't accept the order. He has more guts & balls than you Wed, 18 Jun 2025 16:15:32 GMT View on Bluesky American law enforcement shouldn’t have to choose between violently quelling protest or having troops do it for them, but that’s the powder keg Trump is trying to create. The LAPD last weekend chose to brutally take matters into their own hands, and we’re lucky things didn’t turn out even worse than they did. Justin Glawe is an independent journalist and the author of the forthcoming book “If I Am Coming to Your Town, Something Terrible Has Happened.” He writes the newsletter American Doom. That’s it for today We’ll be back tomorrow with a special Saturday edition. If you appreciate today’s newsletter, please support our work by signing up. Paid subscribers make Public Notice possible. Thanks for reading, and for your support.