The Los Angeles Protests Are an Act of Self-Defense

By Melissa Gira Grant

Early Sunday evening in Los Angeles, as the city was under siege by federal anti-immigration forces, aided by local law enforcement, Mayor Karen Bass was holding a press conference. Out in the streets, a reporter noted, it appeared that the Los Angeles Police Department was “cooperating” with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and “using flashbangs and less-lethal munitions” to push people engaged in “peaceful protest” away from a federal building being used as an ICE detention center. The reporter asked if Mayor Bass would comment on this cooperation, which is against city policy. “What happened there,” Bass began, “is that when one branch of law enforcement says they need help, another branch of law enforcement is going to respond.” In this case, she said, LAPD’s aim was to control the protest. She distinguished their actions from the department’s “coordinating with ICE in terms of raiding workplaces or arresting people who are undocumented.”

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