UNREST IN LOS ANGELES OVER IMMIGRATION RAIDS AS TROOPS SENT BY TRUMP FAN OUT. (PHOTO).

 

Over the weekend, protests erupted in LA over ICE raids that led to the arrest of 118 immigrants. Police responded with tear gas & mass arrests. Pres. Trump deployed 2,000 National Guard troops, w/out the governor’s consent. What you need to know.

Demonstrators clashed with law enforcement across Los Angeles, Compton, and Paramount, many gathering outside the Metropolitan Detention Center. Peaceful protesters were met with flash bangs, rubber bullets, and pepper spray. Some were arrested just for blocking traffic.

This is the first time since the 1960s the fed. government has sent in National Guard troops without a governor’s approval. Governor Newsom called it unlawful. Mayor Karen Bass said LA is a "tinderbox" and warned that this show of force is “an intentional effort to sow chaos.”

RFK Human Rights documents these human rights abuses, not just in California, but across the country.

In Louisiana alone:

💰 $3.4B/year in ICE funding

👥 7,000+ detained daily

🏚 98% in for-profit prisons

❌ Abuse includes: shackles, solitary confinement, physical and sexual abuse, medical neglect.

Last week, we submitted a report to the UN Special Rapporteur on Summary, Extrajudicial or Arbitrary Executions, detailing patterns of lethal force by U.S. law enforcement  and the systemic lack of accountability. Because when peaceful protest is met with military force, and when human suffering is treated as a business model, we have a duty to act.

As the world watches how U.S. officials respond to peaceful dissent, we urge them to remember: People have the right to speak out against human rights abuses and the pocketing of taxpayer funds by private prison CEOs at the heart of immigration detention. 

And governments have a duty to protect civic space.