The protests come amid tensions between Trump and California Governor Gavin Newsom. Trump threatened to cut federal funding to the state, to which Newsom threatened to withhold California’s federal taxes. Amid a national crackdown on immigration, the deployment of the National Guard against the wishes of Newsom and L.A. mayor Karen Bass appears to be, at least in part, a stunt designed to intimidate his political opponents. “Looking really bad in L.A. BRING IN THE TROOPS!!!” the president posted to Truth Social on Monday.
Meanwhile, local law enforcement was also present at the protests deploying the tear gas and flash-bangs, per CNN; an Australian reporter was shot with a rubber bullet on camera while live on the scene. Authorities declared Downtown L.A. as an unlawful assembly area in an attempt to quell the unrest. According to the outlet, 27 people were arrested in Los Angeles on Sunday (and 60 others were arrested at similar protests in San Francisco). After a weekend of demonstrations, the city of Glendale (located within Los Angeles County) announced it will terminate its contract with ICE to house federal immigration detainees at the Glendale Police Department facility because the contract “has become divisive” in the community.
In addition to Finneas, celebrities like Eva Longoria, Chrissy Teigen, and Florence Pugh have all posted in support of the protests and against the ICE raids. Finneas reposted one message from Tom Heidecker, who wrote that he loves L.A. but hates ICE. “FUCK OFF ALL OF YOU WEEKEND GI JOE LOSERS,” Heidecker declared. “IF YOU ARE INTO THIS FASCIST SHIT YOU ARE SMALL AND WEAK AND WILL LOSE.”
