Michael is joined by the co-founders of the Downtown Residents Association who say they're worried about the lingering impact of a curfew on downtown Los Angeles, but the vandalism and violence seem to leave little choice for City Hall.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
This is Michael Monks Reports. I'm Michael Monks from KFI News.
We got another hour together and if you are in
downtown Los Angeles, you ain't supposed to be. The curfew
is now in effect for another day. These curfew started
on Monday, and right now we see why the anti
(00:27):
ice demonstrations have continued and there is a massive law
enforcement presence out on the streets of downtown LA. As
we speak together on this otherwise beautiful Saturday night in
southern California. We have seen less lethal ammunition used. We
have seen tear gas to disperse this crowd. It has
gotten harry down there. Here's a little sense of what
(00:49):
went down, some of the noises that you would hear,
and then you'll hear from ABC News correspondent Matt Gutman
as he kind of gets into it with the police.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
They've just taken someone down, and they've taken and can
see there there's an elderly lady.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Inside of it. I don't know if you can hear that.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
She's got her hands up pay.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Nobody touched anybody.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Off, Hey, nobody touched anybody.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
You guys, you're literally here, you're on camera. We have
nobody touched anybody.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
No, I didn't.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
You're on TV and now you're pushing me online television.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
All right, we didn't touch anybody.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
You know that's true. Okay, thank you, I got it.
So you can see.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Obviously, tensions are extremely high here. What is clearly happening
is that the LAPD has pushed and the Sheriff's department
has pushed people back.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
They've created a multi blocked perimnory.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
You see, traffic is now open, right, They're not still
in the streets, but traffic is now moving freely for
the first time in probably seven hours. Here down Main Street,
this line of valet Sheriff's deputies firing flashbags and some
sort of smoke.
Speaker 5 (02:05):
Again.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
You know, it's the same thing that we've been seeing.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Hour after hour here right here in Grand Park in
downtown Los Angeles. We're a couple of hours from Cerfuse.
It does not seem that at this point law enforcement
has a firm grip on the city. They just blasted
some of the people setting right next to us to
try to clear that and they're trying to.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Get everybody off the streets here. It's not yet curfew.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
But they have been extremely forced full over.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
The past couple of hours and.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Getting people away from the Federal building. Most of the
protests today were absolutely without.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Incident, peaceful.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
That has changed over the past couple of hours.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
And now, of course curfew has gone into effect here
after the eight o'clock hour. It is in effect until
six o'clock tomorrow morning, and then it looks like it
will just be an indefinite situation. And this is just
not a sustainable situation for downtown Los Angeles. I can
tell you as a resident the vibes. They're already a
little rough down there anyway. But it does have its
(03:06):
appeal restaurants, businesses, people, neighbors. I mean, there's a lot
to love about living and being in downtown LA. It
would be nice if local authorities would do more to
clean it up, clean it out. It's a mess, and
it's often disgustingly filthy. But what has happened since last
(03:27):
Friday it's just not sustainable. Graffiti on every single wall
in the area of the Fashion district and close to
Alameda where the detention center is some of the civic
center areas just graffiti all over the place. And of
(03:47):
course you recall the looting and the vandalism of last Sunday.
I mean, there are businesses down there that are already
fighting for their lives, and now this and the curfew,
the curfews killing them, and the curfews are brought on
by the demonstrations, and the demonstrations are brought on by
the immigration enforcement. The immigration enforcement is also clearly scaring
(04:12):
a lot of people from going to work. You're not
seeing the street vendors and the volume I mean the
fashion district today, my walk down to the No King's
March that I covered earlier this afternoon, I mean, this
was a beautiful Saturday afternoon. It would usually be packed
down there. Most of the stores remain closed, and there
(04:33):
were very few street vendors, very few food trucks. You know,
on any day you've got Seniorita's shouting out docles docles ambregasas.
That's not happening today. You know, that's just not happening.
So there is a fear in the community as well.
It's not sustainable. My question to you is how does
(04:57):
it end? And I'd like for you to join that
conversation by opening up the iHeartRadio app and clicking on
the talkback button and sharing with us your thoughts. Let's
hear now from Derek.
Speaker 6 (05:10):
Hey, good evening, great show. Get to this one a
little late, but I mean can play on board with
deporting other criminals for sure, and then anybody else who's
here in this country illegally needs to go too, And
there's compassionate ways you can do that, just not grabbing
people that have been here for ten years but they're
(05:32):
here illegally. Every country has immigration logs, including Mexico. So
what's the due process of entering a country? Thank you,
Thank you, Derek. We do appreciate you taking the time
to listen and to join our conversation. Let's hear next
from Andrew.
Speaker 7 (05:45):
Hello, Michael Monks Andrew in Dayton, Ohio.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Precariously cluster your homeown.
Speaker 7 (05:51):
You're doing a great job man. Thank Youanks you and
KFI for all the coverage. We appreciate it. And I
think things might die down as the amendments that the
Supreme Leader has made to who they go after less
restaurant and less hotel people. And it's interesting being that
the guy owns so many hotels.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Anyway, take care sure, Andrew appreciate it. Love Dayton, Ohio.
Someday I'll share my stories of when I was in
college in northern Kentucky taking the long hour drive up
there to a very special nightclub. Always fun driving up,
not so much fun driving back from Dayton, Ohio after
a long night of partying. Let's hear from someone else, you.
Speaker 8 (06:36):
Know, Michael, this doesn't end well. As a disabled cancer patient,
I have a gun in this fight and it's not
looking good. And from the you think we could learn
from our past mistakes, but with an antagonistic president, it's
like the Hunger Games and the Matrix all rolled into one.
We got to learn, We gotta do something.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Appreciate that call. I didn't get a name there, but
I do appreciate you listening and taking the time to call.
And you can also join our conversation if you haven't already.
Just open up the iHeartRadio app, click on that talkback button,
and we'll play more of your thoughts on this matter,
because it's not just how you feel about illegal immigration
or what you think the president should do or what
(07:19):
you think should happen next how do you think this
ends for LA specifically, because again, the demonstrations that we're
watching right now past curfew in downtown LA, they're the
reason there is a curfew. There's a curfew because of
the demonstrations. The demonstrations are because of the riots. I'm sorry,
(07:41):
the raids. What ends first, I don't know. I really
don't know, so I need you to tell me. Up next,
we'll be joined live by two representatives from the Downtown
Los Angeles Residents Association. What is it like living and
trying to work down there? Right now? I'll give you
(08:01):
a preview. It's not good. This is Michael Monks Reports.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI News.
We're with you till nine o'clock. Dodgers have opened up
a seven to nothing lead at Dodgers Stadium over the Giants.
Right now, it is the top of the fifth inning there.
And again, if you were at the Dodgers game, hold
(08:31):
onto that ticket stub if you are headed back into
the downtown curfew zone, because You'll need to show that
to anybody questioning why you're there. The curfew now in
effect minute twenty since the latest curfew went into a
fact in downtown Los Angeles. Another quick look at sports.
The Orioles over the Angels tonight six to five in Baltimore.
(08:51):
But the UCLA Bruins baseball team knocked off Murray State
six to four up against that Cinderella team in Omaha
to advance, and they will play LSU on Monday as
College World Series continues in Nebraska. What continues here in
Los Angeles? Oh, the usual. It's another night of anti
immigration enforcement demonstrations in downtown Los Angeles, and those who
(09:15):
have not dispersed despite the order, and those who have
not gone home despite the curfew are facing off with
law enforcement. We've already seen the use of flash bangs
and tear gas and less lethal AMMO to try to
get people to leave, but it hasn't worked entirely yet. Meanwhile,
the rest of downtown has been a complete ghost town.
(09:40):
And I got a couple of people living in that
curfew right now who are joining us from the Downtown
Residence Association, a group that they co founded. Cassie Horton
and Leslie Ridings. Cassie, thanks for being with us.
Speaker 9 (09:54):
Yeah, thank you for having us. We really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
And Leslie my thanks to you also, thank you very
much for Cassie. My question to the audience tonight that
I've been asking them to open up the talkback button
on the iHeartRadio app and share their thoughts is how
does this end? And I think before I pose that
question to YouTube, give us the lay of the land
about how it is right now, living, working, breathing in
(10:19):
downtown La.
Speaker 9 (10:23):
Yeah, so good question about how this ends. I'll start
with the second question it is. You know, I think
the past week has been pretty difficult. Monday night in particular,
was really challenging. I live on Eighth and Olive, which
is just a couple blocks up. That's two blocks ups
(10:43):
from Broadway and Eighth where the Apple Store and the
Adidas store are. So, you know, Monday night, middle of
the night, we had a line of squad cars piled
up just right below us, and they were getting ready
to go intersect the looting that was happening at those
specific stores, and things were loud and things were tense,
(11:06):
and you know, that's definitely a difficult experience. So somebody
living in the neighborhood who loves the neighborhood, who wants
more people to be excited about moving downtown and spending
time downtown, It's definitely not indicative of your everyday experience downtown,
you know. But I think that that night, that Monday night,
was really tough for folks living in the neighborhood. And
(11:29):
since then we've kind of transitioned into this you know,
curfew that residents frankly had a lot of concerns with.
There was a curfew administered in twenty twenty during the
George Floyd protests, and a lot of folks there was
a lot of lack of communication about exactly what the
policies were and how it would be applied, and residents
(11:53):
had a really difficult time with that. So we were
able to advocate for and we actually advocated it's the curfew,
but we were able to secure kind of a resident
carve out, which has given folks in the neighborhood the flexibility,
you know, to go to the grocery store, to go
to CBS, to you know, go pick up a pizza
for dinner or whatever it is. And so that's given
(12:15):
us a little bit of normalcy. Things have definitely been
really quiet throughout the middle of the week as the
curfew's been in place, but our bars and restaurants are
really struggling.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Yeah, I mean, even if you wanted to go out
and get a pizza, it's really difficult. I had a
hard time last night. I'm a resident down there as well,
and thought I would go out and get something taking
advantage of that resident carve out and it was rough
And let me bring Leslie in because this afternoon, which
was a gorgeous Saturday afternoon in downtown Los Angeles, I
(12:45):
was walking over to cover the big protests in downtown
La earlier this afternoon, and as I walked through the
Fashion district across Los Angeles Street from end to end, basically,
oh boy, even in the daytime, all those doors are,
all those street vendors appear to be gone. I mean,
very few businesses were open in the fashion district. I
would imagine that a lot of that has to do
(13:07):
with fears over immigration enforcement and people's status. But what
could be the lingering impact of the downtown LA economy
because of what we're seeing tonight again and because of
this curfew.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
Yeah, I mean that's a very good question, and that's
a difficult question. I mean that's because it ties in
really the president's politics. Right, these are national politics that
have been brought into our city and now we have
to deal with them. Like you're basically being used as
a testing ground or whatever metaphor you want for political
(13:48):
battles much bigger than us. Right. The long term implications,
I don't know. I mean I think that it depends
the way that these things sort out. Like if there's
some sort of deal struck and the federal courses are withdrawn,
the ice rays are, there's sort of cool down or stop,
(14:08):
and I think we can go back to something that
we had, sort of status quo. If the enforcement continues,
the ramped up enforcement continues, then I think we're looking
at a very different, very different world in Los Angeles,
and I'm not sure what that looks like.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Cassie, I want to ask you about the characterization of
downtown and some of the mayor's remarks. It seems like
local officials are emphasizing that LA is not on fire,
LA is not incomplete chaos. It's just one tiny part
of the city where we're dealing with this, but it
happens to be our part of the city, and I
felt a little weird about it when I brought it
up here in the studio on U Gary and Shannon
earlier this week, I kind of got made fun of.
(14:44):
I even got some talkbacks from listeners like I grow
up or whatever. But it feels like a downplaying of
what It seems like they're downplaying what is hurting our
little sliver of downtown. La am I wrong for feeling.
Speaker 9 (14:59):
This way, No, not at all. I mean it's been
it's been a real experience over the past week to
kind of compare you know, what's in the media, what's
on people's social media feeds, and what the lived experiences
as a resident in the neighborhood. So I think we've
gotten a lot of feedback from folks who feel the
same as you, and we're always, you know, fighting to
(15:23):
help folks understand. A lot of people don't realize that
there are ninety thousand people who live in downtown. That's
as many people as the city of Santa Monica. So
you know, imagine if the whole city of Santa Monica
is shut down, like I think people would maybe talk
and think about that a little differently, and that's what
we're experiencing. Things have been really difficult, you know, both
(15:43):
in terms of some of the on rest, like you know,
folks out on Monday night and then things shutting down
after that. So totally totally agree.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
But then on the.
Speaker 9 (15:53):
Flip side of that, I took you know, I took
the train up to Highland Park on Friday for an appointment,
and you would have it was a totally different experience
than what it feels like in our neighborhood right now.
And that's not to say like after the curfew is
in place, a lot of you know, some of some
(16:14):
of the mischief and rabble rousing and taking advantage of
the police tending to the protests and things like that,
that's really tampered down. So you know, I do not
feel like downtown is on fire right this minute, but
last weekend things were really difficult. And to downplay that,
you know, and to show videos of folks in Beverly Hills,
(16:34):
you know, walking their dogs like versus what we experienced, like,
I think there's I think we need to be honest
about what's going on. But also, you know, it's kind
of goes to your point about people people just not
really recognizing downtown as a neighborhood. And I said that
earlier this week when we were talking to some elected officials.
I said, you know, if if this was going on
(16:55):
in Eagle Rock, or if this was going on in
Sherman Oaks, people might be thinking of it really differently.
A lot of people have the impression that we're kind
of this empty, you know, Civic center where you go
and you you know, you demonstrate, or you walk through
the Dodgers parade and like nothing. Nobody's really dealing with
the impact of that, And that couldn't be farther from
(17:15):
the truth. So it's been a real thing to wrap
your head around this week, for sure.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
We're joined by Cassie Horton and Leslie Writings. Leslie, I'll
get your thoughts on that in just a moment there
with a Downtown Residence Association. Obviously, Downtown the epicenter of
the ongoing demonstrations against immigration enforcement, and we are monitoring
live right now as demonstrators again another night, continue to
protest outside despite dispersal orders and a curfew that is
(17:40):
now in effect, and we will see if it escalates
any further with police who have already used hear gas
and less lethal ammunition. We want to hear from you too.
The question tonight is how does this all end. We
don't think the raids are going to stop, and we
don't think as long as they're going that the demonstrations
will stop, and so what does that mean about the
(18:01):
curfew and the impact on downtown. Open up the iHeartRadio app,
click on the talkback button and let us know you're
listening to Michael Monks Reports.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
K I AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI
News with you till nine o'clock tonight. We continue to
monitor live the events in downtown Los Angeles, where the
curfew is in effect again, law enforcement on the scene
as usual and some lingering demonstrations against the enforcement of
(18:33):
illegal immigration policies by the federal government are ongoing right now.
We're joined by Downtown Resident Association leaders Cassie Horton and
Leslie Writings, who are talking about what it's like in
downtown LA in the midst of these demonstrations in the
midst of the immigration enforcement and now in the midst
(18:53):
of this curfew, and already fragile economy obviously being damaged
even further by this. Leslie, let me bring you back again,
because you know, this afternoon I mentioned that I walked
through tumbleweeds in the Fashion district. When on a beautiful
Saturday like this, it would typically be so loud, so
difficult even to walk across the street because there are
(19:13):
so many people. That was not the case today, a
complete ghost town. The massive protest, the No Kings protest,
brought a ton of people downtown. I noticed that a
lot of the retail shops, even in the historic Broadway section,
were closed, but Grand Central Market was open and it
was hopping. And it struck me that these are folks
(19:34):
who might not come to downtown maybe ever, but downtown
does have a lot of positive things to offer. Is
there anything good that might come for downtown Los Angeles
based on this current struggle?
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, I think definitely
mean exactly what you just pointed out today, right, Fifty
thousand people came into downtown Los Angeles today that otherwise
might not have and I think to Cassie's point for
the b I think one of the biggest struggles that
downtown has is that many people in our city, including
unfortunately a lot of our elected leaders, don't understand or
view downtown as a residential hub with almost one hundred
(20:10):
thousand people in it that have you know, awesome like
world class eateries, civic amenities, museums and all that kind
of stuff. So getting all those folks down there, even
if it's you know, for fighting to protests, you know,
not great decisions by our federal administration opens their eyes
to that. And hope is.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
And what we reconnect with Leslie there in case we
lost them, Cassie, let me bring you back. Downtown is
part of a council district number fourteen, now represented by
a council member Isabelle Herrado, who unseated incumbent Kevin Daleyon.
This is a district as influential as Downtown is, even
though people don't seem to realize that. You mentioned the population.
It's a pretty good sized population. It's a very diverse
(20:55):
population compared to other neighborhoods. It's pretty evenly split across
multiple demographics. It's the economic engine of Los Angeles, but
in this council district, it is connected to the Northeast
LA neighborhoods Eagle Rock, Boyle Heights, those types of neighborhoods,
which are all lovely places in their own right, of course,
but it does seem like Downtown hasn't always been emphasized
(21:19):
by whoever's representing that district. And I think even in
a recent press conference this week, I heard Isabelle Herado say,
I may be new to Downtown or something along those lines,
do you feel like we're being represented at the city
level in events like this.
Speaker 9 (21:34):
Yeah, it's a great question. You know, I actually would
pivot back to your whole point. I don't think that,
you know, I'm I'm not a huge fan of finding
the silver lining and really challenging moments, but there's definitely
a silver lining I think to this moment. And we've
been working really hard with council Member Grado to try
(21:57):
to build a relationship where, you know, she understands and
is supportive of the community, and to her credit, I
you know, she certainly has acknowledged that Downtown is not
the neighborhood that she comes from. She during this moment,
you know, during the Convention Center vote talking about lighting.
There's a lot of issues where she's been very enthusiastic
(22:20):
to jump in and support what residents downtown and what
the business community are asking for. And so I'm actually
optimistic about how we can continue to work together. The
gravity of the opportunity and challenge downtown definitely takes a
level of sophistication and you know, commitment. We need a
(22:41):
champion downtown. But you know, I even even the mayor,
like I've heard Mayor Bass really talking about downtown this
week in a way that usually downtown doesn't get that
much attention or focused. So I'm hopeful that the city
can rally behind our neighborhood. And I have some thoughts
about how this ends, but that might be the silver lining,
(23:01):
you know, folks realizing this is the heart of the city.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
Well, thanks for previewing. My question is as we finish
up here, I'll go to Leslie and I'll come back
to you because I do want to ask you both
this as I've asked our listeners tonight, and we'll share
more of our listeners' comments coming up, and there's still
time to get those in open up the iHeartRadio app
click on the talkback button. It's clear that the immigration
enforcement is going to continue in some capacity. We did
see the President back paddle a little bit, not officially
(23:26):
yet no action taken, but maybe we shouldn't be going
so hard after the farms and the hospitality industry. But
these enforcement actions were followed by the demonstrations. The demonstrations escalated.
It brought in both agitators and then criminals who took
advantage of the police being distracted. And now we've got
(23:46):
a curfew. So it's been layer after layer after layer
of just things that have disrupted downtown Los Angeles. The
question is how does this end? Leslie any idea how
this all ends?
Speaker 4 (24:01):
Yeah, I mean that's so hard. I mean, we've got
to find some of these work. But in the curfew
is not a viable long term option if if the
ice rates, if that kind of integration, that level integration
enforcement continues, you've got to find I mean, and I
hope it does not to be clear for various reasons.
We've got to find some sort of viable option because
(24:23):
the curfew is just that kills downtown, right, it's not viable.
I'm hoping that what happens is that there's some sort
of political bargain struck or you know, some sort of
legal action is brought against administration that stops the current
level of ice enforcement. That's my hope, I.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Think, Cassie, your thoughts on that, How does it end?
Speaker 9 (24:43):
Yeah, so I disagree a little bit with Leslie in
that I don't I don't necessarily think that how we
get out of our current curfew or this you know,
situation is depends on what's happening at the federal level.
From my perspective, the reality is Los Angeles, California are
(25:03):
probably going to be in some sort of you know,
combative tussle with the president for the next four years,
especially with the Olympics and the World Cup and the
Super Bowl being here. There's just a real eye on
Los Angeles specifically, where I think we're going to get
a lot of attention that we might not want, and
there's gonna be a lot of protesting. There's going to
(25:26):
be a lot of folks voicing their First Amendment rights,
and that's okay. That is actually a beautiful thing. In
downtown is usually the place that folks show up in
that way. We need to be able to manage that
without you know, this negative kind of tail spint after
dark where there is a totally different criminal element element.
(25:47):
I personally have seen and believe that it's folks taking
advantage of the situation. So we've got to figure out
how to mitigate that, anticipate that, and to Leslie's point,
the curfew is it needs to end. I don't want
to do anything that's going to, you know, meaningfully jeopardize
public safety. But if we get out of tonight in
a way that feels okay tomorrow morning, and even if
(26:10):
we don't, the hours need to be pushed back. I
feel like this is way too heavy handed for us
to live with as a neighborhood in a long term,
both from a resident perspective, but our businesses cannot afford this.
They're already kind of hanging on by a shoestring after
the fires, COVID, the writers strike, all of that. So
you know, safety is paramount, but it's got to be
(26:31):
a balance. We can't be heavy handed, and this is
going to need to either move back in terms of
hours or be rolled back entirely very soon. We can't
afford it.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Well, I'll tell you the one good thing about the
curfew tonight is that neither of you had any other options.
You had to join me right here on KFI. And
I'm really grateful for being your neighbor, and you two
founded this organization. I've got some others involved now to
you know, be civic boosters and also to advocate for
residents in downtown because there are a lot and listen,
(27:04):
we appreciate you taking the time to join. As I know,
there are a lot more stories to come out of
Downtown La very soon, and I hope that we get
to talk again. Cassie Horton Leslie Ritings from the Downtown
Residence Association, Thanks so much for spending part of your
Saturday night with us.
Speaker 4 (27:17):
Yeah, thanks for having us.
Speaker 9 (27:19):
Take care.
Speaker 4 (27:19):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
And we are watching what's going on in Downtown LA
right now. The curfew is in place. It does look
based on what I'm seeing, as if things are a
little bit calm right now. But they were harry again.
They were harry again the police. We're even saying about
an hour ago, commercial grade fireworks were being launched at
police officers at Broadway and Third Street, that's right near
(27:42):
Grand Central Market. But things do seem to have calmed
down a little bit, but how does it end. We'll
hear from you up next as we wrap up this
Saturday night of Michael Monks Reports.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
I Am six forty everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. This
is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI News
wrapping things up with you tonight. As we continue to
monitor what's going on in downtown Los Angeles. There is
still a large police presence still some demonstrators down there
who are protesting immigration enforcement. There has been a declaration
of unlawful assembly, a dispersal order, and the curfew is
(28:21):
now in effect as well. In recent days, police have
arrested people for failing to disperse. They have issued citations
for violating the curfew. They've been serious about this. Things
got a little spicy a couple of hours ago, and
police forcefully pushed protest protesters away from the Federal Building
area and in various other parts of downtown. The police
said that there were commercial great fireworks shot at them
(28:43):
around Third and Broadway. That's where Grand Central Market is
and the where I worked more recently than I cared
to admit it was very busy this afternoon in that
area as the No Kings march made its way around
downtown in various marches, and it was very unorganized, but
(29:04):
there were a lot of people down there with a
lot of signs, and it was it was entirely peaceful.
And it was after that part of the protests started
to disperse and the regular agitator types started showing up
outside the federal building where suspected illegal immigrants are being detained.
(29:25):
That's when the usual scene started to unfold again on
this night. I asked you all for your perspective on
what's going down and specifically asked how you think it ends.
Let's share more of what you have to say. Let's
hear from Brad Monks. You got it all wrong.
Speaker 10 (29:41):
The demonstrations aren't brought on by immigration enforcement. It's brought
on by illegal aliens and people supporting them. And Karen
Bass and Gavin Newsom letting get away with it. It's
not immigration enforcement. The law needs to be followed. You
got it all wrong, so kind of change your tune.
Speaker 5 (30:01):
Man.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
Appreciate the call, Brad, thanks for listening. Let's hear now
from Ronnie.
Speaker 9 (30:08):
I'm here in Los Angeles, and what needs to happen
is all.
Speaker 6 (30:12):
The free stuff needs to be cut.
Speaker 9 (30:15):
No more Section eight, no more medical.
Speaker 11 (30:21):
When I'm in college.
Speaker 12 (30:23):
Just cut it.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
That's the only way that it's going to get him
to leave.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
All right, Ronnie, we do appreciate that call as well,
and I no name on that one, and I can't
play it. So let's play this next caller.
Speaker 5 (30:38):
I think if Trump wants what's best for America, he
needs to realize that a lot of these immigrants are
good for America. With fertility rates around the world, So
loo immigration is going to keep us from becoming the
next Japan or South Korea. But we have to have
(30:58):
regulations on immigrant and we have to improve how we
do it.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
Hey, I think Japan and South Korea have high speed rail.
I think we would be lucky to be the next
Japan or South Korea. So let's hear now from Lisa the.
Speaker 11 (31:15):
Current immigration events. Sorry that you're having to be the
I and KFI. I don't know how this ends, but
while I have empathy for those who came here illegally
seeking a better life, the fact remains that they are
here illegally in violation of our laws. Los Angeles alone
has over one hundred thousand plus illegal immigrants statewide. Illegal
(31:38):
immigrants are adding billions to our state budget at a
time when we're also short housing units.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Appreciate that call, Lisa. Just a reminder that talkbacks tend
to be thirty seconds. It does cut you off. That's
not us cutting you off, it is the system itself.
All right, let's hear now from Jay.
Speaker 12 (31:57):
Hey, Michael love the show. I think the one thing
I've learned about Donald Trump is that he never does
anything without a intent behind it. He's causing all this
chaos and madness with the deportations in light of his big,
beautiful bill looking like it's not getting past. I have
a feeling he's working behind the scenes with Senators and
(32:21):
Congressman or whoever he needs to to say, pass it
and I'll lend the raids.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
Thanks. Appreciate that call very much, and I believe it
got one. Now we'll save that for another time, all right.
Thanks for all of you for listening and participating in
the conversation today, and not just during the past couple
of hours while we've been live on Michael Monks Reports,
but all afternoon as we monitored the big, big, big
(32:48):
No King's demonstration downtown and now, of course the scenes
that are unfolding in downtown LA. I do want to
say that it looks like it has cal him down dramatically.
I mean, there's still some people out there, still some police,
but the dispersal order has been given. The curfew is
in a fact, they will arrest people. They've been doing that.
(33:08):
But this is a tough time, especially for downtown Los
Angeles because with the curfew on a Saturday night, I mean,
if you're a restaurant, you're a bar. Can't nobody come
down now? And it is not cheap to operate. The
rent is expensive, real estate is expensive. It's hard enough
(33:36):
to gain traction in downtown LA because of all of
its other struggles, the criminality, the filthiness, the homelessness. So
hopefully something gets worked out soon. But again I don't
see these immigration enforcement efforts stopping, and so I don't
see the demonstrations against them stopping. And when the police
(33:56):
are distracted, then the criminal element will come out and
take advantage of it. There's no need to break into
a sushi restaurant or the Apple store or the Adidas shop.
It doesn't help your point, and I don't think those
folks have a point. But another night is coming to
(34:17):
a close here in Los Angeles. Thanks so much for
joining us here. I am actually going to be live
again tomorrow from two to four, maybe even earlier if
anything gets out of hand. We are going to continue
to monitor the situations, but at the very least special
edition of Michael Monks Reports Sunday afternoon at two o'clock.
I do hope you'll join the conversation there as well.
(34:37):
We will look forward to that. I'll tell you from
my observations that the vibes are very strange in LA
right now. You may support the immigration enforcement, you may
support the illegal immigrants. You may be somewhere in the
middle there like there may be some more precision that
we could do in the enforcement efforts. But this policy
(34:57):
has the potential to change the face of Lost Angelis.
I think in a way it doesn't other places. There
are a lot of immigrants here and you see them
all the time. And with the Fashion District looking the
way it did today, I bet that's going to play
out all across the city and the county and all
over southern California. Because it's clear that some folks who
(35:21):
are not here legally are free to be out, and
so you'll see the impact and we'll be telling you
all about it right here. Coming up next as Revisionist
History with Malcolm Gladwell a very fine program, but Heather
Brooker in our newsroom will continue to keep you updated
(35:41):
every fifteen minutes on what's going on downtown. I want
to thank her for anchoring the news today and Raoul
Cortes for his fine work as the technical director of
this program. I'm Michael Monks. You've been listening to Michael
Monks Reports right here on KFI AM six
Speaker 1 (35:56):
Forty KFI AM six forty on demand
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
This is Michael Monks Reports. I'm Michael Monks from KFI News.
We got another hour together and if you are in
downtown Los Angeles, you ain't supposed to be. The curfew
is now in effect for another day. These curfew started
on Monday, and right now we see why the anti
(00:27):
ice demonstrations have continued and there is a massive law
enforcement presence out on the streets of downtown LA. As
we speak together on this otherwise beautiful Saturday night in
southern California. We have seen less lethal ammunition used. We
have seen tear gas to disperse this crowd. It has
gotten harry down there. Here's a little sense of what
(00:49):
went down, some of the noises that you would hear,
and then you'll hear from ABC News correspondent Matt Gutman
as he kind of gets into it with the police.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
They've just taken someone down, and they've taken and can
see there there's an elderly lady.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Inside of it. I don't know if you can hear that.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
She's got her hands up pay.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Nobody touched anybody.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Off, Hey, nobody touched anybody.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
You guys, you're literally here, you're on camera. We have
nobody touched anybody.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
No, I didn't.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
You're on TV and now you're pushing me online television.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
All right, we didn't touch anybody.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
You know that's true. Okay, thank you, I got it.
So you can see.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Obviously, tensions are extremely high here. What is clearly happening
is that the LAPD has pushed and the Sheriff's department
has pushed people back.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
They've created a multi blocked perimnory.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
You see, traffic is now open, right, They're not still
in the streets, but traffic is now moving freely for
the first time in probably seven hours. Here down Main Street,
this line of valet Sheriff's deputies firing flashbags and some
sort of smoke.
Speaker 5 (02:05):
Again.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
You know, it's the same thing that we've been seeing.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Hour after hour here right here in Grand Park in
downtown Los Angeles. We're a couple of hours from Cerfuse.
It does not seem that at this point law enforcement
has a firm grip on the city. They just blasted
some of the people setting right next to us to
try to clear that and they're trying to.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Get everybody off the streets here. It's not yet curfew.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
But they have been extremely forced full over.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
The past couple of hours and.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Getting people away from the Federal building. Most of the
protests today were absolutely without.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Incident, peaceful.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
That has changed over the past couple of hours.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
And now, of course curfew has gone into effect here
after the eight o'clock hour. It is in effect until
six o'clock tomorrow morning, and then it looks like it
will just be an indefinite situation. And this is just
not a sustainable situation for downtown Los Angeles. I can
tell you as a resident the vibes. They're already a
little rough down there anyway. But it does have its
(03:06):
appeal restaurants, businesses, people, neighbors. I mean, there's a lot
to love about living and being in downtown LA. It
would be nice if local authorities would do more to
clean it up, clean it out. It's a mess, and
it's often disgustingly filthy. But what has happened since last
(03:27):
Friday it's just not sustainable. Graffiti on every single wall
in the area of the Fashion district and close to
Alameda where the detention center is some of the civic
center areas just graffiti all over the place. And of
(03:47):
course you recall the looting and the vandalism of last Sunday.
I mean, there are businesses down there that are already
fighting for their lives, and now this and the curfew,
the curfews killing them, and the curfews are brought on
by the demonstrations, and the demonstrations are brought on by
the immigration enforcement. The immigration enforcement is also clearly scaring
(04:12):
a lot of people from going to work. You're not
seeing the street vendors and the volume I mean the
fashion district today, my walk down to the No King's
March that I covered earlier this afternoon, I mean, this
was a beautiful Saturday afternoon. It would usually be packed
down there. Most of the stores remain closed, and there
(04:33):
were very few street vendors, very few food trucks. You know,
on any day you've got Seniorita's shouting out docles docles ambregasas.
That's not happening today. You know, that's just not happening.
So there is a fear in the community as well.
It's not sustainable. My question to you is how does
(04:57):
it end? And I'd like for you to join that
conversation by opening up the iHeartRadio app and clicking on
the talkback button and sharing with us your thoughts. Let's
hear now from Derek.
Speaker 6 (05:10):
Hey, good evening, great show. Get to this one a
little late, but I mean can play on board with
deporting other criminals for sure, and then anybody else who's
here in this country illegally needs to go too, And
there's compassionate ways you can do that, just not grabbing
people that have been here for ten years but they're
(05:32):
here illegally. Every country has immigration logs, including Mexico. So
what's the due process of entering a country? Thank you,
Thank you, Derek. We do appreciate you taking the time
to listen and to join our conversation. Let's hear next
from Andrew.
Speaker 7 (05:45):
Hello, Michael Monks Andrew in Dayton, Ohio.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Precariously cluster your homeown.
Speaker 7 (05:51):
You're doing a great job man. Thank Youanks you and
KFI for all the coverage. We appreciate it. And I
think things might die down as the amendments that the
Supreme Leader has made to who they go after less
restaurant and less hotel people. And it's interesting being that
the guy owns so many hotels.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Anyway, take care sure, Andrew appreciate it. Love Dayton, Ohio.
Someday I'll share my stories of when I was in
college in northern Kentucky taking the long hour drive up
there to a very special nightclub. Always fun driving up,
not so much fun driving back from Dayton, Ohio after
a long night of partying. Let's hear from someone else, you.
Speaker 8 (06:36):
Know, Michael, this doesn't end well. As a disabled cancer patient,
I have a gun in this fight and it's not
looking good. And from the you think we could learn
from our past mistakes, but with an antagonistic president, it's
like the Hunger Games and the Matrix all rolled into one.
We got to learn, We gotta do something.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Appreciate that call. I didn't get a name there, but
I do appreciate you listening and taking the time to call.
And you can also join our conversation if you haven't already.
Just open up the iHeartRadio app, click on that talkback button,
and we'll play more of your thoughts on this matter,
because it's not just how you feel about illegal immigration
or what you think the president should do or what
(07:19):
you think should happen next how do you think this
ends for LA specifically, because again, the demonstrations that we're
watching right now past curfew in downtown LA, they're the
reason there is a curfew. There's a curfew because of
the demonstrations. The demonstrations are because of the riots. I'm sorry,
(07:41):
the raids. What ends first, I don't know. I really
don't know, so I need you to tell me. Up next,
we'll be joined live by two representatives from the Downtown
Los Angeles Residents Association. What is it like living and
trying to work down there? Right now? I'll give you
(08:01):
a preview. It's not good. This is Michael Monks Reports.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI News.
We're with you till nine o'clock. Dodgers have opened up
a seven to nothing lead at Dodgers Stadium over the Giants.
Right now, it is the top of the fifth inning there.
And again, if you were at the Dodgers game, hold
(08:31):
onto that ticket stub if you are headed back into
the downtown curfew zone, because You'll need to show that
to anybody questioning why you're there. The curfew now in
effect minute twenty since the latest curfew went into a
fact in downtown Los Angeles. Another quick look at sports.
The Orioles over the Angels tonight six to five in Baltimore.
(08:51):
But the UCLA Bruins baseball team knocked off Murray State
six to four up against that Cinderella team in Omaha
to advance, and they will play LSU on Monday as
College World Series continues in Nebraska. What continues here in
Los Angeles? Oh, the usual. It's another night of anti
immigration enforcement demonstrations in downtown Los Angeles, and those who
(09:15):
have not dispersed despite the order, and those who have
not gone home despite the curfew are facing off with
law enforcement. We've already seen the use of flash bangs
and tear gas and less lethal AMMO to try to
get people to leave, but it hasn't worked entirely yet. Meanwhile,
the rest of downtown has been a complete ghost town.
(09:40):
And I got a couple of people living in that
curfew right now who are joining us from the Downtown
Residence Association, a group that they co founded. Cassie Horton
and Leslie Ridings. Cassie, thanks for being with us.
Speaker 9 (09:54):
Yeah, thank you for having us. We really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
And Leslie my thanks to you also, thank you very
much for Cassie. My question to the audience tonight that
I've been asking them to open up the talkback button
on the iHeartRadio app and share their thoughts is how
does this end? And I think before I pose that
question to YouTube, give us the lay of the land
about how it is right now, living, working, breathing in
(10:19):
downtown La.
Speaker 9 (10:23):
Yeah, so good question about how this ends. I'll start
with the second question it is. You know, I think
the past week has been pretty difficult. Monday night in particular,
was really challenging. I live on Eighth and Olive, which
is just a couple blocks up. That's two blocks ups
(10:43):
from Broadway and Eighth where the Apple Store and the
Adidas store are. So, you know, Monday night, middle of
the night, we had a line of squad cars piled
up just right below us, and they were getting ready
to go intersect the looting that was happening at those
specific stores, and things were loud and things were tense,
(11:06):
and you know, that's definitely a difficult experience. So somebody
living in the neighborhood who loves the neighborhood, who wants
more people to be excited about moving downtown and spending
time downtown, It's definitely not indicative of your everyday experience downtown,
you know. But I think that that night, that Monday night,
was really tough for folks living in the neighborhood. And
(11:29):
since then we've kind of transitioned into this you know,
curfew that residents frankly had a lot of concerns with.
There was a curfew administered in twenty twenty during the
George Floyd protests, and a lot of folks there was
a lot of lack of communication about exactly what the
policies were and how it would be applied, and residents
(11:53):
had a really difficult time with that. So we were
able to advocate for and we actually advocated it's the curfew,
but we were able to secure kind of a resident
carve out, which has given folks in the neighborhood the flexibility,
you know, to go to the grocery store, to go
to CBS, to you know, go pick up a pizza
for dinner or whatever it is. And so that's given
(12:15):
us a little bit of normalcy. Things have definitely been
really quiet throughout the middle of the week as the
curfew's been in place, but our bars and restaurants are
really struggling.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Yeah, I mean, even if you wanted to go out
and get a pizza, it's really difficult. I had a
hard time last night. I'm a resident down there as well,
and thought I would go out and get something taking
advantage of that resident carve out and it was rough
And let me bring Leslie in because this afternoon, which
was a gorgeous Saturday afternoon in downtown Los Angeles, I
(12:45):
was walking over to cover the big protests in downtown
La earlier this afternoon, and as I walked through the
Fashion district across Los Angeles Street from end to end, basically,
oh boy, even in the daytime, all those doors are,
all those street vendors appear to be gone. I mean,
very few businesses were open in the fashion district. I
would imagine that a lot of that has to do
(13:07):
with fears over immigration enforcement and people's status. But what
could be the lingering impact of the downtown LA economy
because of what we're seeing tonight again and because of
this curfew.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
Yeah, I mean that's a very good question, and that's
a difficult question. I mean that's because it ties in
really the president's politics. Right, these are national politics that
have been brought into our city and now we have
to deal with them. Like you're basically being used as
a testing ground or whatever metaphor you want for political
(13:48):
battles much bigger than us. Right. The long term implications,
I don't know. I mean I think that it depends
the way that these things sort out. Like if there's
some sort of deal struck and the federal courses are withdrawn,
the ice rays are, there's sort of cool down or stop,
(14:08):
and I think we can go back to something that
we had, sort of status quo. If the enforcement continues,
the ramped up enforcement continues, then I think we're looking
at a very different, very different world in Los Angeles,
and I'm not sure what that looks like.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Cassie, I want to ask you about the characterization of
downtown and some of the mayor's remarks. It seems like
local officials are emphasizing that LA is not on fire,
LA is not incomplete chaos. It's just one tiny part
of the city where we're dealing with this, but it
happens to be our part of the city, and I
felt a little weird about it when I brought it
up here in the studio on U Gary and Shannon
earlier this week, I kind of got made fun of.
(14:44):
I even got some talkbacks from listeners like I grow
up or whatever. But it feels like a downplaying of
what It seems like they're downplaying what is hurting our
little sliver of downtown. La am I wrong for feeling.
Speaker 9 (14:59):
This way, No, not at all. I mean it's been
it's been a real experience over the past week to
kind of compare you know, what's in the media, what's
on people's social media feeds, and what the lived experiences
as a resident in the neighborhood. So I think we've
gotten a lot of feedback from folks who feel the
same as you, and we're always, you know, fighting to
(15:23):
help folks understand. A lot of people don't realize that
there are ninety thousand people who live in downtown. That's
as many people as the city of Santa Monica. So
you know, imagine if the whole city of Santa Monica
is shut down, like I think people would maybe talk
and think about that a little differently, and that's what
we're experiencing. Things have been really difficult, you know, both
(15:43):
in terms of some of the on rest, like you know,
folks out on Monday night and then things shutting down
after that. So totally totally agree.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
But then on the.
Speaker 9 (15:53):
Flip side of that, I took you know, I took
the train up to Highland Park on Friday for an appointment,
and you would have it was a totally different experience
than what it feels like in our neighborhood right now.
And that's not to say like after the curfew is
in place, a lot of you know, some of some
(16:14):
of the mischief and rabble rousing and taking advantage of
the police tending to the protests and things like that,
that's really tampered down. So you know, I do not
feel like downtown is on fire right this minute, but
last weekend things were really difficult. And to downplay that,
you know, and to show videos of folks in Beverly Hills,
(16:34):
you know, walking their dogs like versus what we experienced, like,
I think there's I think we need to be honest
about what's going on. But also, you know, it's kind
of goes to your point about people people just not
really recognizing downtown as a neighborhood. And I said that
earlier this week when we were talking to some elected officials.
I said, you know, if if this was going on
(16:55):
in Eagle Rock, or if this was going on in
Sherman Oaks, people might be thinking of it really differently.
A lot of people have the impression that we're kind
of this empty, you know, Civic center where you go
and you you know, you demonstrate, or you walk through
the Dodgers parade and like nothing. Nobody's really dealing with
the impact of that, And that couldn't be farther from
(17:15):
the truth. So it's been a real thing to wrap
your head around this week, for sure.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
We're joined by Cassie Horton and Leslie Writings. Leslie, I'll
get your thoughts on that in just a moment there
with a Downtown Residence Association. Obviously, Downtown the epicenter of
the ongoing demonstrations against immigration enforcement, and we are monitoring
live right now as demonstrators again another night, continue to
protest outside despite dispersal orders and a curfew that is
(17:40):
now in effect, and we will see if it escalates
any further with police who have already used hear gas
and less lethal ammunition. We want to hear from you too.
The question tonight is how does this all end. We
don't think the raids are going to stop, and we
don't think as long as they're going that the demonstrations
will stop, and so what does that mean about the
(18:01):
curfew and the impact on downtown. Open up the iHeartRadio app,
click on the talkback button and let us know you're
listening to Michael Monks Reports.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
K I AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI
News with you till nine o'clock tonight. We continue to
monitor live the events in downtown Los Angeles, where the
curfew is in effect again, law enforcement on the scene
as usual and some lingering demonstrations against the enforcement of
(18:33):
illegal immigration policies by the federal government are ongoing right now.
We're joined by Downtown Resident Association leaders Cassie Horton and
Leslie Writings, who are talking about what it's like in
downtown LA in the midst of these demonstrations in the
midst of the immigration enforcement and now in the midst
(18:53):
of this curfew, and already fragile economy obviously being damaged
even further by this. Leslie, let me bring you back again,
because you know, this afternoon I mentioned that I walked
through tumbleweeds in the Fashion district. When on a beautiful
Saturday like this, it would typically be so loud, so
difficult even to walk across the street because there are
(19:13):
so many people. That was not the case today, a
complete ghost town. The massive protest, the No Kings protest,
brought a ton of people downtown. I noticed that a
lot of the retail shops, even in the historic Broadway section,
were closed, but Grand Central Market was open and it
was hopping. And it struck me that these are folks
(19:34):
who might not come to downtown maybe ever, but downtown
does have a lot of positive things to offer. Is
there anything good that might come for downtown Los Angeles
based on this current struggle?
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, I think definitely
mean exactly what you just pointed out today, right, Fifty
thousand people came into downtown Los Angeles today that otherwise
might not have and I think to Cassie's point for
the b I think one of the biggest struggles that
downtown has is that many people in our city, including
unfortunately a lot of our elected leaders, don't understand or
view downtown as a residential hub with almost one hundred
(20:10):
thousand people in it that have you know, awesome like
world class eateries, civic amenities, museums and all that kind
of stuff. So getting all those folks down there, even
if it's you know, for fighting to protests, you know,
not great decisions by our federal administration opens their eyes
to that. And hope is.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
And what we reconnect with Leslie there in case we
lost them, Cassie, let me bring you back. Downtown is
part of a council district number fourteen, now represented by
a council member Isabelle Herrado, who unseated incumbent Kevin Daleyon.
This is a district as influential as Downtown is, even
though people don't seem to realize that. You mentioned the population.
It's a pretty good sized population. It's a very diverse
(20:55):
population compared to other neighborhoods. It's pretty evenly split across
multiple demographics. It's the economic engine of Los Angeles, but
in this council district, it is connected to the Northeast
LA neighborhoods Eagle Rock, Boyle Heights, those types of neighborhoods,
which are all lovely places in their own right, of course,
but it does seem like Downtown hasn't always been emphasized
(21:19):
by whoever's representing that district. And I think even in
a recent press conference this week, I heard Isabelle Herado say,
I may be new to Downtown or something along those lines,
do you feel like we're being represented at the city
level in events like this.
Speaker 9 (21:34):
Yeah, it's a great question. You know, I actually would
pivot back to your whole point. I don't think that,
you know, I'm I'm not a huge fan of finding
the silver lining and really challenging moments, but there's definitely
a silver lining I think to this moment. And we've
been working really hard with council Member Grado to try
(21:57):
to build a relationship where, you know, she understands and
is supportive of the community, and to her credit, I
you know, she certainly has acknowledged that Downtown is not
the neighborhood that she comes from. She during this moment,
you know, during the Convention Center vote talking about lighting.
There's a lot of issues where she's been very enthusiastic
(22:20):
to jump in and support what residents downtown and what
the business community are asking for. And so I'm actually
optimistic about how we can continue to work together. The
gravity of the opportunity and challenge downtown definitely takes a
level of sophistication and you know, commitment. We need a
(22:41):
champion downtown. But you know, I even even the mayor,
like I've heard Mayor Bass really talking about downtown this
week in a way that usually downtown doesn't get that
much attention or focused. So I'm hopeful that the city
can rally behind our neighborhood. And I have some thoughts
about how this ends, but that might be the silver lining,
(23:01):
you know, folks realizing this is the heart of the city.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
Well, thanks for previewing. My question is as we finish
up here, I'll go to Leslie and I'll come back
to you because I do want to ask you both
this as I've asked our listeners tonight, and we'll share
more of our listeners' comments coming up, and there's still
time to get those in open up the iHeartRadio app
click on the talkback button. It's clear that the immigration
enforcement is going to continue in some capacity. We did
see the President back paddle a little bit, not officially
(23:26):
yet no action taken, but maybe we shouldn't be going
so hard after the farms and the hospitality industry. But
these enforcement actions were followed by the demonstrations. The demonstrations escalated.
It brought in both agitators and then criminals who took
advantage of the police being distracted. And now we've got
(23:46):
a curfew. So it's been layer after layer after layer
of just things that have disrupted downtown Los Angeles. The
question is how does this end? Leslie any idea how
this all ends?
Speaker 4 (24:01):
Yeah, I mean that's so hard. I mean, we've got
to find some of these work. But in the curfew
is not a viable long term option if if the
ice rates, if that kind of integration, that level integration
enforcement continues, you've got to find I mean, and I
hope it does not to be clear for various reasons.
We've got to find some sort of viable option because
(24:23):
the curfew is just that kills downtown, right, it's not viable.
I'm hoping that what happens is that there's some sort
of political bargain struck or you know, some sort of
legal action is brought against administration that stops the current
level of ice enforcement. That's my hope, I.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Think, Cassie, your thoughts on that, How does it end?
Speaker 9 (24:43):
Yeah, so I disagree a little bit with Leslie in
that I don't I don't necessarily think that how we
get out of our current curfew or this you know,
situation is depends on what's happening at the federal level.
From my perspective, the reality is Los Angeles, California are
(25:03):
probably going to be in some sort of you know,
combative tussle with the president for the next four years,
especially with the Olympics and the World Cup and the
Super Bowl being here. There's just a real eye on
Los Angeles specifically, where I think we're going to get
a lot of attention that we might not want, and
there's gonna be a lot of protesting. There's going to
(25:26):
be a lot of folks voicing their First Amendment rights,
and that's okay. That is actually a beautiful thing. In
downtown is usually the place that folks show up in
that way. We need to be able to manage that
without you know, this negative kind of tail spint after
dark where there is a totally different criminal element element.
(25:47):
I personally have seen and believe that it's folks taking
advantage of the situation. So we've got to figure out
how to mitigate that, anticipate that, and to Leslie's point,
the curfew is it needs to end. I don't want
to do anything that's going to, you know, meaningfully jeopardize
public safety. But if we get out of tonight in
a way that feels okay tomorrow morning, and even if
(26:10):
we don't, the hours need to be pushed back. I
feel like this is way too heavy handed for us
to live with as a neighborhood in a long term,
both from a resident perspective, but our businesses cannot afford this.
They're already kind of hanging on by a shoestring after
the fires, COVID, the writers strike, all of that. So
you know, safety is paramount, but it's got to be
(26:31):
a balance. We can't be heavy handed, and this is
going to need to either move back in terms of
hours or be rolled back entirely very soon. We can't
afford it.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Well, I'll tell you the one good thing about the
curfew tonight is that neither of you had any other options.
You had to join me right here on KFI. And
I'm really grateful for being your neighbor, and you two
founded this organization. I've got some others involved now to
you know, be civic boosters and also to advocate for
residents in downtown because there are a lot and listen,
(27:04):
we appreciate you taking the time to join. As I know,
there are a lot more stories to come out of
Downtown La very soon, and I hope that we get
to talk again. Cassie Horton Leslie Ritings from the Downtown
Residence Association, Thanks so much for spending part of your
Saturday night with us.
Speaker 4 (27:17):
Yeah, thanks for having us.
Speaker 9 (27:19):
Take care.
Speaker 4 (27:19):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
And we are watching what's going on in Downtown LA
right now. The curfew is in place. It does look
based on what I'm seeing, as if things are a
little bit calm right now. But they were harry again.
They were harry again the police. We're even saying about
an hour ago, commercial grade fireworks were being launched at
police officers at Broadway and Third Street, that's right near
(27:42):
Grand Central Market. But things do seem to have calmed
down a little bit, but how does it end. We'll
hear from you up next as we wrap up this
Saturday night of Michael Monks Reports.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
I Am six forty everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. This
is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI News
wrapping things up with you tonight. As we continue to
monitor what's going on in downtown Los Angeles. There is
still a large police presence still some demonstrators down there
who are protesting immigration enforcement. There has been a declaration
of unlawful assembly, a dispersal order, and the curfew is
(28:21):
now in effect as well. In recent days, police have
arrested people for failing to disperse. They have issued citations
for violating the curfew. They've been serious about this. Things
got a little spicy a couple of hours ago, and
police forcefully pushed protest protesters away from the Federal Building
area and in various other parts of downtown. The police
said that there were commercial great fireworks shot at them
(28:43):
around Third and Broadway. That's where Grand Central Market is
and the where I worked more recently than I cared
to admit it was very busy this afternoon in that
area as the No Kings march made its way around
downtown in various marches, and it was very unorganized, but
(29:04):
there were a lot of people down there with a
lot of signs, and it was it was entirely peaceful.
And it was after that part of the protests started
to disperse and the regular agitator types started showing up
outside the federal building where suspected illegal immigrants are being detained.
(29:25):
That's when the usual scene started to unfold again on
this night. I asked you all for your perspective on
what's going down and specifically asked how you think it ends.
Let's share more of what you have to say. Let's
hear from Brad Monks. You got it all wrong.
Speaker 10 (29:41):
The demonstrations aren't brought on by immigration enforcement. It's brought
on by illegal aliens and people supporting them. And Karen
Bass and Gavin Newsom letting get away with it. It's
not immigration enforcement. The law needs to be followed. You
got it all wrong, so kind of change your tune.
Speaker 5 (30:01):
Man.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
Appreciate the call, Brad, thanks for listening. Let's hear now
from Ronnie.
Speaker 9 (30:08):
I'm here in Los Angeles, and what needs to happen
is all.
Speaker 6 (30:12):
The free stuff needs to be cut.
Speaker 9 (30:15):
No more Section eight, no more medical.
Speaker 11 (30:21):
When I'm in college.
Speaker 12 (30:23):
Just cut it.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
That's the only way that it's going to get him
to leave.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
All right, Ronnie, we do appreciate that call as well,
and I no name on that one, and I can't
play it. So let's play this next caller.
Speaker 5 (30:38):
I think if Trump wants what's best for America, he
needs to realize that a lot of these immigrants are
good for America. With fertility rates around the world, So
loo immigration is going to keep us from becoming the
next Japan or South Korea. But we have to have
(30:58):
regulations on immigrant and we have to improve how we
do it.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
Hey, I think Japan and South Korea have high speed rail.
I think we would be lucky to be the next
Japan or South Korea. So let's hear now from Lisa the.
Speaker 11 (31:15):
Current immigration events. Sorry that you're having to be the
I and KFI. I don't know how this ends, but
while I have empathy for those who came here illegally
seeking a better life, the fact remains that they are
here illegally in violation of our laws. Los Angeles alone
has over one hundred thousand plus illegal immigrants statewide. Illegal
(31:38):
immigrants are adding billions to our state budget at a
time when we're also short housing units.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Appreciate that call, Lisa. Just a reminder that talkbacks tend
to be thirty seconds. It does cut you off. That's
not us cutting you off, it is the system itself.
All right, let's hear now from Jay.
Speaker 12 (31:57):
Hey, Michael love the show. I think the one thing
I've learned about Donald Trump is that he never does
anything without a intent behind it. He's causing all this
chaos and madness with the deportations in light of his big,
beautiful bill looking like it's not getting past. I have
a feeling he's working behind the scenes with Senators and
(32:21):
Congressman or whoever he needs to to say, pass it
and I'll lend the raids.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
Thanks. Appreciate that call very much, and I believe it
got one. Now we'll save that for another time, all right.
Thanks for all of you for listening and participating in
the conversation today, and not just during the past couple
of hours while we've been live on Michael Monks Reports,
but all afternoon as we monitored the big, big, big
(32:48):
No King's demonstration downtown and now, of course the scenes
that are unfolding in downtown LA. I do want to
say that it looks like it has cal him down dramatically.
I mean, there's still some people out there, still some police,
but the dispersal order has been given. The curfew is
in a fact, they will arrest people. They've been doing that.
(33:08):
But this is a tough time, especially for downtown Los
Angeles because with the curfew on a Saturday night, I mean,
if you're a restaurant, you're a bar. Can't nobody come
down now? And it is not cheap to operate. The
rent is expensive, real estate is expensive. It's hard enough
(33:36):
to gain traction in downtown LA because of all of
its other struggles, the criminality, the filthiness, the homelessness. So
hopefully something gets worked out soon. But again I don't
see these immigration enforcement efforts stopping, and so I don't
see the demonstrations against them stopping. And when the police
(33:56):
are distracted, then the criminal element will come out and
take advantage of it. There's no need to break into
a sushi restaurant or the Apple store or the Adidas shop.
It doesn't help your point, and I don't think those
folks have a point. But another night is coming to
(34:17):
a close here in Los Angeles. Thanks so much for
joining us here. I am actually going to be live
again tomorrow from two to four, maybe even earlier if
anything gets out of hand. We are going to continue
to monitor the situations, but at the very least special
edition of Michael Monks Reports Sunday afternoon at two o'clock.
I do hope you'll join the conversation there as well.
(34:37):
We will look forward to that. I'll tell you from
my observations that the vibes are very strange in LA
right now. You may support the immigration enforcement, you may
support the illegal immigrants. You may be somewhere in the
middle there like there may be some more precision that
we could do in the enforcement efforts. But this policy
(34:57):
has the potential to change the face of Lost Angelis.
I think in a way it doesn't other places. There
are a lot of immigrants here and you see them
all the time. And with the Fashion District looking the
way it did today, I bet that's going to play
out all across the city and the county and all
over southern California. Because it's clear that some folks who
(35:21):
are not here legally are free to be out, and
so you'll see the impact and we'll be telling you
all about it right here. Coming up next as Revisionist
History with Malcolm Gladwell a very fine program, but Heather
Brooker in our newsroom will continue to keep you updated
(35:41):
every fifteen minutes on what's going on downtown. I want
to thank her for anchoring the news today and Raoul
Cortes for his fine work as the technical director of
this program. I'm Michael Monks. You've been listening to Michael
Monks Reports right here on KFI AM six
Speaker 1 (35:56):
Forty KFI AM six forty on demand
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