June 8, 2025 • 42 mins
Trump deploys 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Mark Thompson on this troubling Sunday in southern California, even
as the weather is so gorgeous, it's a beautiful day,
And honestly that's not a completely incidental, irrelevant point, because
in the weather that favors being outside, there are growing
crowds of people in downtown Los Angeles. And as these
(00:25):
ice sweeps in La continue, the resistance is fierce and
there are so many I was saying facets to all
of this.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
One of them is the breaking news.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
That is, you know where people are, how many people
are there, Where authorities are, how many of them are there?
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Where is the National Guard? What are they doing?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I mean, these are all sorts of details that are
critical to an unfolding, dynamic situation. But of course they
all exist against a backdrop of an immigration policy that
is being protested and is being executed. Some would say
in a reckless way, some would say in an overly
aggressive way, and some would say in an appropriate way.
(01:09):
But the facets of this thing we will pull away
and focus on in the hours ahead. And we have
Michael Monks, who is in the rugby scrum of it
all in downtown Los Angeles, and we will give you
the overview here. I mean National Guard troops have arrived.
(01:30):
As you know, the President ordered their deployment. There were
two days of to be fair, I mean, again to
be fair to the volatility of the situation, two days
of occasionally violent protests. In the main, it would seem
based on all the reporting, and I'm sure you have,
(01:50):
if you have any interest in your city or any
interest in this subject, have taken in news reports. Local
news has been great, Kafi has been great. We've had
again or embedded in all of this television has given
you some literal view of things. And as I watched everything,
I saw a couple of things. And first of all,
(02:10):
you know, remember you're seeing everything through the prism of
the lens that shows you the action, right, But a
lot of the live broadcasts of what's happening in downtown
LA show you that in the main, it's a collection
of people angered, without question, that's why they're there. But
they're not all violent protesters. But again, to be fair,
(02:32):
there are violent protesters or violent agitators within that huge
flank of protesters. So with a situation as dynamic and
volatile as you have. It only takes a bit in
the way of agitators to create a situation that spills.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Over, and now you have a real problem on your hands.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
The question becomes, do you really needtional Guard troops? I mean,
National Guard troops by their mere presence can help quell
a situation, or National Guard troops by their mere presence
can actually create an adjutant to a situation. I mean,
(03:16):
it's believe me, we're all wanting everything peaceful. We want
the demonstrators peaceful, we want the cops, we want the military,
we want everybody to just be to behave, if I
can use the word, I mean just to be peaceful.
But what happens is all of these elements get shook
together in this mix of today's protests and bad things happen.
(03:43):
Three hundred soldiers separately dispatched in the Greater LA area,
the US Command posting this this morning. They're conducting safety
and protection of federal property and person. Now, the line
(04:05):
of armed National Guard troops protecting the federal building this morning,
which was heavily defaced with graffiti, hasn't made a move
toward protesters. And again i'd suggest they're mere presence, and
I maybe hope that their mere presence chills everybody out.
But it was Washington, it was the President on the
(04:29):
White House website who ordered the deployment of the National Guard.
He said, quote in light of numerous incidents of violence
and disorder which threatened to continue in response to the
enforcement of federal law by US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement ICE.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Right, these.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Agents of the United States government are performing federal functions
and supporting the faithful execution of federal immigration laws. And
just to remin mind you, we've seen National Guard troops
on the streets of LA before. I believe we saw
them during George Floyd and all of those protests which
(05:10):
seemed to sweep the city. And I remember quite distinctly
that the National Guard was deployed across the city in
the wake of the Rodney King riots. And in the
wake of the Rodney King riots, you had Governor Pete Wilson,
who was a Republican, who called for the National Guard
(05:32):
to be deployed.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
And at the time, I mean, you.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Really had violent protests and rioting across the city of
Los Angeles. You had fires, you had looting, you had
clashes between protesters and federal law enforcement. This doesn't seem
to rise to that level. And again, I'll remind you
(05:56):
in ninety two it was the governor p. Wilson who
called them in in this case. And this is the
other facet to all of this. As I was saying,
this is so many different layers to this, this is another.
The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, is saying, hey, when
I need the National Guard, I'll call the National Guard.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
I don't need you.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
The President of the United States calling in the National
Guard on a city in California when local authorities are
able to handle this. The mayor of Los Angeles, and
as you know, if you've heard me before, I'm no
fan of the mayor of Los Angeles, but the mayor
of Los Angeles is saying exactly the same thing. We
have things under control. We don't need the National Guard.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Now.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
The concern is that the National Guard again whips up
emotions and their mere presence creates issues. It escalates the situation.
I think the Newsom even used the word escalates. But
these things that scate and agitate, and you can argue
(07:02):
both sides of this. You might be thinking no, I
want the National Guard there because I feel that they
protect the federal building and they essentially help keep the
peace in a situation that could easily spill over. Again,
you might be right, but the governor typically is the
first one to, even in connection and communication with the
(07:23):
President of the United States, perhaps call in the National Guard.
That wasn't the case here. Donald Trump and this administration
bigfooted this. So that already creates a bit of an adjutant.
And again you might have thought that Trump did the
right thing. I'm just saying that that creates one more layer. Now,
(07:43):
the detention of David Huerta is a big, big deal.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
He's the he's the union.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Head, and he is a very high profile figure in
the union community. I mean, but what I was saying
before is the union community in California is different than
union communities elsewhere. Union community in California is made up
of who largely Latinos. Yeah, you'll just find within the
(08:18):
world of the unions here in California a different demographic
makeup than you'll find elsewhere in the country. So when
you look at David Wareta, this president of the SEIU USWW,
you find somebody who has a tremendous amount of support
within this community. Here is the quote, and I believe
(08:44):
this is the statement condemning his detention. We strongly condemn
the detention of SEIU California and SEIU USWW President David Awareta.
I won't read it the whole Stephen, but I'm just
going to give you a feel for how this is
going to become a rallying cry. We strongly condemn his
detention by ICE while he exercised his constitutional right to
(09:08):
peacefully protest ICE's indiscriminate immigration raids in Los Angeles. President
where To has long championed immigrant rights, civil liberties, and
economic justice. His arrest during a lawful act of civil
disobedience is an attack on free expression and the labor movement.
That he remains in ICE custody even after being hospitalized
(09:29):
is both unacceptable and alarming. And this is the last
part I just wanted you to hear. The labor movement
will not tolerate retaliation against those who speak out against injustice.
We demand where does immediate release. We urge elected leaders,
advocacy groups, and all who believe in justice to condemn
this action and stand with us in protecting the rights
(09:51):
and dignity ball workers. So you begin to see this
as a rallying cry. This isn't just somebody. This is
a somebody around whom there will be a lot of support,
and that support is going to take a lot of
different I would think, a lot of different faces. So
(10:14):
just the mere presence of those supporters will escalate things.
We've got Michael Monks, who's in the middle of it all,
who in the last hour was talking about the fact
that the crowds are swelling. So again, you know where
to is. It's the Service Employees International Union of California.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
And he was injured.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
While documenting this enforcement rate in downtown that happened on Friday.
He's almost sixty years old, this guy. So he was
treated at the hospital and then they moved him to
detention center in downtown a land Apparently that's overflowing. So
they are all sorts of questions about the detention centers,
everybody getting water, people being to you know, there's a
(10:57):
there's a quality of chaos. I might use that word
about this. All that is disturbing to everyone. And when
you take a community leader like that and you detain him,
I'm saying that that ripple effect will be felt in
protests and in presence in downtown LA today. So even
(11:20):
as maybe you listening don't know who this guy is,
the people who are most affected by these ice raids
and immigration raids and the pushback on the immigration community,
they know this guy. So that again is one facet
of what is happening. I want to talk to Michael Monks,
who is embedded in all of this, when we come
(11:42):
back and get a sense of what's happening right now,
and then we'll talk a little bit about what the
governor is doing and how this all games out.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
So there's a lot to do.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
By the way, if you have thoughts on this, we
do have the talkback feature available on iHeartRadio. If you
go to iHeartRadio. Many of you are streaming this right now.
On iHeart you can go I think it's in the
upper right hand portion of the screen on your phone,
click that some little microphone and you can leave us
a thought about what's going on. I'm curious to know
we've got the full weekend crew in. That's right, Robin, Nikki,
(12:15):
Ritchie Monks all here. As we continue.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Mark Thompson on this gorgeous Sunday in southern California that
really belies everything going on in downtown LA.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
There's a tremendous amount of.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Tension, I guess, I would say based on what happened
last night, based on the growing crowd in downtown, all
pushing back on the ice raids, aggressive ice raids that
have swept the Los Angeles area. More on that as
we continue right now, I want to get to Michael Monks,
who is embedded in it in it all, and from
what I was hearing Michael, it sounded to me like
(12:57):
the crowd was growing at a pretty impressive pace. I mean,
there's just been a growth in that group downtown of
a sort that is concerning.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
I've been broadcasting down here since twelve o'clock mark, and
originally there were maybe about one hundred people, That's what
I estimated. It was like a one for one protester
National guardsman slash federal law enforcement officer. But throughout the
afternoon it really started to grow in size, and just
with my naked eye, I'm guessing that we're somewhere around
(13:29):
six seven hundred people at this point, possibly more, and
there has been a rally scheduled at LA City Hall
for two o'clock, and I was curious about whether that
would be skipped in favor of coming down here since
we saw a little bit of action involving the National
Guard and the protesters. But there's a huge crowded LA
City Hall as well in an anti ice pro immigrant
(13:50):
rally at that building as we speak, So eight ton
of people in downtown Los Angeles for this issue right now.
It got harry here though, mark about an hour and
a half ago, when the National Guard decided they needed
to make way for some federal vehicles to make their
way into.
Speaker 5 (14:07):
This parking garage here, and they turned to force. They
used their shields to push everybody into the street.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
Flash bangs went off, Tear gas that I also was
hit by, was deployed, and this crowd was dispersed so
that those federal cars could make their way into the
parking garage here. But as soon as the cars made
their way in, the protesters reconvened in the street.
Speaker 5 (14:25):
They've now closed.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
The LAPD has announced the south found lanes of Alameda Street,
but traffic is still moving very slowly on the northbound side,
and despite the fact that there are hundreds of protesters
in the middle of the road.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Wow, yeah, that is a mean As I was saying,
the folliable situation to say the least I want.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
It sounds like some folks are leaving this site right
this moment. I just heard over a bullhorn. I'm seeing
a lot of movement from folks in the crowd.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
They're announcing that it's an UNA assembly. Probably I would
guess something like that.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
Folks look to be headed towards City Hall now. It's
actually huge crowd there for that rally. I'm going to
monitor this for the time being to see if everyone
disperses here and heads up to rally at City Hall.
This has pretty much been an eyeball standoff outside of
that bit of action that we had that lasted about fifteen.
Speaker 5 (15:21):
Minutes in the one o'clock hour.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
Mostly it's just been some shouting, some chanting, you know,
holding placards, and the National Guard just stoically.
Speaker 5 (15:31):
Silently standing on the side of the.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
Federal property, whereas the protesters are here on the public
sidewalking in the middle of the road.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
I have to guess that the National Guard doesn't want
you know, they don't want a situation where they have
to become involved in anyway. You know, these are human beings.
I mean, they're not happy to be there. I mean
in the main, there might be one or two or
like you know, I know, whatever, But I'm just saying
in the main, these National Guard troops they don't want
any trouble, and so has their presence affected things in
(15:59):
any way as you look at it.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
Look, these protesters are irritated that immigration officials have shown up,
So when you add another layer to that, it has
certainly escalated the tension in that respect, especially when you
consider who.
Speaker 5 (16:15):
Called for this.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
I mean, this is not a crowd that is sympathetic
to President Trump naturally, and so with President Trump sending
the National Guard here in a way that the governor
and the mayor don't agree with, that has certainly made
this crowd angrier. So we have seen some signs, you know,
most of them are just simply anti ice, but there
have been plenty that want the National Guard to go
(16:37):
as well.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Yeah, I mean it sounds raucous and chaotic down there.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
I mean, is that a lot.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
Of horns, A lot of horns, you know, clearly showing
support for the message here from the protesters, but also
some general LA traffic horns people that maybe didn't get
the news and got stuck in this mess and downtown street.
Speaker 5 (16:57):
But these sound to me like horns of support.
Speaker 4 (17:01):
And I got to tell you, Mark, just in a
few minutes since you and I have been dialoguing here,
it has thinned out considerably, okay, so that it looks
like people are heading to City Hall, which is probably
what I will do.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
I'm going to keep an eye on this for a
few more minutes.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
But just in the past few minutes that we've been talking,
this crowd of about six or seven hundred has thinned
to about two hundred in an instant, and I believe
that's because these folks are headed to that rally at
Los Angeles City Hall.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
Yeah, that is the plan.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
By the way, just because it was noted along the way,
they the Federal building is graffitiized. I mean there, do
you see it defaced in a lot of sort of
noticeable ways or how much has that been talked about
and is accurate and how much of that.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
Is just hype.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
It has been heavily defaced, certainly on the building, which
means that protesters, at some point we're in this parking
lot that we are not able to access at this
point because of the skirmish line formed by the National
Guard and the Department of Homeland Security police.
Speaker 5 (18:00):
That are here as well.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
So there are spray paint messages across every side of
this building right now with profanity aim towards Ice and
the President.
Speaker 5 (18:13):
And you know, when you're in downtown LA, you see
a lot of graffiti.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
This doesn't ever seem to be a priority for the
city to clean up, so it's often.
Speaker 5 (18:20):
Hard to distinguish new and old graffiti.
Speaker 4 (18:24):
Sure, but this is a little different because the messages
are so current to what the current issue is. This
is clearly brand new from the past few days.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
The last thing I'll ask you, and then I'll let
you go if you can hear me. The last thing
I'll ask is about the balance between La riot gear
clad cops and National Guard troops. You talked about the
fact that the National Guard presence is there and it's
sort of just a standoff. Nothing's happening. The riot gear
(18:54):
clad cops who are LAPD. I'm wondering if you can
speak to their presence, are they now going to.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
The other location, the.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
City Hall location or are they remaining there at the
Federal Building Mark.
Speaker 5 (19:07):
I talked about this with Chris a bit.
Speaker 4 (19:09):
It's been strange, and I'm not an expert on law enforcement,
but there hasn't been a single LAPD officer on the
ground here that I have seen. We have seen their
helicopter hovering above since the beginning of this thing. It's
still there as we speak, monitoring from the air. But
even when the traffic situation in Alameda Street got flat
out dangerous, not just disrupted for commuters, but dangerous for
(19:33):
drivers and pedestrians and protesters alike, there was no one around.
I saw a tweet from one of the LAPD offices
that said the southbound lanes were now closed on Alameda,
but never did I see any traffic enforcement officers show up. Now,
traffic enforcement is often done in the city by the
Department of Transportation, but certainly those.
Speaker 5 (19:53):
Have a role to play in that as well.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
Well, you've just seen a a You've done heroic work
so far. I know you took some tear gas earlier.
I mean it's still it's so potent.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
I mean it's been over an hour since that happened,
and you can still kind of taste it in the air.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
It's a rough day, Michael, and it is not over.
I appreciate you being in touch with us. We'll look
to check in with you as you make your way
to city Hall. With so many of those who are
resisting the presence of ice, Michael Monks with the KFI
News down in it all as downtown La Royals, with
the protests that have accompanied these ice raids and the
(20:28):
presence of ICE, and now National Guard troop presence that
apparently is around a defaced federal building. But once again,
based on everything I've seen, with moments of definite agitator
dictated throwing of stones, rocks, hurling of bottles, I saw
a lot of that last night. I'd say, in the
(20:51):
main it's a presence of protesters as opposed to violent
protests that are spilling over. Now again, these are dynamic
situations that could easily spill over into something more serious,
but we right now are seeing a somewhat controlled environment
and we're watching it.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
Of course, our to hour for you here on KFI.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
Mark Thompson here on a Sunday in southern California, and
this is. As you just heard, there a volatile situation,
and with nightfall things become even a bit more voladile.
The Mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, tweeting just now,
we will always protect the constitutional rights for Angelinos to
(21:40):
peacefully protests. However, violence, destruction, and vandalism will not be
tolerated in our city and those responsible will be held
fully accountable. So it's a message of strength from the mayor.
Even as we know, and we note it already, the
mayor doesn't want National Guard troops on this each of
Los Angeles right now. And interestingly enough, Rick Caruso, who
(22:06):
as you know, took on Mayor Bass in ma aoral
contest and is a big part, I would say, and
has a big footprint politically and in other respects economically
in Southern California.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
He also tweeted.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
He also posted, now this is I think to Instagram
there is no emergency. Rick Caruso says there is no emergency,
widespread threat, or out of control violence in Los Angeles,
and absolutely no danger that justifies deployment of the National Guard,
military or other federal force to the streets of this
(22:46):
or any other Southern California city. Local law enforcement is
capable of handling the situation and should arrest anyone causing
violence in the streets. We must call for colum in
the streets, and deployment of the National Guard may prompt
just the opposite. This is the point I was making
to you before, and I give Rick Caruso great credit
(23:11):
for the courage it takes to politically weigh in on
this situation with an allegiance to fact, as opposed to
the hysteria that can build up around this protest and
this whole incident. I'm just viewing the entire pushback on
ice as an incident as a whole, because it's really
(23:31):
made up, of course, as many incidents. I'll talk about
the home depot in Paramount in a second, and I'll
mention a couple of other things. But Caruso, to his credit,
doesn't take on Mayor Bass, doesn't say grateful for the
National Guard to be here now, makes the very point
that Bass and Newsom are both making, and that point
(23:52):
simply is this is a situation that can be handled
locally with local law enforcement and trained to handle situations
like this one. By putting the National Guard here, by
the federal government, Donald Trump and this administration, the FEDS
escalate the situation, and so the presence of the National
(24:16):
Guard has just the opposite effect. And this is exactly
what Caruso said. He said, it has the opposite effect
of encouraging calm and peaceful protest. So again, if you
look at this entire situation and the volatility of it,
(24:36):
you have to look on some level at the presence
of the National Guard as stirring the pot as potentially
creating even more unrest, and to that extent, you get
pushed back across the political spectrum then of California. Again, Newsom,
Bass and Caruso, they come from different places politically, but
(25:00):
they all are in lockstep on this. The National Guard
troops did arrive in downtown after President Trump ordered their deployment,
and it happened over strenuous objection from those parties and
local Democratic officials. So we watch with interest as many
(25:23):
of those who collected around the Federal building are now
going to city Hall. And again, this entire thing has
been marked by incidents specifically across LA Yesterday at the
Home Depot in Paramount, and I don't need to tell
you what happens at the Home depot, various home depots everywhere. Right,
(25:44):
you have day workers who are lining up and helping
with improvements that people are doing, construction work that's going on,
remodeling that's going on. These are day workers. Now, again,
you could shift through those day workers, and I'm betting
that the majority of them are not here legally, legally documented. Now,
(26:09):
at the same time I say that, you may say, yeah,
they're not here legally, but they're not a problem with
the society. They're not violent criminals, they're not any of
the things that are a blight on society. They're actually
an important part of the economy of the construction business,
and to that extent, they are valued members of California. Well,
(26:31):
that's just not the way Ice sees it at this point.
And as I showed up at this home depot in Paramount,
the protests started. Protesters showed up there and that clash
lasted for hours. Again, it was depending on who you
(26:56):
speak to, it was not a violent clash. But I
think it's fair to say that the dynamic there was
less than completely peaceful. I mean, you're talking about situation,
a situation where officers are clad in military ish outfits,
(27:22):
they have military weapons, and they arrived there in a big,
big way, and as the crowd gathered, flash bang grenades, etc.
Began to essentially create a general sense of chaos. It
(27:44):
was around nine am. This is horrible, said one witness.
I don't know what they're doing inside, but I mean,
why are they in Paramount? And on social media it
got that word spread very very quickly, and you just
(28:05):
begin to get more and more protesters, and again some
are agitators as well. So this is a situation that's
made up of multiple areas of chaos. And as I
was saying, with nightfall comes even more of this kind
of thing. One protester brought out a trash bag set
(28:29):
it ablaze. A couple of others pushed a cart with
concrete blocks from the home depot. They lined the road
to block vehicles. One smashed the block and spread the
broken pieces onto the road. Then a US Marshall bus
pulled up from the freeway. The crowd surrounded the bus,
trying to push it back, kicking at it until tear
(28:52):
gas was shot, and that standoff continued into the afternoon,
protesters recording a line of Sheriff's deputies. We're equipped with
shields and weapons. This is all part of a situation
that I think potentially we could see more of. As
(29:12):
the crowd chance ice go home, no justice, no peace.
You begin to see that a community that sees itself
as being called out on some level randomly. I mean,
if you aren't someone who is here violently, if you
are someone who is here working in construction, in sanitation,
(29:35):
you see yourself as a victim in all of this,
and a community around you that sees you as a
victim that way as well. So these crowds were fired
on with what are being called less lethal projectiles. This
all happened last night or late yesterday afternoon, early evening.
(29:56):
They declared that assembly near the home depot as an
unlawful assembly, and officials warren protesters in Spanish and English
to leave. But by seven o'clock there were more and
as I say, lobbing rocks and bottles. I had mentioned
this before at La County Sheriff's deputy. So you begin
(30:17):
to see that is not peaceful.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
That is.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
A kind of action that agitates a situation that's already volatile.
And I think there was a lot of restraint on
the part of sheriff's officers. Even as the situation became
more intense, and as I say, flash bangrenades and the
less than lethal but still very painful and you know,
(30:45):
again potentially.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
Very injurious.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
They call it pepper Is it is a there's a
there's a term for is it a pepper bullet or
a pepper pepperbomb?
Speaker 3 (31:00):
Thank you? As those are fired.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
So I just I guess I'm going through a lot
of these details just to make it clear. This isn't
a situation that has just been all peaceful protesters and gosh,
it's the cops who have been so nasty. No, no, no, no,
I think the cops have exercised some restraint, but by
the same token, as the situation becomes cranked up on
(31:27):
the protesters side, and as agitators begin with the throwing
of those bottles rocks begin blocking the road, then law
enforcement takes a more aggressive posture as well, and you
end up with the situation that we have today gathering
at city Hall. Now we'll check back in with Michael
Monks as he begins to figure out what the next
(31:50):
moves are there. He is embedded in that crowd. He
took some tear gas to the face earlier in his
reporting this morning, and so yeah, we have a situation
that could spill over. But again to return Caruso joins
Bass and Newsom, saying National Guard should not be here
(32:11):
in Los Angeles.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
Mark Thompson here on this Sunday with a volatile situation
unfolding in downtown Los Angeles. Or Michael Monks from the
KAFI newsroom has been embedded in. It'd always taken some
tear gas earlier to the face, and it's a I mean,
it's a situation that could easily spill over.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
I'm very curious.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
They've now moved from the Federal Building, which seem the
bulk of those resisting the ICE presence in Los Angeles.
Those protesters now to City Hall and let's bring in
Michael Monks now, Hi, Michael Mark.
Speaker 4 (32:48):
This rally has turned into a major march through downtown,
the largest I've seen. There were some pretty massive ones
last year related to Palestine. This is huge, which this march.
I am with these marchers right now on Temple Street
and it stretches all the way from Alameda well past
(33:09):
City Hall at this point, completely thick on every block.
It's interesting to note that when the protest at the
Federal Building involving the California National Guard started to thin
out last time you and I spoke a little while
ago that folks were heading this way.
Speaker 5 (33:27):
It was also the first time I saw Los Angeles
police on the scene.
Speaker 4 (33:30):
They shut down Alameda entirely on both ends, would not
let protesters walk to City Hall, force them to turn
around and go the other way, because they were clearly
preparing for what is now this massive march. So now
LAPD is on the scene in force around multiple corners
and trying to keep this crowd under control. The CHP
(33:53):
is blocking some freeway entrances from downtown. We know some
protests in LA tend to find themselves on the free ways,
so they're trying to prevent that. But right now it
is just a march full of thousands of people. We're
back at Alameda now, Temple and Alameda. Looks like we're
turning left on Alameda and Mark. Once we turn left
on Alameda, we're going to be half a block away
(34:15):
from that Federal building and those National guardsmen again, and
we'll see what the mood of the crowd will be
at that moment.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Yeah, this is an interesting point. I mean, because the
National Guard has been restrained. I mean, they've just based
on your reporting, they just had a presence there without
any kind of effort to confront protesters in any kind
of aggressive fashion.
Speaker 3 (34:37):
And you're kindly when.
Speaker 4 (34:38):
They cleared out pretty pretty physically, clearly had to tear
out for the entrance way to make those vehicles come in, Yes,
and through some to your gases and flash banks.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
But I'm just you're sort of implying and saying that
they're going to be getting back to that Federal building area.
I think what I'm hearing is that is a situation
and again could just be very already dynamic, and it's
very hard to predict what would happened.
Speaker 4 (35:03):
Well, we're here and it looks like this is just
a march that is continuing at this point, but we
are about to move past where the earlier protest was.
Speaker 5 (35:13):
And that thing grew fast.
Speaker 4 (35:15):
I mean one hundred people were there six seven hundred
people at least outside that federal building by the time
it started to dissipate. But while you and I were
talking just a half an hour ago, people started to
thin out to make their way to City Hall, and
it thenned out almost entirely, almost immediately. But folks were
met by LAPD at the end of the street at
Temple who said you can't go this way. So then
(35:37):
dozens and dozens more LAPD cruisers were coming through to
get ready for this march. This may have been planned,
this may have been impromptu. This is clearly the folks
who had gathered at City Hall, and now they are
marching through the streets of downtown.
Speaker 3 (35:50):
LA and they're moving on Alameda.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
You said, primarily is that's kind of the main route
of this protest.
Speaker 4 (35:56):
They came down Temple Street, Okay, and there's still people
on Temple Street. This a long crowd of people. It
is thick, it is deep, it is long. And these
folks that I happen to be with in this part
of the snake is now back on Alameda, very very
close to where the protest was with the National Guard,
and I will be there momentarily. I don't know if
(36:18):
folks are going to stop and do anything, if there
are any agitators or any plans to, you know, have
this thing take a.
Speaker 3 (36:25):
Turn, but sure, sure, you know, it looks like.
Speaker 5 (36:27):
People are just kind of walking past.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
Yeah, that's kind of what I wanted to get a
feel for, was the crowd consistency, if you sense that
there were, you know, those bent on a confrontation or
those just wanting to make their presence felt.
Speaker 4 (36:42):
I think with the crowd of this size, it's different
than what we saw in some of the smaller groups,
where there was a lot more jib jabbing going on
between people and law enforcement, and some of those altercations
turned physical or even violent.
Speaker 5 (36:56):
This statement appears to be the size of the crowd.
Speaker 4 (36:59):
Sure in general that there are a lot of people
here in LA who are not happy about the presence
of federal immigration officers, the arrival of the California National Guard,
and anti illegal immigration policy in general.
Speaker 3 (37:11):
Yeah, you're right. In the pure shige.
Speaker 4 (37:15):
Pushback, it looks like we're kind of being pushed back.
I don't know if this is just a general crowd movement,
but they have stopped at this federal building and they
are now pointing and.
Speaker 5 (37:26):
Shouting shame, shame, shame. So the march has.
Speaker 4 (37:38):
Stopped back here at the federal building, and that is
what is happening now, is that they have turned their
attention back towards the Federal building and the California National
Guard and some of the Department of Homeland Security police
officers who are still here. And when this first started,
around nude I noted that the number of protesters seem
to equal the number of guardsmen. And then it grew
(38:01):
and the protesters outnumbered down probably three to one.
Speaker 5 (38:04):
And now it's not even a contest. I mean there
are thousands and thousands of people.
Speaker 4 (38:08):
Here on Alameda Street in front of the roy Ball
Federal Building loading dock, and the National Guard still standing
there holding the line.
Speaker 3 (38:18):
This is a huge area in downtown.
Speaker 2 (38:20):
I mean just that one block with the I think
there's the Justice Department building down there, there's the Federal building.
Speaker 3 (38:26):
Takes up of a big.
Speaker 4 (38:27):
Chill layers of government buildings here. It's extraordinarily busy and
government heavy. It's about a block from union stations, so
a lot of commuters also making their way here on
this Otherwise very okay. I think we heard a little
bit of a bang there. I'm seeing some okay, LAPD
pushing people back. We're being pushed back right now, a
(38:48):
little bit of a okay, now you're hearing the bangs
now you're hearing the bangs, and I'm trying to determine
whether that's LAPD that is pushing the crowd back down
Alameda towards Temple Street.
Speaker 5 (38:59):
And there are cars backing up as well.
Speaker 4 (39:01):
I don't know if these are with the marchers or
these look like civilian vehicles.
Speaker 5 (39:05):
I don't want to get run over by them.
Speaker 3 (39:07):
Yeah, do take care of yourself right now.
Speaker 5 (39:09):
Absolutely, Okay, So now the LAPD. I believe that's the LAPD.
I just want to confirm that. And they're right weapons drawn.
Speaker 4 (39:19):
These are probably the batons and the less Lethals as.
Speaker 5 (39:22):
They call them.
Speaker 4 (39:23):
I'm starting to back this crowd back up. This crowd
is massive, absolutely massive, and if we caught it was
interesting a few hours ago. It just amplified significantly. A huge,
thousands deep crowd has emerged here on Alameda Street in
(39:44):
downtown Los Angeles, outside the Federal building where many believe
the legal immigrants are being detained by Ice.
Speaker 5 (39:53):
This is the first time.
Speaker 3 (39:57):
We lose Michael Monks.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
Yeah, well, you could hear for yourself how incredibly fluid
that situation is, and Monks is right in the middle
of it all. I mean, it's a really it's becoming
more and more courageous duty to be a member of
the press in any of these situations. Let's face it,
the kind of hands off attitude toward press that there
(40:21):
used to be, it really doesn't exist anymore in many situations,
this one perhaps being one of them.
Speaker 3 (40:30):
So we'll get monks back when we can.
Speaker 2 (40:33):
That gave you a sense of the texture and, as
I say, the fluid nature of what's happening in downtown.
And what I was mentioning when I first came on
was the fact that we thought these crowds would grow,
and we thought they'd grow quickly for many different reasons.
There's anger, there's anger and resentment, and now we have
(40:54):
them back. Great, let's get back down to monks in
downtown La. Go ahead.
Speaker 5 (40:58):
My apologies, Mark, I don't know when you lost me.
Speaker 4 (41:00):
Some flash bangs have been going off and the crowd
is being pushed back on Alameda Street, back towards Temple
and away from that federal building. This is the first
appearance the LAPD is made on Alameda Street. All day long,
We've been talking about that for hours, about what is
the protocol, what is the procedure for the LAPD to
get involved. Especially when the earlier protests billed hundreds of
(41:22):
people into this street. It took a couple of hours
for them to close any lanes at all in part.
Speaker 5 (41:28):
Of the street.
Speaker 2 (41:33):
Do we lose them again, Yeah, Michael Monks with a
again a dynamic situation in downtown Los Angeles. We'll get
Michael back, and in fact, I want to touch base
with Michael once again and plug back into what's going
on in downtown Los Angeles. Even as the protests have
(41:54):
been today primarily peaceful, you could hear the flash bangs,
you could hear the sounds of law enforcement with a
presence to push that crowd back. We'll get back in
touch with Monks in just a few minutes. I also
want to get down to Camp Pendleton. Bill Ferrar is
down there for US, and Camp Pendleton is prepping for
(42:16):
their own involvement in Southern California protests.
Speaker 3 (42:19):
Of course, that's the Marine base. So there's a lot.
Speaker 2 (42:23):
Going on in Southern California in a situation that seems
to be picking up some momentum.
Speaker 3 (42:28):
Again.
Speaker 2 (42:29):
In the next hour, we'll touch base with all of
these different areas that could very much be affected by
what's going on and a part of our short term future.
Speaker 1 (42:40):
In southern California, KFI AM six forty on demand
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Mark Thompson on this troubling Sunday in southern California, even
as the weather is so gorgeous, it's a beautiful day,
And honestly that's not a completely incidental, irrelevant point, because
in the weather that favors being outside, there are growing
crowds of people in downtown Los Angeles. And as these
(00:25):
ice sweeps in La continue, the resistance is fierce and
there are so many I was saying facets to all
of this.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
One of them is the breaking news.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
That is, you know where people are, how many people
are there, Where authorities are, how many of them are there?
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Where is the National Guard? What are they doing?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I mean, these are all sorts of details that are
critical to an unfolding, dynamic situation. But of course they
all exist against a backdrop of an immigration policy that
is being protested and is being executed. Some would say
in a reckless way, some would say in an overly
aggressive way, and some would say in an appropriate way.
(01:09):
But the facets of this thing we will pull away
and focus on in the hours ahead. And we have
Michael Monks, who is in the rugby scrum of it
all in downtown Los Angeles, and we will give you
the overview here. I mean National Guard troops have arrived.
(01:30):
As you know, the President ordered their deployment. There were
two days of to be fair, I mean, again to
be fair to the volatility of the situation, two days
of occasionally violent protests. In the main, it would seem
based on all the reporting, and I'm sure you have,
(01:50):
if you have any interest in your city or any
interest in this subject, have taken in news reports. Local
news has been great, Kafi has been great. We've had
again or embedded in all of this television has given
you some literal view of things. And as I watched everything,
I saw a couple of things. And first of all,
(02:10):
you know, remember you're seeing everything through the prism of
the lens that shows you the action, right, But a
lot of the live broadcasts of what's happening in downtown
LA show you that in the main, it's a collection
of people angered, without question, that's why they're there. But
they're not all violent protesters. But again, to be fair,
(02:32):
there are violent protesters or violent agitators within that huge
flank of protesters. So with a situation as dynamic and
volatile as you have. It only takes a bit in
the way of agitators to create a situation that spills.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Over, and now you have a real problem on your hands.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
The question becomes, do you really needtional Guard troops? I mean,
National Guard troops by their mere presence can help quell
a situation, or National Guard troops by their mere presence
can actually create an adjutant to a situation. I mean,
(03:16):
it's believe me, we're all wanting everything peaceful. We want
the demonstrators peaceful, we want the cops, we want the military,
we want everybody to just be to behave, if I
can use the word, I mean just to be peaceful.
But what happens is all of these elements get shook
together in this mix of today's protests and bad things happen.
(03:43):
Three hundred soldiers separately dispatched in the Greater LA area,
the US Command posting this this morning. They're conducting safety
and protection of federal property and person. Now, the line
(04:05):
of armed National Guard troops protecting the federal building this morning,
which was heavily defaced with graffiti, hasn't made a move
toward protesters. And again i'd suggest they're mere presence, and
I maybe hope that their mere presence chills everybody out.
But it was Washington, it was the President on the
(04:29):
White House website who ordered the deployment of the National Guard.
He said, quote in light of numerous incidents of violence
and disorder which threatened to continue in response to the
enforcement of federal law by US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement ICE.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Right, these.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Agents of the United States government are performing federal functions
and supporting the faithful execution of federal immigration laws. And
just to remin mind you, we've seen National Guard troops
on the streets of LA before. I believe we saw
them during George Floyd and all of those protests which
(05:10):
seemed to sweep the city. And I remember quite distinctly
that the National Guard was deployed across the city in
the wake of the Rodney King riots. And in the
wake of the Rodney King riots, you had Governor Pete Wilson,
who was a Republican, who called for the National Guard
(05:32):
to be deployed.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
And at the time, I mean, you.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Really had violent protests and rioting across the city of
Los Angeles. You had fires, you had looting, you had
clashes between protesters and federal law enforcement. This doesn't seem
to rise to that level. And again, I'll remind you
(05:56):
in ninety two it was the governor p. Wilson who
called them in in this case. And this is the
other facet to all of this. As I was saying,
this is so many different layers to this, this is another.
The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, is saying, hey, when
I need the National Guard, I'll call the National Guard.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
I don't need you.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
The President of the United States calling in the National
Guard on a city in California when local authorities are
able to handle this. The mayor of Los Angeles, and
as you know, if you've heard me before, I'm no
fan of the mayor of Los Angeles, but the mayor
of Los Angeles is saying exactly the same thing. We
have things under control. We don't need the National Guard.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Now.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
The concern is that the National Guard again whips up
emotions and their mere presence creates issues. It escalates the situation.
I think the Newsom even used the word escalates. But
these things that scate and agitate, and you can argue
(07:02):
both sides of this. You might be thinking no, I
want the National Guard there because I feel that they
protect the federal building and they essentially help keep the
peace in a situation that could easily spill over. Again,
you might be right, but the governor typically is the
first one to, even in connection and communication with the
(07:23):
President of the United States, perhaps call in the National Guard.
That wasn't the case here. Donald Trump and this administration
bigfooted this. So that already creates a bit of an adjutant.
And again you might have thought that Trump did the
right thing. I'm just saying that that creates one more layer. Now,
(07:43):
the detention of David Huerta is a big, big deal.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
He's the he's the union.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Head, and he is a very high profile figure in
the union community. I mean, but what I was saying
before is the union community in California is different than
union communities elsewhere. Union community in California is made up
of who largely Latinos. Yeah, you'll just find within the
(08:18):
world of the unions here in California a different demographic
makeup than you'll find elsewhere in the country. So when
you look at David Wareta, this president of the SEIU USWW,
you find somebody who has a tremendous amount of support
within this community. Here is the quote, and I believe
(08:44):
this is the statement condemning his detention. We strongly condemn
the detention of SEIU California and SEIU USWW President David Awareta.
I won't read it the whole Stephen, but I'm just
going to give you a feel for how this is
going to become a rallying cry. We strongly condemn his
detention by ICE while he exercised his constitutional right to
(09:08):
peacefully protest ICE's indiscriminate immigration raids in Los Angeles. President
where To has long championed immigrant rights, civil liberties, and
economic justice. His arrest during a lawful act of civil
disobedience is an attack on free expression and the labor movement.
That he remains in ICE custody even after being hospitalized
(09:29):
is both unacceptable and alarming. And this is the last
part I just wanted you to hear. The labor movement
will not tolerate retaliation against those who speak out against injustice.
We demand where does immediate release. We urge elected leaders,
advocacy groups, and all who believe in justice to condemn
this action and stand with us in protecting the rights
(09:51):
and dignity ball workers. So you begin to see this
as a rallying cry. This isn't just somebody. This is
a somebody around whom there will be a lot of support,
and that support is going to take a lot of
different I would think, a lot of different faces. So
(10:14):
just the mere presence of those supporters will escalate things.
We've got Michael Monks, who's in the middle of it all,
who in the last hour was talking about the fact
that the crowds are swelling. So again, you know where
to is. It's the Service Employees International Union of California.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
And he was injured.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
While documenting this enforcement rate in downtown that happened on Friday.
He's almost sixty years old, this guy. So he was
treated at the hospital and then they moved him to
detention center in downtown a land Apparently that's overflowing. So
they are all sorts of questions about the detention centers,
everybody getting water, people being to you know, there's a
(10:57):
there's a quality of chaos. I might use that word
about this. All that is disturbing to everyone. And when
you take a community leader like that and you detain him,
I'm saying that that ripple effect will be felt in
protests and in presence in downtown LA today. So even
(11:20):
as maybe you listening don't know who this guy is,
the people who are most affected by these ice raids
and immigration raids and the pushback on the immigration community,
they know this guy. So that again is one facet
of what is happening. I want to talk to Michael Monks,
who is embedded in all of this, when we come
(11:42):
back and get a sense of what's happening right now,
and then we'll talk a little bit about what the
governor is doing and how this all games out.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
So there's a lot to do.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
By the way, if you have thoughts on this, we
do have the talkback feature available on iHeartRadio. If you
go to iHeartRadio. Many of you are streaming this right now.
On iHeart you can go I think it's in the
upper right hand portion of the screen on your phone,
click that some little microphone and you can leave us
a thought about what's going on. I'm curious to know
we've got the full weekend crew in. That's right, Robin, Nikki,
(12:15):
Ritchie Monks all here. As we continue.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Mark Thompson on this gorgeous Sunday in southern California that
really belies everything going on in downtown LA.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
There's a tremendous amount of.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Tension, I guess, I would say based on what happened
last night, based on the growing crowd in downtown, all
pushing back on the ice raids, aggressive ice raids that
have swept the Los Angeles area. More on that as
we continue right now, I want to get to Michael Monks,
who is embedded in it in it all, and from
what I was hearing Michael, it sounded to me like
(12:57):
the crowd was growing at a pretty impressive pace. I mean,
there's just been a growth in that group downtown of
a sort that is concerning.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
I've been broadcasting down here since twelve o'clock mark, and
originally there were maybe about one hundred people, That's what
I estimated. It was like a one for one protester
National guardsman slash federal law enforcement officer. But throughout the
afternoon it really started to grow in size, and just
with my naked eye, I'm guessing that we're somewhere around
(13:29):
six seven hundred people at this point, possibly more, and
there has been a rally scheduled at LA City Hall
for two o'clock, and I was curious about whether that
would be skipped in favor of coming down here since
we saw a little bit of action involving the National
Guard and the protesters. But there's a huge crowded LA
City Hall as well in an anti ice pro immigrant
(13:50):
rally at that building as we speak, So eight ton
of people in downtown Los Angeles for this issue right now.
It got harry here though, mark about an hour and
a half ago, when the National Guard decided they needed
to make way for some federal vehicles to make their
way into.
Speaker 5 (14:07):
This parking garage here, and they turned to force. They
used their shields to push everybody into the street.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
Flash bangs went off, Tear gas that I also was
hit by, was deployed, and this crowd was dispersed so
that those federal cars could make their way into the
parking garage here. But as soon as the cars made
their way in, the protesters reconvened in the street.
Speaker 5 (14:25):
They've now closed.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
The LAPD has announced the south found lanes of Alameda Street,
but traffic is still moving very slowly on the northbound side,
and despite the fact that there are hundreds of protesters
in the middle of the road.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Wow, yeah, that is a mean As I was saying,
the folliable situation to say the least I want.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
It sounds like some folks are leaving this site right
this moment. I just heard over a bullhorn. I'm seeing
a lot of movement from folks in the crowd.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
They're announcing that it's an UNA assembly. Probably I would
guess something like that.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
Folks look to be headed towards City Hall now. It's
actually huge crowd there for that rally. I'm going to
monitor this for the time being to see if everyone
disperses here and heads up to rally at City Hall.
This has pretty much been an eyeball standoff outside of
that bit of action that we had that lasted about fifteen.
Speaker 5 (15:21):
Minutes in the one o'clock hour.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
Mostly it's just been some shouting, some chanting, you know,
holding placards, and the National Guard just stoically.
Speaker 5 (15:31):
Silently standing on the side of the.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
Federal property, whereas the protesters are here on the public
sidewalking in the middle of the road.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
I have to guess that the National Guard doesn't want
you know, they don't want a situation where they have
to become involved in anyway. You know, these are human beings.
I mean, they're not happy to be there. I mean
in the main, there might be one or two or
like you know, I know, whatever, But I'm just saying
in the main, these National Guard troops they don't want
any trouble, and so has their presence affected things in
(15:59):
any way as you look at it.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
Look, these protesters are irritated that immigration officials have shown up,
So when you add another layer to that, it has
certainly escalated the tension in that respect, especially when you
consider who.
Speaker 5 (16:15):
Called for this.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
I mean, this is not a crowd that is sympathetic
to President Trump naturally, and so with President Trump sending
the National Guard here in a way that the governor
and the mayor don't agree with, that has certainly made
this crowd angrier. So we have seen some signs, you know,
most of them are just simply anti ice, but there
have been plenty that want the National Guard to go
(16:37):
as well.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Yeah, I mean it sounds raucous and chaotic down there.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
I mean, is that a lot.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
Of horns, A lot of horns, you know, clearly showing
support for the message here from the protesters, but also
some general LA traffic horns people that maybe didn't get
the news and got stuck in this mess and downtown street.
Speaker 5 (16:57):
But these sound to me like horns of support.
Speaker 4 (17:01):
And I got to tell you, Mark, just in a
few minutes since you and I have been dialoguing here,
it has thinned out considerably, okay, so that it looks
like people are heading to City Hall, which is probably
what I will do.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
I'm going to keep an eye on this for a
few more minutes.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
But just in the past few minutes that we've been talking,
this crowd of about six or seven hundred has thinned
to about two hundred in an instant, and I believe
that's because these folks are headed to that rally at
Los Angeles City Hall.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
Yeah, that is the plan.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
By the way, just because it was noted along the way,
they the Federal building is graffitiized. I mean there, do
you see it defaced in a lot of sort of
noticeable ways or how much has that been talked about
and is accurate and how much of that.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
Is just hype.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
It has been heavily defaced, certainly on the building, which
means that protesters, at some point we're in this parking
lot that we are not able to access at this
point because of the skirmish line formed by the National
Guard and the Department of Homeland Security police.
Speaker 5 (18:00):
That are here as well.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
So there are spray paint messages across every side of
this building right now with profanity aim towards Ice and
the President.
Speaker 5 (18:13):
And you know, when you're in downtown LA, you see
a lot of graffiti.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
This doesn't ever seem to be a priority for the
city to clean up, so it's often.
Speaker 5 (18:20):
Hard to distinguish new and old graffiti.
Speaker 4 (18:24):
Sure, but this is a little different because the messages
are so current to what the current issue is. This
is clearly brand new from the past few days.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
The last thing I'll ask you, and then I'll let
you go if you can hear me. The last thing
I'll ask is about the balance between La riot gear
clad cops and National Guard troops. You talked about the
fact that the National Guard presence is there and it's
sort of just a standoff. Nothing's happening. The riot gear
(18:54):
clad cops who are LAPD. I'm wondering if you can
speak to their presence, are they now going to.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
The other location, the.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
City Hall location or are they remaining there at the
Federal Building Mark.
Speaker 5 (19:07):
I talked about this with Chris a bit.
Speaker 4 (19:09):
It's been strange, and I'm not an expert on law enforcement,
but there hasn't been a single LAPD officer on the
ground here that I have seen. We have seen their
helicopter hovering above since the beginning of this thing. It's
still there as we speak, monitoring from the air. But
even when the traffic situation in Alameda Street got flat
out dangerous, not just disrupted for commuters, but dangerous for
(19:33):
drivers and pedestrians and protesters alike, there was no one around.
I saw a tweet from one of the LAPD offices
that said the southbound lanes were now closed on Alameda,
but never did I see any traffic enforcement officers show up. Now,
traffic enforcement is often done in the city by the
Department of Transportation, but certainly those.
Speaker 5 (19:53):
Have a role to play in that as well.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
Well, you've just seen a a You've done heroic work
so far. I know you took some tear gas earlier.
I mean it's still it's so potent.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
I mean it's been over an hour since that happened,
and you can still kind of taste it in the air.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
It's a rough day, Michael, and it is not over.
I appreciate you being in touch with us. We'll look
to check in with you as you make your way
to city Hall. With so many of those who are
resisting the presence of ice, Michael Monks with the KFI
News down in it all as downtown La Royals, with
the protests that have accompanied these ice raids and the
(20:28):
presence of ICE, and now National Guard troop presence that
apparently is around a defaced federal building. But once again,
based on everything I've seen, with moments of definite agitator
dictated throwing of stones, rocks, hurling of bottles, I saw
a lot of that last night. I'd say, in the
(20:51):
main it's a presence of protesters as opposed to violent
protests that are spilling over. Now again, these are dynamic
situations that could easily spill over into something more serious,
but we right now are seeing a somewhat controlled environment
and we're watching it.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
Of course, our to hour for you here on KFI.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
Mark Thompson here on a Sunday in southern California, and
this is. As you just heard, there a volatile situation,
and with nightfall things become even a bit more voladile.
The Mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, tweeting just now,
we will always protect the constitutional rights for Angelinos to
(21:40):
peacefully protests. However, violence, destruction, and vandalism will not be
tolerated in our city and those responsible will be held
fully accountable. So it's a message of strength from the mayor.
Even as we know, and we note it already, the
mayor doesn't want National Guard troops on this each of
Los Angeles right now. And interestingly enough, Rick Caruso, who
(22:06):
as you know, took on Mayor Bass in ma aoral
contest and is a big part, I would say, and
has a big footprint politically and in other respects economically
in Southern California.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
He also tweeted.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
He also posted, now this is I think to Instagram
there is no emergency. Rick Caruso says there is no emergency,
widespread threat, or out of control violence in Los Angeles,
and absolutely no danger that justifies deployment of the National Guard,
military or other federal force to the streets of this
(22:46):
or any other Southern California city. Local law enforcement is
capable of handling the situation and should arrest anyone causing
violence in the streets. We must call for colum in
the streets, and deployment of the National Guard may prompt
just the opposite. This is the point I was making
to you before, and I give Rick Caruso great credit
(23:11):
for the courage it takes to politically weigh in on
this situation with an allegiance to fact, as opposed to
the hysteria that can build up around this protest and
this whole incident. I'm just viewing the entire pushback on
ice as an incident as a whole, because it's really
(23:31):
made up, of course, as many incidents. I'll talk about
the home depot in Paramount in a second, and I'll
mention a couple of other things. But Caruso, to his credit,
doesn't take on Mayor Bass, doesn't say grateful for the
National Guard to be here now, makes the very point
that Bass and Newsom are both making, and that point
(23:52):
simply is this is a situation that can be handled
locally with local law enforcement and trained to handle situations
like this one. By putting the National Guard here, by
the federal government, Donald Trump and this administration, the FEDS
escalate the situation, and so the presence of the National
(24:16):
Guard has just the opposite effect. And this is exactly
what Caruso said. He said, it has the opposite effect
of encouraging calm and peaceful protest. So again, if you
look at this entire situation and the volatility of it,
(24:36):
you have to look on some level at the presence
of the National Guard as stirring the pot as potentially
creating even more unrest, and to that extent, you get
pushed back across the political spectrum then of California. Again, Newsom,
Bass and Caruso, they come from different places politically, but
(25:00):
they all are in lockstep on this. The National Guard
troops did arrive in downtown after President Trump ordered their deployment,
and it happened over strenuous objection from those parties and
local Democratic officials. So we watch with interest as many
(25:23):
of those who collected around the Federal building are now
going to city Hall. And again, this entire thing has
been marked by incidents specifically across LA Yesterday at the
Home Depot in Paramount, and I don't need to tell
you what happens at the Home depot, various home depots everywhere. Right,
(25:44):
you have day workers who are lining up and helping
with improvements that people are doing, construction work that's going on,
remodeling that's going on. These are day workers. Now, again,
you could shift through those day workers, and I'm betting
that the majority of them are not here legally, legally documented. Now,
(26:09):
at the same time I say that, you may say, yeah,
they're not here legally, but they're not a problem with
the society. They're not violent criminals, they're not any of
the things that are a blight on society. They're actually
an important part of the economy of the construction business,
and to that extent, they are valued members of California. Well,
(26:31):
that's just not the way Ice sees it at this point.
And as I showed up at this home depot in Paramount,
the protests started. Protesters showed up there and that clash
lasted for hours. Again, it was depending on who you
(26:56):
speak to, it was not a violent clash. But I
think it's fair to say that the dynamic there was
less than completely peaceful. I mean, you're talking about situation,
a situation where officers are clad in military ish outfits,
(27:22):
they have military weapons, and they arrived there in a big,
big way, and as the crowd gathered, flash bang grenades, etc.
Began to essentially create a general sense of chaos. It
(27:44):
was around nine am. This is horrible, said one witness.
I don't know what they're doing inside, but I mean,
why are they in Paramount? And on social media it
got that word spread very very quickly, and you just
(28:05):
begin to get more and more protesters, and again some
are agitators as well. So this is a situation that's
made up of multiple areas of chaos. And as I
was saying, with nightfall comes even more of this kind
of thing. One protester brought out a trash bag set
(28:29):
it ablaze. A couple of others pushed a cart with
concrete blocks from the home depot. They lined the road
to block vehicles. One smashed the block and spread the
broken pieces onto the road. Then a US Marshall bus
pulled up from the freeway. The crowd surrounded the bus,
trying to push it back, kicking at it until tear
(28:52):
gas was shot, and that standoff continued into the afternoon,
protesters recording a line of Sheriff's deputies. We're equipped with
shields and weapons. This is all part of a situation
that I think potentially we could see more of. As
(29:12):
the crowd chance ice go home, no justice, no peace.
You begin to see that a community that sees itself
as being called out on some level randomly. I mean,
if you aren't someone who is here violently, if you
are someone who is here working in construction, in sanitation,
(29:35):
you see yourself as a victim in all of this,
and a community around you that sees you as a
victim that way as well. So these crowds were fired
on with what are being called less lethal projectiles. This
all happened last night or late yesterday afternoon, early evening.
(29:56):
They declared that assembly near the home depot as an
unlawful assembly, and officials warren protesters in Spanish and English
to leave. But by seven o'clock there were more and
as I say, lobbing rocks and bottles. I had mentioned
this before at La County Sheriff's deputy. So you begin
(30:17):
to see that is not peaceful.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
That is.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
A kind of action that agitates a situation that's already volatile.
And I think there was a lot of restraint on
the part of sheriff's officers. Even as the situation became
more intense, and as I say, flash bangrenades and the
less than lethal but still very painful and you know,
(30:45):
again potentially.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
Very injurious.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
They call it pepper Is it is a there's a
there's a term for is it a pepper bullet or
a pepper pepperbomb?
Speaker 3 (31:00):
Thank you? As those are fired.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
So I just I guess I'm going through a lot
of these details just to make it clear. This isn't
a situation that has just been all peaceful protesters and gosh,
it's the cops who have been so nasty. No, no, no, no,
I think the cops have exercised some restraint, but by
the same token, as the situation becomes cranked up on
(31:27):
the protesters side, and as agitators begin with the throwing
of those bottles rocks begin blocking the road, then law
enforcement takes a more aggressive posture as well, and you
end up with the situation that we have today gathering
at city Hall. Now we'll check back in with Michael
Monks as he begins to figure out what the next
(31:50):
moves are there. He is embedded in that crowd. He
took some tear gas to the face earlier in his
reporting this morning, and so yeah, we have a situation
that could spill over. But again to return Caruso joins
Bass and Newsom, saying National Guard should not be here
(32:11):
in Los Angeles.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
Mark Thompson here on this Sunday with a volatile situation
unfolding in downtown Los Angeles. Or Michael Monks from the
KAFI newsroom has been embedded in. It'd always taken some
tear gas earlier to the face, and it's a I mean,
it's a situation that could easily spill over.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
I'm very curious.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
They've now moved from the Federal Building, which seem the
bulk of those resisting the ICE presence in Los Angeles.
Those protesters now to City Hall and let's bring in
Michael Monks now, Hi, Michael Mark.
Speaker 4 (32:48):
This rally has turned into a major march through downtown,
the largest I've seen. There were some pretty massive ones
last year related to Palestine. This is huge, which this march.
I am with these marchers right now on Temple Street
and it stretches all the way from Alameda well past
(33:09):
City Hall at this point, completely thick on every block.
It's interesting to note that when the protest at the
Federal Building involving the California National Guard started to thin
out last time you and I spoke a little while
ago that folks were heading this way.
Speaker 5 (33:27):
It was also the first time I saw Los Angeles
police on the scene.
Speaker 4 (33:30):
They shut down Alameda entirely on both ends, would not
let protesters walk to City Hall, force them to turn
around and go the other way, because they were clearly
preparing for what is now this massive march. So now
LAPD is on the scene in force around multiple corners
and trying to keep this crowd under control. The CHP
(33:53):
is blocking some freeway entrances from downtown. We know some
protests in LA tend to find themselves on the free ways,
so they're trying to prevent that. But right now it
is just a march full of thousands of people. We're
back at Alameda now, Temple and Alameda. Looks like we're
turning left on Alameda and Mark. Once we turn left
on Alameda, we're going to be half a block away
(34:15):
from that Federal building and those National guardsmen again, and
we'll see what the mood of the crowd will be
at that moment.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Yeah, this is an interesting point. I mean, because the
National Guard has been restrained. I mean, they've just based
on your reporting, they just had a presence there without
any kind of effort to confront protesters in any kind
of aggressive fashion.
Speaker 3 (34:37):
And you're kindly when.
Speaker 4 (34:38):
They cleared out pretty pretty physically, clearly had to tear
out for the entrance way to make those vehicles come in, Yes,
and through some to your gases and flash banks.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
But I'm just you're sort of implying and saying that
they're going to be getting back to that Federal building area.
I think what I'm hearing is that is a situation
and again could just be very already dynamic, and it's
very hard to predict what would happened.
Speaker 4 (35:03):
Well, we're here and it looks like this is just
a march that is continuing at this point, but we
are about to move past where the earlier protest was.
Speaker 5 (35:13):
And that thing grew fast.
Speaker 4 (35:15):
I mean one hundred people were there six seven hundred
people at least outside that federal building by the time
it started to dissipate. But while you and I were
talking just a half an hour ago, people started to
thin out to make their way to City Hall, and
it thenned out almost entirely, almost immediately. But folks were
met by LAPD at the end of the street at
Temple who said you can't go this way. So then
(35:37):
dozens and dozens more LAPD cruisers were coming through to
get ready for this march. This may have been planned,
this may have been impromptu. This is clearly the folks
who had gathered at City Hall, and now they are
marching through the streets of downtown.
Speaker 3 (35:50):
LA and they're moving on Alameda.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
You said, primarily is that's kind of the main route
of this protest.
Speaker 4 (35:56):
They came down Temple Street, Okay, and there's still people
on Temple Street. This a long crowd of people. It
is thick, it is deep, it is long. And these
folks that I happen to be with in this part
of the snake is now back on Alameda, very very
close to where the protest was with the National Guard,
and I will be there momentarily. I don't know if
(36:18):
folks are going to stop and do anything, if there
are any agitators or any plans to, you know, have
this thing take a.
Speaker 3 (36:25):
Turn, but sure, sure, you know, it looks like.
Speaker 5 (36:27):
People are just kind of walking past.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
Yeah, that's kind of what I wanted to get a
feel for, was the crowd consistency, if you sense that
there were, you know, those bent on a confrontation or
those just wanting to make their presence felt.
Speaker 4 (36:42):
I think with the crowd of this size, it's different
than what we saw in some of the smaller groups,
where there was a lot more jib jabbing going on
between people and law enforcement, and some of those altercations
turned physical or even violent.
Speaker 5 (36:56):
This statement appears to be the size of the crowd.
Speaker 4 (36:59):
Sure in general that there are a lot of people
here in LA who are not happy about the presence
of federal immigration officers, the arrival of the California National Guard,
and anti illegal immigration policy in general.
Speaker 3 (37:11):
Yeah, you're right. In the pure shige.
Speaker 4 (37:15):
Pushback, it looks like we're kind of being pushed back.
I don't know if this is just a general crowd movement,
but they have stopped at this federal building and they
are now pointing and.
Speaker 5 (37:26):
Shouting shame, shame, shame. So the march has.
Speaker 4 (37:38):
Stopped back here at the federal building, and that is
what is happening now, is that they have turned their
attention back towards the Federal building and the California National
Guard and some of the Department of Homeland Security police
officers who are still here. And when this first started,
around nude I noted that the number of protesters seem
to equal the number of guardsmen. And then it grew
(38:01):
and the protesters outnumbered down probably three to one.
Speaker 5 (38:04):
And now it's not even a contest. I mean there
are thousands and thousands of people.
Speaker 4 (38:08):
Here on Alameda Street in front of the roy Ball
Federal Building loading dock, and the National Guard still standing
there holding the line.
Speaker 3 (38:18):
This is a huge area in downtown.
Speaker 2 (38:20):
I mean just that one block with the I think
there's the Justice Department building down there, there's the Federal building.
Speaker 3 (38:26):
Takes up of a big.
Speaker 4 (38:27):
Chill layers of government buildings here. It's extraordinarily busy and
government heavy. It's about a block from union stations, so
a lot of commuters also making their way here on
this Otherwise very okay. I think we heard a little
bit of a bang there. I'm seeing some okay, LAPD
pushing people back. We're being pushed back right now, a
(38:48):
little bit of a okay, now you're hearing the bangs
now you're hearing the bangs, and I'm trying to determine
whether that's LAPD that is pushing the crowd back down
Alameda towards Temple Street.
Speaker 5 (38:59):
And there are cars backing up as well.
Speaker 4 (39:01):
I don't know if these are with the marchers or
these look like civilian vehicles.
Speaker 5 (39:05):
I don't want to get run over by them.
Speaker 3 (39:07):
Yeah, do take care of yourself right now.
Speaker 5 (39:09):
Absolutely, Okay, So now the LAPD. I believe that's the LAPD.
I just want to confirm that. And they're right weapons drawn.
Speaker 4 (39:19):
These are probably the batons and the less Lethals as.
Speaker 5 (39:22):
They call them.
Speaker 4 (39:23):
I'm starting to back this crowd back up. This crowd
is massive, absolutely massive, and if we caught it was
interesting a few hours ago. It just amplified significantly. A huge,
thousands deep crowd has emerged here on Alameda Street in
(39:44):
downtown Los Angeles, outside the Federal building where many believe
the legal immigrants are being detained by Ice.
Speaker 5 (39:53):
This is the first time.
Speaker 3 (39:57):
We lose Michael Monks.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
Yeah, well, you could hear for yourself how incredibly fluid
that situation is, and Monks is right in the middle
of it all. I mean, it's a really it's becoming
more and more courageous duty to be a member of
the press in any of these situations. Let's face it,
the kind of hands off attitude toward press that there
(40:21):
used to be, it really doesn't exist anymore in many situations,
this one perhaps being one of them.
Speaker 3 (40:30):
So we'll get monks back when we can.
Speaker 2 (40:33):
That gave you a sense of the texture and, as
I say, the fluid nature of what's happening in downtown.
And what I was mentioning when I first came on
was the fact that we thought these crowds would grow,
and we thought they'd grow quickly for many different reasons.
There's anger, there's anger and resentment, and now we have
(40:54):
them back. Great, let's get back down to monks in
downtown La. Go ahead.
Speaker 5 (40:58):
My apologies, Mark, I don't know when you lost me.
Speaker 4 (41:00):
Some flash bangs have been going off and the crowd
is being pushed back on Alameda Street, back towards Temple
and away from that federal building. This is the first
appearance the LAPD is made on Alameda Street. All day long,
We've been talking about that for hours, about what is
the protocol, what is the procedure for the LAPD to
get involved. Especially when the earlier protests billed hundreds of
(41:22):
people into this street. It took a couple of hours
for them to close any lanes at all in part.
Speaker 5 (41:28):
Of the street.
Speaker 2 (41:33):
Do we lose them again, Yeah, Michael Monks with a
again a dynamic situation in downtown Los Angeles. We'll get
Michael back, and in fact, I want to touch base
with Michael once again and plug back into what's going
on in downtown Los Angeles. Even as the protests have
(41:54):
been today primarily peaceful, you could hear the flash bangs,
you could hear the sounds of law enforcement with a
presence to push that crowd back. We'll get back in
touch with Monks in just a few minutes. I also
want to get down to Camp Pendleton. Bill Ferrar is
down there for US, and Camp Pendleton is prepping for
(42:16):
their own involvement in Southern California protests.
Speaker 3 (42:19):
Of course, that's the Marine base. So there's a lot.
Speaker 2 (42:23):
Going on in Southern California in a situation that seems
to be picking up some momentum.
Speaker 3 (42:28):
Again.
Speaker 2 (42:29):
In the next hour, we'll touch base with all of
these different areas that could very much be affected by
what's going on and a part of our short term future.
Speaker 1 (42:40):
In southern California, KFI AM six forty on demand
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