June 8, 2025 • 42 mins
LAPD declares "Unlawful Assembly," Warning protestors to clear the area or face arrest and risk injury.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Just looking through all of the different situations and potentially
volatile areas that could develop into something that could overflow
later tonight. But we have a situation right now that's
actually quite dynamic, and it's in downtown LA. Started as
a few hundred protesters near the Federal Building facing off
(00:27):
against National Guard troops. Again, it was not a violent confrontation.
It wasn't a face off where there was anything more
than a presence. That has morphed into what was to
have been a situation where they collect at city Hall.
And even as I say that, morphing took the effect
of amplifying the numbers by a lot. So now you
(00:49):
have thousands of people instead of the hundreds that I
just referenced, and their movement is now being controlled a bit,
not only by where they want to go, but where
law enforcement wants to to end up, and they are
being pushed back by LAPD. From last we heard from
Michael Monks, his signal is in and out. Let's go
to Michael now, who is embedded with those protesters.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Hi, Michael, thank.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
You, Hey Mark. Apologies for some of the technical difficulties.
Speaker 5 (01:14):
I think with a large crowd here in all the
mobile phone use that our signal is maybe being a
little bit weakened since this device operates on a mobile signal.
But I will call in if we drop out. Okay,
we'll just use the old fashioned phone and see if
that works better. But for now, let me just say
Alameda Straight completely full of protesters, Temple Street full of protesters.
(01:35):
This was a convergence of these two protests, the one
at the Federal Building and the other one at the
rally at La City Hall, which started at two o'clock
but seemed to move very quickly and gathering these folks
in a march through the streets. And when that march started,
it was really the first time you could see and
feel the presence of the Los Angeles City Police Department.
(01:57):
After all of the stuff that had gone on earlier
today in the street Alameda Street, the police were nowhere
to be found to help enforce any traffic or any
safety concerns. They're not sure what the protocols are, but
they are here in force now directing this parade. When
the parade decided to I said parade, I meant march.
When this march turned back towards that Federal building where
(02:19):
today's protest was centered. Earlier, the police pushed these folks back.
There were a few flash bangs, there was a little
pushing and shoving, not a whole lot. And they have
redirected this march back into the other direction here in downtown,
and the march is now continuing on Alameda Street, away
from Temple Street.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Again.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
You gave us a good sense of the marchers just
a few minutes ago, and just to remind everyone who
might just be joining us, that sense was these are
not those bent on violence. Their mere presence speaks was
sort of what you were saying before.
Speaker 5 (02:55):
Yeah, this is different than what was happening earlier in
the afternoon. I mean, Lookla is full of people ready
to protest. This city knows how to get a protest
together for whatever cause du jour there is, and they
mobilize quickly. And that was certainly the case this weekend.
We've seen how quickly a word of an ice raid
or even the presence of ice agents being somewhere, crowds
(03:20):
show up. So they had hundreds of people here outside
the Federal building. It did get a little chippy, It
did turn violent when the National Guard move folks out
of the way through some tear gas and flash bangs,
use their shields to push people forcefully to make way
for some federal.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
Vehicles to make their way into the garage. But this
one is different.
Speaker 5 (03:37):
There's not a lot of direct shouting at any individual
National guardsmen or federal agent.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
This is just look at how many of us there
are who leave in this. We have taken over these streets,
we are marching through them.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Look at this.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Yeah, this is a situation that again may change in
the hours ahead, and with nightfall. We always worry that
the agitators can really take over, things can get ugly,
but it's really.
Speaker 5 (04:03):
You know, go ahead, You're right about that mark. But
I would just make the point that while we have
seen some violence in the nighttime, it's been strange that
the previous two days, the worst of the protests seemed
to happen in daylight. In this case, I mean, typically
what you're saying is true, But I observed this yesterday.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
I thought, this is.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
Daytime and this is when this has gone down. And
then when nightfall came, while I was on the air
KFI Live last night, I was expecting more bad stuff,
but it was mostly just kind of stare downs and standoffs.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
There was some, but not compared to what was going
on in the daytime. It's been really interesting to observe that.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
That is really interesting, and you know, it's funny. I
was watching Fox News, the local Fox News last night
in Los Angeles, and there had been an incident involving
one of their photographers who was shot at with one
of those less than lethal kind of things. And again
maybe not shooting at him, it might have just been
you know, it was unclear, and there were more those reports,
(05:00):
and I think that's one of the things that can
happen through the prism of local news. You know, we
always tend to want to know those stories, and the
stories that are sexiest oftentimes can be you know, oddly
the most the most violent, or those involving agitators.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
And maybe it was that. So I like the fact
that you give us.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Sort of an overall view of things that essentially depict
and reflect what has been a peaceful presence, and you
get the tension, but not the violence.
Speaker 5 (05:31):
Yeah, in this case today not a lot of violence,
and we did see that. Again, I just reiterate that
the violence that happened today. If you want to call
it violence, it was probably more of just a physicality
is probably a more accurate way to describe it, because
it didn't seem motivated by hate. It was we got
to get these cars in. You're in our way, you
got to go. So that's what happened today.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
And again, just to be for those just joining, those
are the flash bangs that you're talking about when you
say get the cars, and this is in the Federal.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Building and that's why.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
And there was some tear gas as well. Yeah, tear
gas as well.
Speaker 5 (06:04):
Got my first taste of that, so that, I mean,
that was unpleasant, But the situation immediately recovered after those
federal vehicles made their way into the garage. The National
Guard went back to their skirmish line, and then the
protesters reconvened in the street. But maybe also to your
point is that we're these these demonstrators that we're seeing
(06:26):
today are making a statement with their presence.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
We live in an age where you know, you don't.
Speaker 5 (06:31):
Necessarily need Michael Monks or Mark Thompson from KFI to
talk about you. You can reach an audience directly, and
so there's a lot of imagery that can be weaponized
on both sides of this illegal immigration debate. And so
if you are somebody who is protesting on behalf of
illegal immigrants and against ICE and their activities, and you
(06:53):
get hit in the face with tear gas or a
riot shield, you know, that may be an unpleasant moment,
but it can be a powerful for you. On the
other hand, if you're a police officer, or if you
are an ICE agent, or if you are a federal
official and you're hit by a projectile or a firework
explodes near your vehicle, or they deface your building, those
are images that can also be powerful for your calls.
(07:16):
And I've seen a lot of those types of images
for both sides to weaponize all week and long.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Yeah, that's a really good point, and I made the
point last hour.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Look, these are human beings.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Are in the National Guard, the LAPD, these our people,
and you know they respond to triggers just like we
all do. And so I think you're right to point
that out. We're gonna stay in touch with you and
really appreciate your presence down there, Michael, especially Pleasure. The
situation has become more and more fluid, and it seems
to be growing in terms of the crowd. You know,
(07:47):
I mentioned last hour, I was just mentioning that that
became a rally, a rallying cry for a lot of people.
David Werta is the president of the United service Workers
West Union.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
And that's a lot of people involved in healthcare.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Industries, and it's an immense union. And he's a leading
advocate for immigrant integration and is an advocate for immigrants
across the board. And I think the injury he was
taken to the hospital and then the detention of where
to became again, as I say, something of a rallying
(08:21):
cause for many in downtown and for an immigrant community
that feels put upon, you know, they feel singled out,
even as many of them, they would say, work hard
in all of these different industries. And so the raid
at home depot and again the detention of many who
don't have violent records or police records, they view as excessive.
(08:44):
And the last thing I'll just say to review is
the National Guard presence is a complicated issue because the
National Guard is here in Los Angeles at the request
and demand of the President of the United States. Now
the President of the United Statesnald Trump, is already a
controversial figure, and the presence of the National Guard in
(09:06):
LA is the result of no request from the governor,
from the mayor of Los Angeles, or any other public
official in California. I read you before how Rick Caruso,
who is an I would say, a political opponent and
disagrees someone who disagrees with Karen Bass, the mayor of LA,
(09:27):
on many many issues. They're in lockstep on this. He
made the statement publicly, we don't need the National Guard
here in Los Angeles.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
That's Caruso saying that. So the deployment of.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
The National Guard at the request of Donald Trump is
viewed as another adjutant here. And you know I mentioned before,
I've been around LA. Many of you have been too.
I've been working in news in Los Angeles for thirty
five years. We've seen the National Guard deployed. So the
George Floyd protest, the national Guard was deployed because because
(10:00):
the mayor made a request.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
He was Eric Garcetti at the time.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Right the Rodney King riots in nineteen ninety two, you
really felt then there was a palpable sense in the
city that things were overflowing and unpredictable. There was violence
in the street, there were fires and troops were deployed
at the request of the governor and the mayor of
LA And then you can go on back. This is
(10:29):
you know, before my time in LA with the wats riots,
and you know this is again just to watch riots
because I mentioned again the National Guard deployed, but again
at the request of the mayor of Los Angeles. So
this is the first time that you have the National
Guard deployed in Los Angeles at the demand and request
(10:49):
of the President of the United States, over the resistance
of the governor and the mayor. So this is an
extraordinary circumstance. Narrative will continue when we come back. I
want to go to a camp Pendleton, where are their
preparations underway there, and we'll see what that deployment is about.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
We've got you covered here with everything going on in
southern California and Los Angeles a minute to minute. Let
me just quickly mention that Gavin Newsom has posted a
statement on the X platform every single Democratic governor agrees
Donald Trump's attempts to militarize California are an alarming abuse
of power and then attached to that post from Newsom.
(11:40):
All of these governors, I mean, Andy Brashears, Tony Evers,
Bob Ferguson, et.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
This is just a list of governors.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
President Trump's moved to deploy California's National Guard is an
alarming abuse of power. Governors are the commanders in chief
of their national Guard and then the federal government. Then
activating the National Guard in their own borders without consulting
or working with the state's governor is ineffective and dangerous. Further,
threatening to send the US Marines into American neighborhoods undermines
(12:13):
the mission of our service members, erodes public trust, and
shows the Trump administration does not trust local law enforcement.
It's important we respect the executive authority of our country's
governors to manage their national guards, and we stand with
Governor Newsom. Again, this is a letter and statement from
(12:34):
all of these governors. It's important we respect the executive
authority of our country's governors to manage their national guards,
and we stand with Governor Newsom, who's made it clear
that violence is unacceptable and that local authorities should be
able to do their jobs without the chaos of this
federal interference and intimidation.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
On that point.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Beyond the National Guard, there are rumbling at Camp Pendleton,
the marine base to our south. Farrar joins us and
he's there now, I.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Phil, how's it going.
Speaker 6 (13:10):
Everything that you just said was pretty interesting coming from
governors across the country about using active duty military to
actually get involved in these types of raids by providing security.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
I think that what strikes me just as we're talking
is that this is not so dissimilar from what happened
during the George Floyd protests in Lafayette Park in Washington,
d C. That was a time at which the president
at the time was Donald Trump. He felt that something
should be done, and he wanted and he talked about
(13:49):
and this is based on reporting, Actually, isn't there a
way that we can disperse this crowd if they're still
in the streets. Can't we shoot at them without killing anybody?
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Can't we know?
Speaker 2 (13:58):
There was All of the conversations went on, and ultimately
they did use tear gas on that crowd, and Trump
made that walk, that famous walk to the church. So
beyond that, I can't think of a parallel during a
Trump administration that quite matches this one. But that's what
comes to mind. What's happening at Camp Pendleton.
Speaker 6 (14:20):
Well, we had about forty protesters here at Cam Pendleton.
They began around twelve thirty. They are all gone, What
if you hold the protest and no one shows up.
Speaker 7 (14:31):
I was.
Speaker 6 (14:33):
The only member of the media here and when I
approached one woman and I asked her if I could
talk to her, she says, absolutely not. And I said,
wait a minute. You guys are holding the protest, don't
you want to be heard? And then she wanted to
know about my station, Kogo iHeart, and I proceeded to
(14:56):
tell her what we do, and I said what I do.
I'm an award winning broadcast journalist, and I said, I
give you the facts. And I said, I know exactly
what the facts are. And so they dispersed early. So,
you know, what if you hold the protest and no
media come, And that's kind of what happened. But they
(15:17):
were here. One person told me what he was trying
to do was talk to as many active military because
they are a lot of them are on liberty this
weekend and they are coming back to the base. The
base is very, very busy right now. But this all started,
you know, just a couple of weeks ago with with
we had a restaurant down here, Bona Ferketty, and it
(15:41):
was raided. And then of course Friday night or Friday,
the raids in Los Angeles, Saturday the raids in Paramount,
and then today we're hearing about the raids in Pasadena.
The Department of Defense Pete Hexseth said that the Department
(16:02):
the military would be on high alert and that marines
from Camp Pendleton, if things got out of hand, would
be used in Los Angeles if riots broke out. Now,
I just want to tell you there is a clause
that the president can use. It is called the and
you probably have talked about this. It's called the Insurrection Act.
(16:26):
It hasn't been used though, since nineteen ninety two, since
the Rodney King riots after the four officers were acquitted.
So there is a way to use this, but we
haven't seen anything like this before. And while there are riots,
while there are protests going on, there are no riots
(16:47):
in Los Angeles now. But we do understand that he
can use this Insurrection Act where he federalizes, federalizes the
National Guard and then uses active military duty. Something that
is very very unheard of and very rare.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned it. It would seem, I mean,
many would say it's already been incredibly excessive that the
National Guard was deployed here and incredibly right against protocol
that you would somehow deploy them over the objection of
the local mayor, Karen Bass and the governor of California
who says, no, we don't need the National Guard. So
(17:26):
the idea that you would then up the atte as
you suggest with the Insurrection Act, which it just takes
it to another level of absurdity in a sense.
Speaker 6 (17:37):
It really does mean usually local jurisdictions are able to
handle this, whether it's police from different localities, municipalities in
Los Angeles, La County sheriffs, if they have to call
in the National Guard, that would be something that the
governor would want to do rather than having the president
(18:01):
federal lies the California National Guard. So this is a
scope we just haven't seen for quite some time. And
you know, we've heard rumblings down here that you know,
the President has it in for California. He wants to
take away federal funding. Governor Newsom wants to withhold eighty
(18:22):
billion dollars in federal or in state funding to give
to the federal government. So a lot of things are
at play here. We know there is no romance between
Governor Newsom and President Trump.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Well and President Trump, just to speak frankly, politics leads
the way with him. You know, it's in us versus
them kind of world for President Trump, and he sees
that them in this case throughout California as the Democrat.
So it's you always wonder to what extent that's working
into the equation. But it's interesting to think that even
for an instant you would deploy Marines from Camp Peddlton
(18:59):
or anywhere else, or even nationalized the National Guard and
deploy in any way additional troops in the city of
LA when at least at this moment, you know, those
of us who've been in LA for decades look at
the situation and go, this really is controllable from the
standpoint of where we sit now by local authorities on
(19:19):
local law enforcement. I mean, I was here after the
Rodney King and you might have been as well after
the Rodney King verdicts, and you really did feel we
got to get ahold of this city. This city is
uncontrollable right now, with just the local authorities and control,
this is nothing in the same universe as that.
Speaker 6 (19:39):
No, I don't think it is either. I mean, I
think this is you know, it's controllable, and I think
the San Diego Police to Los Angeles Police Department and
the LA County Sheriffs can do their job. When you
start bringing in National Guard with shields and they start
(20:00):
hiring these pepper balls or tear gas, it almost incites people.
And I think that the leadership of not only the
LA Police Department, but the other municipalities and like I said,
the Sheriff's department, you would think that they could get
this under control. I know there were about a thousand
(20:21):
protesters from what we understand yesterday. I don't know how
many Friday night in Los Angeles, but I know they
were about a thousand in Paramount yesterday. But you know,
we've seemed far worse. We've seen, you know, Lakers winning
the championship, and you know, I don't want to say
(20:41):
riots breakout, but you know, people are.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
So significant unrest. I think I agree with you.
Speaker 6 (20:47):
Yeah, I like that significant unrest, significant unrest, and they've
been able to quell that you know, but no one
the National Party was not called in when the Lakers
won the championship board the Dodgers. You know, So I
this is right now. It seems as though this is
a little excessive. They're on once again high alert standby
(21:14):
here at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. But that is
all that we know. We have not heard anything. We
don't see any trucks, tanks or anything lined up. As
a matter of fact, if you really want to get
onto this base, if they were allowed to allow the
protesters onto this base, they would be tired just by
(21:36):
getting to anyone, because it's about three or four miles
in right, anybody, Yeah, if you've ever been here, yeah,
I mean it is a city within a city. There's
about thirty three thousand people who actually live on the base.
And then when you are talking about war games, and
I played war games as a reporter with these duty
(22:01):
men and women, it's another area all together that stretches
past the Santao Free Power Plant, past Las Polga, is
almost all the way into Orange County. It is a
massive base. So them being here, you know, forty of them,
(22:21):
I don't know what it did today, I really don't.
They came, they saw, I don't know what and j just.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
If you're just Johnny.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Is the forty that Phil is talking about are the
protesters who were there at Camp Pendle and essentially make
their plan. Phil, thanks for all the thoughts and the
reporting from Camp Peddlon. Appreciate it and we'll be in touch.
Let's just hope we don't need to be but appreciate
you being there. Thank you, all right, Thank you. Mark
Thompson here on KFI AM six forty, we're watching minute
to minute. We've got Michael Monks embedded in the demonstration
(22:50):
as it continues in southern California and in downtown Los Angeles. Again,
this seems to be a situation even as it grows,
that local authorities feel very much in control of You've
heard the mayor say it, You've heard the governor say it.
You've heard other officials say we've got this. Nonetheless, big
footed from Washington, Donald Trump and the Donald Trump administration
(23:11):
and his officials that sign on with him, and Christine
Noame I'm speaking of Pete Hagsith. You've heard all of
those officials say, hey, we're here, and we're you know,
we're behind the president. Deploying the National Guard. So that
deployment again occurred over the objection of the mayor and
(23:31):
the governor of California, Gavin Newsom. But we'll have to
see how this all plays out, and we're hoping for
a quieter night again.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
We're covering it here.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
We're watching a very dynamic situation in downtown La. Mark
Thompson here, and we've been discussing all afternoon the various
stories within the overall story and what one of these
stories is from Ryan Mana, a crime and public safety
(24:05):
reporter for Southern California News Group, covered the ice raids
in LA and I guess was hit by Well, let's
find out. I mean the coverage was I guess so
embedded in everything going on that Ryan was hitted was
hit by it. I'm seeing fragments of information here, so
(24:29):
let me just get it from our guest.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Welcome to KFI, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
How do you say your first name?
Speaker 6 (24:39):
It's Ryan?
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Okay, good, just double checking, so Ryan, mayna tell me
what happened and indeed, what your role was in covering
this entire event.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
When did it happen.
Speaker 7 (24:50):
So yesterday afternoon, I arrived to Paramount, California at about
three thirty pm to cover a protest that was is
that people showed up for to protest the ice raids
that occurred at a home deep out down the street.
And by the time I got there, there had been
cheergas deployed against protesters, and I interviewed two people who
(25:13):
were hit by Sheriff's deputies with less lethal rounds who
were bleeding, and then about twenty minutes later, federal agents
came out of a warehouse area and started shooting again
less lethal and I and another journalist were shot in
the head by these And I think.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
I actually saw this video. I think I've seen you
on local news. And again just remind everybody, this is
that home depot in Paramount, right And this situation did
become really sketchy really quickly, didn't it.
Speaker 7 (25:47):
It did things. There's a lot of tension in the air,
and before before the federal agent started shooting, things seemed
to be calming down and I was actually about to leave,
but my friend and I wanted to check out this
area real quick, and that's when the federal agents came
out and started shooting.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Are you a member of the press, I'm unclear when
you say your friends and you want to check this out?
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Those these are other journalists or how were you there?
What was your.
Speaker 7 (26:12):
Presence due to Yeah, so, I'm a journalist with the
Southern California News Group and I was down there covering
this event for my company. And me and another fellow
reporter were down there, and before we were leaving, we
wanted to check out what was going on near the
home depot because we were at an intersection before down
the street or shriff deputies had a line, so we
(26:35):
checked out that area.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
And as you say that, then you were hit by fire.
Was that fire directed at you or was it just
sort of indiscriminately? Was it shot into the crowd? What
was the nature of that? Less than lethal but still
incredibly painful. Apparently these things can really be injurious. These
pepperballs describe how that happened.
Speaker 7 (26:59):
So my fellow reporter and I were we weren't even
in a crowd. I'm not sure if they were targeting
us or firing indiscriminately, but I mean both of us
were fired. We were injured on our heads. So while
we don't know, while if they were targeting us directly,
we were there as journalists to cover what was happening
and were injured.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
And so what what happened next? What do you do
on your hit by that? I mean, give me the
give me the narrative. Do you do you get first aid?
Do you go to a hospital?
Speaker 8 (27:30):
What?
Speaker 2 (27:31):
Because what I think if it's the same incident, I
mean you there was a welt on your head I
remember seeing in local news.
Speaker 7 (27:39):
Yeah, my friend and I both had welts on our heads.
And after we were hitting the head, we were also
tear gas. So we were also, you know, really shocked
by being hit on the head, and we're we also
couldn't see, so we were just trying to find a
way out around the corner to you know, escape this
really terrible tear gas. It was really hard to breathe,
(28:01):
we couldn't see, so we just went into we need
to run away and get help.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
So again, let me just review what the surrounding situation was,
because I just was it chaotic?
Speaker 3 (28:14):
Was it?
Speaker 2 (28:15):
I saw, for example, trash bags being set on fire.
I saw this is all at that Paramount home depot.
The throwing objects, bottles and pieces of like cinder block
or bricks at officers. There was a there was a
real sense of things spilling over. Was it during all
(28:35):
of that that you were hit by that fire?
Speaker 7 (28:38):
No, I did not witness any of that happening. I
believe some of those incidents happened before I arrived myself.
But again, the scene was very calm at around the
time that federal agents started firing.
Speaker 4 (28:51):
At the crowd.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Okay, okay, all right, so you know that makes it
even obviously more disturbing.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
So how are you now? What did you do? Did
you medical attention?
Speaker 7 (29:02):
I took my friend to the er because we believe
he was hit with a cheer gas canister, so his
welt was pretty significant, and I felt fine, though I
am going to the hospital later today. So we went
to the er, got him checked out, and I woke
up this morning with my neck feeling really sore and injured.
(29:23):
And yeah, it was a terrible experience.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
Do you have any kind of markings that indicate that
you're press or do you just look like another person.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
There at the event?
Speaker 7 (29:32):
I had my press pass on me, very visible.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
So what does that look like? It's around your neck?
Speaker 7 (29:41):
Correct, Yes, it's on a lanyard around my neck and
it says press on both sides.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
Okay, just trying to get a sense of it. It's
really disturbing.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
Ryan.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
I'm glad you're okay. And we can see your stuff
at the Southern California News Group and and and that's
a stringer service.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
Or help me.
Speaker 7 (30:00):
We have eleven different newspapers across Southern California, including Orange
County Register, ELI Daily News, Riverside Press, Enterprise, and others,
so a bunch of different newspapers in So cal.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
That's great. Well, we'll watch for your stuff. And I
think it's courageous work that you're doing and I really
appreciate you describing it to our audience here on KFI.
Ryan mina crime and public safety reporter for the Southern
California News Group covering those ice raids in LA. Good luck, Ryan,
stay safe as best you are able. I mean, these
are very unpredictable situations. With all of the assembled thousands
(30:34):
that have now entered the downtown LA area, most of
them probably just want to be there, They want their
presence to do the talking. But there are agitators in
all of that, and those agitators can create issues for everybody.
So even as this becomes an increasingly problematic situation with
(30:56):
the politics of the National Guard and who order them
National Guard into La, does the National Guard presence inflame
the situation? These are all questions that I think are
reasonable to ask. But in all of that, most of
the demonstrators, even as they take to the streets, they
want to make a statement, and they want to make
a nonviolent statement. But remember the police officers and law
(31:20):
enforcement authorities are charged with protecting the surrounding area and
keeping the people of the LA community safe. So they
have to push these crowds back. They have to manage
these crowds. You can't just let these crowds go anywhere.
So again there is a tension between both allowing peaceful
(31:42):
protest and also managing peaceful protest, and that tension is
being played out now in LA for Day number three.
We're watching it hour to hour for you.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
One of those days in Los Angeles that we hate
to see. This gorgeous sunny day marked by a volatility
the protesters and the protest growing in size, protesters growing
in number as they occupy downtown la and heroic work,
(32:20):
I would say, I mean, the guy's already taken tear
gas and communications tough from downtown with everything going on,
But Michael Monks has been brilliant in giving us a
sense of what is actually happening down there.
Speaker 3 (32:34):
Do we have Monks? Now?
Speaker 2 (32:36):
No, I wanted to mention one other thing. You'll let
me know if we get him back the other. And again,
there are so many areas of controversy here, so many,
and you can talk about the Ice raids to begin
with as controversial, right, there are many you feel like,
what's Ice doing here?
Speaker 3 (32:55):
Now?
Speaker 2 (32:56):
I thought you guys are going after violent criminals, you know,
show me six or seven violent criminals, But meanwhile you're
scooping up guys at home depot who are just looking
for day work. I mean, there are plenty of people
who feel that way, and there are others who go, hey,
if they're not in the country legally, they should be
scooped up and deported. And there's still others to say, well,
why do the deportations have to occur this way? Why
(33:18):
do they have to occur with everybody in military gear
and with the night vision glasses, And there's just a
lot of there's a flex here, a military flex that
seems both unnecessary and deliberately cruel. So they are all
of these, both opinions and facts that are essentially dictating
a lot of these reactions. So California lawmakers and immigrant
(33:41):
advocates are being denied entry to this ice facility where
a lot of immigrants are being detained. This ice facility
is at Alanto, and it is generally understood that lawmakers
get access to these areas. I don't know about you know,
(34:01):
immigration advocates, They I think, probably reasonably legally can can
kept out of these places. But if you're a US congressman,
you are allowed entrance to these facilities without any kind
of resistance. And so the turning away of a lot
of these California lawmakers, I said, I'm looking one, two, three, four,
(34:26):
all turned away. This is all part of congressional oversight.
They're allowed in. So I think that that again is
one other area. As I've told you when we first
started this conversation a couple hours ago, this is a
multifaceted situation, and this is a facet associated with congressional oversight.
(34:47):
So watch this because you're going to hear more about
this and the same Gabriel Valley is represented by it
says Narrows, right, Gilbert says Narrows. And his office is
all already issued a statement and saying we're doing a
legal congressional oversight, and the congressman is allowed entrance, and
(35:09):
you'll hear more, you'll hear more from other congress people.
But again, one more way in which ICE agents and
ICE policies are being held to account. That's the oversight,
and right now that oversight is not going on. So
obviously the thing that has been front and center this day,
(35:29):
the protests in downtown LA And as I mentioned, Michael
Monks is embedded in us all. Michael, I think we
have a signal to you, tell us what's going on.
Speaker 8 (35:39):
You've got a signal to me. It looks like things
are going to come to sort of an end, although
for the past couple of days they've lingered well into
the night, although not much action takes place at night,
as we discussed a little bit earlier, very strange that
most of the action takes place in the daytime during
these particular protests instead of at night. But what we've
(36:00):
got going on now is after that massive march from
LA City Hall to the federal building where the California
National Guard and federal agents from the Department of Homeland
Security were protecting that building. They've declared an unlawful assembly
and have demanded that everybody go home. And so everyone
actually for the most part, has started to go home.
(36:23):
The LAPP showed up and blocked off a lot of streets.
There's nothing going on at City Hall right now. I
just made my way back there. And so after several
hours this afternoon, and that, as you noted, beautiful hot
southern California sun on this Sunday, everything is kind of
collieting back down except for the occasional siren and those
ongoing in cessant helicopter blades from above.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
Yeah, it's it's a guess, a contrast to what I
was seeing and hearing just ninety minutes ago. You know,
I just didn't know where this is going to end up.
And it sounds to me like it's ending up with
just a dispersal of the crowd. And I mean, there
are a lot of people, thousands of people have to
but there's no aggressive move on the part of law
enforcement two to hurt everybody out.
Speaker 3 (37:05):
They're letting the crowd disperse.
Speaker 8 (37:07):
No question at this, you know, being the home of Hollywood,
that we had a bit of a story art today
and we're now in that denu mount of it all,
and it certainly had a peak right around one o'clock
when that violence started to break out, the National Guard
pushing the protesters off the sidewalk into the street, tear
(37:28):
gas thrown into the street. I got hit by the
tier gas, flash bangs going off, and people fleeing very quickly,
including members of the press like me who all got
hit by that tear gas. And then after that moment,
and that was to allow some federal vehicles into the
parking garage. There After that ended, the National Guard reformed
(37:48):
their skirmish line, the protesters reconvened in the street, and
then the crowd of protesters started to grow. It was
around two o'clock when this rally was scheduled for City
Hall that people started art to leave the protest at
the Federal building. Somebody got on a bullhorn and said
let's go to City Hall, and they dig and that
was the first time I saw the LAPD. All afternoon,
(38:09):
they had started to shut down some streets down there
and sent all the protesters back the other way, incidentally
towards the Federal Building, which I thought was very odd,
but then we realized why, and it's because the rally
at City Hall had turned into a massive march thousands
deeep on downtown Los Angeles streets, moving from LA City
Hall right back down in the direction of the Federal Building.
(38:32):
When it got to the Federal Building again, it got
a little chippy, little jawing going on, some verbal exchanges there,
hurled by the protesters towards the federal agents and the
National guardsmen, and the LAPD started to push people back,
and an unlawful assembly was declared and that started to
clean up really quickly.
Speaker 2 (38:50):
Yeah, LAPD has really distinguished themselves today, at least based
on my vantage point and what I can see, they
really they've done very, very well with this situation. Michael,
I just want to say, for all of us, thank you.
It's been a very long, unpredictable day, and I know
your day's not over, but I just want to thank
you for keeping us posted.
Speaker 8 (39:10):
That's what I'm here for. It's my pleasure to serve.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
Okay, my friend Michael Monks KFI News. Someone contacting me
on social media saying the Trump is such a we
can we can turn Michael down. Now we can turn Yeah,
I can probably lose Michael. I don't know what button
you have to push, but if you could push it,
that'd be great. The uh, what I was going to say?
Somebody countrying me a social media saying Donald Trump is
(39:35):
in such a hurry to deploy the National Guard in
Los Angeles, but where was he on January sixth? I
mean that's a fair point. I mean, again, you're seeing
a lot of different viewpoints on what's happening. Donald Trump
is the reason that National Guard troops are in Los
Angeles over the objections of the governor and the mayor.
Speaker 3 (39:55):
It is unprecedented.
Speaker 2 (39:57):
And of course it's true that I know without president
on January sixth, he did not deploy the National Guard.
And what happened in the Lafayette Square area outside the
White House was filled with some similarities. I mean, they
used tear gas to disperse that crowd. They used a
(40:19):
rubber bullets to or pepper what do they call those,
Chris Pepper the bullets.
Speaker 4 (40:25):
Or yeah, pepper balls, pepper balls, thank you, yeah to.
Speaker 3 (40:29):
I just made that.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
Up to do to disperse that crowd, and as we
learned later from Mark Asper, his secretary defension at the time,
Trump asked about actually firing into the crowd to not
kill anybody, But isn't there a way we can just
you know, hurt shoot him in the leg? So so
I mean, you know, again, this is a guy in
the president who has a much different perspective. And you
(40:51):
may be a big back of the president, this isn't
an assault of the president. I'm just describing the situation.
And so when I got that on social media, that
person's not wrong. I mean that Trump didn't pull the
trigger on the National Guard for the January sixth protesters,
and now he's pulled a trigger for National Guard presence
in Los Angeles at a time when it doesn't appear
that Los Angeles really needs those National Guard troops based
(41:14):
on everything the governors said and the mayors said, and
even the mayor's adversary in the mayoral race, Rick Caruso,
who posted a long thing essentially agreeing with Bass and
newsom you know, Chris saying, hey, we don't need the
National Guard in Los Angeles.
Speaker 9 (41:31):
Did you think you'd see a time that you'd have
hydrama like this, and then Caruso and Bass would be
agreeing on something that speaks volumes. I think I think
you're right. I think you're absolutely right. I'm kind of
watching what's going on.
Speaker 4 (41:42):
Mark.
Speaker 9 (41:42):
You kind of called it earlier when you talked about
the potential for something to spill over onto the one
oh one.
Speaker 4 (41:48):
That looks like that's kind of the hang up right now.
Speaker 9 (41:51):
As the protesters have gotten on to one to one
and they've they've stopped that traffic. So anybody's headed downtown,
just stay the hell away from one Way.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
Oh yeah, the thousands of people who are just now,
you're right, it's the ripple effect is like one of
those things. You do want to stay away from that area.
So Chris again called in off the bench to save
the universe. He'll be with us through the afternoon and
the evening hours.
Speaker 3 (42:14):
Merrill.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
I don't know how you do it, but it is
great that you do it. So wishing you the best,
my friend, Thank you, sir, thank you. I have a
wonderful rest of your evening. Stay safe. I'll be listening
kf I AM six forty. We are live everywhere on
the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (42:29):
KFI AM six forty on demand
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Just looking through all of the different situations and potentially
volatile areas that could develop into something that could overflow
later tonight. But we have a situation right now that's
actually quite dynamic, and it's in downtown LA. Started as
a few hundred protesters near the Federal Building facing off
(00:27):
against National Guard troops. Again, it was not a violent confrontation.
It wasn't a face off where there was anything more
than a presence. That has morphed into what was to
have been a situation where they collect at city Hall.
And even as I say that, morphing took the effect
of amplifying the numbers by a lot. So now you
(00:49):
have thousands of people instead of the hundreds that I
just referenced, and their movement is now being controlled a bit,
not only by where they want to go, but where
law enforcement wants to to end up, and they are
being pushed back by LAPD. From last we heard from
Michael Monks, his signal is in and out. Let's go
to Michael now, who is embedded with those protesters.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Hi, Michael, thank.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
You, Hey Mark. Apologies for some of the technical difficulties.
Speaker 5 (01:14):
I think with a large crowd here in all the
mobile phone use that our signal is maybe being a
little bit weakened since this device operates on a mobile signal.
But I will call in if we drop out. Okay,
we'll just use the old fashioned phone and see if
that works better. But for now, let me just say
Alameda Straight completely full of protesters, Temple Street full of protesters.
(01:35):
This was a convergence of these two protests, the one
at the Federal Building and the other one at the
rally at La City Hall, which started at two o'clock
but seemed to move very quickly and gathering these folks
in a march through the streets. And when that march started,
it was really the first time you could see and
feel the presence of the Los Angeles City Police Department.
(01:57):
After all of the stuff that had gone on earlier
today in the street Alameda Street, the police were nowhere
to be found to help enforce any traffic or any
safety concerns. They're not sure what the protocols are, but
they are here in force now directing this parade. When
the parade decided to I said parade, I meant march.
When this march turned back towards that Federal building where
(02:19):
today's protest was centered. Earlier, the police pushed these folks back.
There were a few flash bangs, there was a little
pushing and shoving, not a whole lot. And they have
redirected this march back into the other direction here in downtown,
and the march is now continuing on Alameda Street, away
from Temple Street.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Again.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
You gave us a good sense of the marchers just
a few minutes ago, and just to remind everyone who
might just be joining us, that sense was these are
not those bent on violence. Their mere presence speaks was
sort of what you were saying before.
Speaker 5 (02:55):
Yeah, this is different than what was happening earlier in
the afternoon. I mean, Lookla is full of people ready
to protest. This city knows how to get a protest
together for whatever cause du jour there is, and they
mobilize quickly. And that was certainly the case this weekend.
We've seen how quickly a word of an ice raid
or even the presence of ice agents being somewhere, crowds
(03:20):
show up. So they had hundreds of people here outside
the Federal building. It did get a little chippy, It
did turn violent when the National Guard move folks out
of the way through some tear gas and flash bangs,
use their shields to push people forcefully to make way
for some federal.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
Vehicles to make their way into the garage. But this
one is different.
Speaker 5 (03:37):
There's not a lot of direct shouting at any individual
National guardsmen or federal agent.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
This is just look at how many of us there
are who leave in this. We have taken over these streets,
we are marching through them.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Look at this.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Yeah, this is a situation that again may change in
the hours ahead, and with nightfall. We always worry that
the agitators can really take over, things can get ugly,
but it's really.
Speaker 5 (04:03):
You know, go ahead, You're right about that mark. But
I would just make the point that while we have
seen some violence in the nighttime, it's been strange that
the previous two days, the worst of the protests seemed
to happen in daylight. In this case, I mean, typically
what you're saying is true, But I observed this yesterday.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
I thought, this is.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
Daytime and this is when this has gone down. And
then when nightfall came, while I was on the air
KFI Live last night, I was expecting more bad stuff,
but it was mostly just kind of stare downs and standoffs.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
There was some, but not compared to what was going
on in the daytime. It's been really interesting to observe that.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
That is really interesting, and you know, it's funny. I
was watching Fox News, the local Fox News last night
in Los Angeles, and there had been an incident involving
one of their photographers who was shot at with one
of those less than lethal kind of things. And again
maybe not shooting at him, it might have just been
you know, it was unclear, and there were more those reports,
(05:00):
and I think that's one of the things that can
happen through the prism of local news. You know, we
always tend to want to know those stories, and the
stories that are sexiest oftentimes can be you know, oddly
the most the most violent, or those involving agitators.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
And maybe it was that. So I like the fact
that you give us.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Sort of an overall view of things that essentially depict
and reflect what has been a peaceful presence, and you
get the tension, but not the violence.
Speaker 5 (05:31):
Yeah, in this case today not a lot of violence,
and we did see that. Again, I just reiterate that
the violence that happened today. If you want to call
it violence, it was probably more of just a physicality
is probably a more accurate way to describe it, because
it didn't seem motivated by hate. It was we got
to get these cars in. You're in our way, you
got to go. So that's what happened today.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
And again, just to be for those just joining, those
are the flash bangs that you're talking about when you
say get the cars, and this is in the Federal.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Building and that's why.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
And there was some tear gas as well. Yeah, tear
gas as well.
Speaker 5 (06:04):
Got my first taste of that, so that, I mean,
that was unpleasant, But the situation immediately recovered after those
federal vehicles made their way into the garage. The National
Guard went back to their skirmish line, and then the
protesters reconvened in the street. But maybe also to your
point is that we're these these demonstrators that we're seeing
(06:26):
today are making a statement with their presence.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
We live in an age where you know, you don't.
Speaker 5 (06:31):
Necessarily need Michael Monks or Mark Thompson from KFI to
talk about you. You can reach an audience directly, and
so there's a lot of imagery that can be weaponized
on both sides of this illegal immigration debate. And so
if you are somebody who is protesting on behalf of
illegal immigrants and against ICE and their activities, and you
(06:53):
get hit in the face with tear gas or a
riot shield, you know, that may be an unpleasant moment,
but it can be a powerful for you. On the
other hand, if you're a police officer, or if you
are an ICE agent, or if you are a federal
official and you're hit by a projectile or a firework
explodes near your vehicle, or they deface your building, those
are images that can also be powerful for your calls.
(07:16):
And I've seen a lot of those types of images
for both sides to weaponize all week and long.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Yeah, that's a really good point, and I made the
point last hour.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Look, these are human beings.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Are in the National Guard, the LAPD, these our people,
and you know they respond to triggers just like we
all do. And so I think you're right to point
that out. We're gonna stay in touch with you and
really appreciate your presence down there, Michael, especially Pleasure. The
situation has become more and more fluid, and it seems
to be growing in terms of the crowd. You know,
(07:47):
I mentioned last hour, I was just mentioning that that
became a rally, a rallying cry for a lot of people.
David Werta is the president of the United service Workers
West Union.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
And that's a lot of people involved in healthcare.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Industries, and it's an immense union. And he's a leading
advocate for immigrant integration and is an advocate for immigrants
across the board. And I think the injury he was
taken to the hospital and then the detention of where
to became again, as I say, something of a rallying
(08:21):
cause for many in downtown and for an immigrant community
that feels put upon, you know, they feel singled out,
even as many of them, they would say, work hard
in all of these different industries. And so the raid
at home depot and again the detention of many who
don't have violent records or police records, they view as excessive.
(08:44):
And the last thing I'll just say to review is
the National Guard presence is a complicated issue because the
National Guard is here in Los Angeles at the request
and demand of the President of the United States. Now
the President of the United Statesnald Trump, is already a
controversial figure, and the presence of the National Guard in
(09:06):
LA is the result of no request from the governor,
from the mayor of Los Angeles, or any other public
official in California. I read you before how Rick Caruso,
who is an I would say, a political opponent and
disagrees someone who disagrees with Karen Bass, the mayor of LA,
(09:27):
on many many issues. They're in lockstep on this. He
made the statement publicly, we don't need the National Guard
here in Los Angeles.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
That's Caruso saying that. So the deployment of.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
The National Guard at the request of Donald Trump is
viewed as another adjutant here. And you know I mentioned before,
I've been around LA. Many of you have been too.
I've been working in news in Los Angeles for thirty
five years. We've seen the National Guard deployed. So the
George Floyd protest, the national Guard was deployed because because
(10:00):
the mayor made a request.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
He was Eric Garcetti at the time.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Right the Rodney King riots in nineteen ninety two, you
really felt then there was a palpable sense in the
city that things were overflowing and unpredictable. There was violence
in the street, there were fires and troops were deployed
at the request of the governor and the mayor of
LA And then you can go on back. This is
(10:29):
you know, before my time in LA with the wats riots,
and you know this is again just to watch riots
because I mentioned again the National Guard deployed, but again
at the request of the mayor of Los Angeles. So
this is the first time that you have the National
Guard deployed in Los Angeles at the demand and request
(10:49):
of the President of the United States, over the resistance
of the governor and the mayor. So this is an
extraordinary circumstance. Narrative will continue when we come back. I
want to go to a camp Pendleton, where are their
preparations underway there, and we'll see what that deployment is about.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
We've got you covered here with everything going on in
southern California and Los Angeles a minute to minute. Let
me just quickly mention that Gavin Newsom has posted a
statement on the X platform every single Democratic governor agrees
Donald Trump's attempts to militarize California are an alarming abuse
of power and then attached to that post from Newsom.
(11:40):
All of these governors, I mean, Andy Brashears, Tony Evers,
Bob Ferguson, et.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
This is just a list of governors.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
President Trump's moved to deploy California's National Guard is an
alarming abuse of power. Governors are the commanders in chief
of their national Guard and then the federal government. Then
activating the National Guard in their own borders without consulting
or working with the state's governor is ineffective and dangerous. Further,
threatening to send the US Marines into American neighborhoods undermines
(12:13):
the mission of our service members, erodes public trust, and
shows the Trump administration does not trust local law enforcement.
It's important we respect the executive authority of our country's
governors to manage their national guards, and we stand with
Governor Newsom. Again, this is a letter and statement from
(12:34):
all of these governors. It's important we respect the executive
authority of our country's governors to manage their national guards,
and we stand with Governor Newsom, who's made it clear
that violence is unacceptable and that local authorities should be
able to do their jobs without the chaos of this
federal interference and intimidation.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
On that point.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Beyond the National Guard, there are rumbling at Camp Pendleton,
the marine base to our south. Farrar joins us and
he's there now, I.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Phil, how's it going.
Speaker 6 (13:10):
Everything that you just said was pretty interesting coming from
governors across the country about using active duty military to
actually get involved in these types of raids by providing security.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
I think that what strikes me just as we're talking
is that this is not so dissimilar from what happened
during the George Floyd protests in Lafayette Park in Washington,
d C. That was a time at which the president
at the time was Donald Trump. He felt that something
should be done, and he wanted and he talked about
(13:49):
and this is based on reporting, Actually, isn't there a
way that we can disperse this crowd if they're still
in the streets. Can't we shoot at them without killing anybody?
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Can't we know?
Speaker 2 (13:58):
There was All of the conversations went on, and ultimately
they did use tear gas on that crowd, and Trump
made that walk, that famous walk to the church. So
beyond that, I can't think of a parallel during a
Trump administration that quite matches this one. But that's what
comes to mind. What's happening at Camp Pendleton.
Speaker 6 (14:20):
Well, we had about forty protesters here at Cam Pendleton.
They began around twelve thirty. They are all gone, What
if you hold the protest and no one shows up.
Speaker 7 (14:31):
I was.
Speaker 6 (14:33):
The only member of the media here and when I
approached one woman and I asked her if I could
talk to her, she says, absolutely not. And I said,
wait a minute. You guys are holding the protest, don't
you want to be heard? And then she wanted to
know about my station, Kogo iHeart, and I proceeded to
(14:56):
tell her what we do, and I said what I do.
I'm an award winning broadcast journalist, and I said, I
give you the facts. And I said, I know exactly
what the facts are. And so they dispersed early. So,
you know, what if you hold the protest and no
media come, And that's kind of what happened. But they
(15:17):
were here. One person told me what he was trying
to do was talk to as many active military because
they are a lot of them are on liberty this
weekend and they are coming back to the base. The
base is very, very busy right now. But this all started,
you know, just a couple of weeks ago with with
we had a restaurant down here, Bona Ferketty, and it
(15:41):
was raided. And then of course Friday night or Friday,
the raids in Los Angeles, Saturday the raids in Paramount,
and then today we're hearing about the raids in Pasadena.
The Department of Defense Pete Hexseth said that the Department
(16:02):
the military would be on high alert and that marines
from Camp Pendleton, if things got out of hand, would
be used in Los Angeles if riots broke out. Now,
I just want to tell you there is a clause
that the president can use. It is called the and
you probably have talked about this. It's called the Insurrection Act.
(16:26):
It hasn't been used though, since nineteen ninety two, since
the Rodney King riots after the four officers were acquitted.
So there is a way to use this, but we
haven't seen anything like this before. And while there are riots,
while there are protests going on, there are no riots
(16:47):
in Los Angeles now. But we do understand that he
can use this Insurrection Act where he federalizes, federalizes the
National Guard and then uses active military duty. Something that
is very very unheard of and very rare.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned it. It would seem, I mean,
many would say it's already been incredibly excessive that the
National Guard was deployed here and incredibly right against protocol
that you would somehow deploy them over the objection of
the local mayor, Karen Bass and the governor of California
who says, no, we don't need the National Guard. So
(17:26):
the idea that you would then up the atte as
you suggest with the Insurrection Act, which it just takes
it to another level of absurdity in a sense.
Speaker 6 (17:37):
It really does mean usually local jurisdictions are able to
handle this, whether it's police from different localities, municipalities in
Los Angeles, La County sheriffs, if they have to call
in the National Guard, that would be something that the
governor would want to do rather than having the president
(18:01):
federal lies the California National Guard. So this is a
scope we just haven't seen for quite some time. And
you know, we've heard rumblings down here that you know,
the President has it in for California. He wants to
take away federal funding. Governor Newsom wants to withhold eighty
(18:22):
billion dollars in federal or in state funding to give
to the federal government. So a lot of things are
at play here. We know there is no romance between
Governor Newsom and President Trump.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Well and President Trump, just to speak frankly, politics leads
the way with him. You know, it's in us versus
them kind of world for President Trump, and he sees
that them in this case throughout California as the Democrat.
So it's you always wonder to what extent that's working
into the equation. But it's interesting to think that even
for an instant you would deploy Marines from Camp Peddlton
(18:59):
or anywhere else, or even nationalized the National Guard and
deploy in any way additional troops in the city of
LA when at least at this moment, you know, those
of us who've been in LA for decades look at
the situation and go, this really is controllable from the
standpoint of where we sit now by local authorities on
(19:19):
local law enforcement. I mean, I was here after the
Rodney King and you might have been as well after
the Rodney King verdicts, and you really did feel we
got to get ahold of this city. This city is
uncontrollable right now, with just the local authorities and control,
this is nothing in the same universe as that.
Speaker 6 (19:39):
No, I don't think it is either. I mean, I
think this is you know, it's controllable, and I think
the San Diego Police to Los Angeles Police Department and
the LA County Sheriffs can do their job. When you
start bringing in National Guard with shields and they start
(20:00):
hiring these pepper balls or tear gas, it almost incites people.
And I think that the leadership of not only the
LA Police Department, but the other municipalities and like I said,
the Sheriff's department, you would think that they could get
this under control. I know there were about a thousand
(20:21):
protesters from what we understand yesterday. I don't know how
many Friday night in Los Angeles, but I know they
were about a thousand in Paramount yesterday. But you know,
we've seemed far worse. We've seen, you know, Lakers winning
the championship, and you know, I don't want to say
(20:41):
riots breakout, but you know, people are.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
So significant unrest. I think I agree with you.
Speaker 6 (20:47):
Yeah, I like that significant unrest, significant unrest, and they've
been able to quell that you know, but no one
the National Party was not called in when the Lakers
won the championship board the Dodgers. You know, So I
this is right now. It seems as though this is
a little excessive. They're on once again high alert standby
(21:14):
here at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. But that is
all that we know. We have not heard anything. We
don't see any trucks, tanks or anything lined up. As
a matter of fact, if you really want to get
onto this base, if they were allowed to allow the
protesters onto this base, they would be tired just by
(21:36):
getting to anyone, because it's about three or four miles
in right, anybody, Yeah, if you've ever been here, yeah,
I mean it is a city within a city. There's
about thirty three thousand people who actually live on the base.
And then when you are talking about war games, and
I played war games as a reporter with these duty
(22:01):
men and women, it's another area all together that stretches
past the Santao Free Power Plant, past Las Polga, is
almost all the way into Orange County. It is a
massive base. So them being here, you know, forty of them,
(22:21):
I don't know what it did today, I really don't.
They came, they saw, I don't know what and j just.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
If you're just Johnny.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Is the forty that Phil is talking about are the
protesters who were there at Camp Pendle and essentially make
their plan. Phil, thanks for all the thoughts and the
reporting from Camp Peddlon. Appreciate it and we'll be in touch.
Let's just hope we don't need to be but appreciate
you being there. Thank you, all right, Thank you. Mark
Thompson here on KFI AM six forty, we're watching minute
to minute. We've got Michael Monks embedded in the demonstration
(22:50):
as it continues in southern California and in downtown Los Angeles. Again,
this seems to be a situation even as it grows,
that local authorities feel very much in control of You've
heard the mayor say it, You've heard the governor say it.
You've heard other officials say we've got this. Nonetheless, big
footed from Washington, Donald Trump and the Donald Trump administration
(23:11):
and his officials that sign on with him, and Christine
Noame I'm speaking of Pete Hagsith. You've heard all of
those officials say, hey, we're here, and we're you know,
we're behind the president. Deploying the National Guard. So that
deployment again occurred over the objection of the mayor and
(23:31):
the governor of California, Gavin Newsom. But we'll have to
see how this all plays out, and we're hoping for
a quieter night again.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
We're covering it here.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
We're watching a very dynamic situation in downtown La. Mark
Thompson here, and we've been discussing all afternoon the various
stories within the overall story and what one of these
stories is from Ryan Mana, a crime and public safety
(24:05):
reporter for Southern California News Group, covered the ice raids
in LA and I guess was hit by Well, let's
find out. I mean the coverage was I guess so
embedded in everything going on that Ryan was hitted was
hit by it. I'm seeing fragments of information here, so
(24:29):
let me just get it from our guest.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Welcome to KFI, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
How do you say your first name?
Speaker 6 (24:39):
It's Ryan?
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Okay, good, just double checking, so Ryan, mayna tell me
what happened and indeed, what your role was in covering
this entire event.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
When did it happen.
Speaker 7 (24:50):
So yesterday afternoon, I arrived to Paramount, California at about
three thirty pm to cover a protest that was is
that people showed up for to protest the ice raids
that occurred at a home deep out down the street.
And by the time I got there, there had been
cheergas deployed against protesters, and I interviewed two people who
(25:13):
were hit by Sheriff's deputies with less lethal rounds who
were bleeding, and then about twenty minutes later, federal agents
came out of a warehouse area and started shooting again
less lethal and I and another journalist were shot in
the head by these And I think.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
I actually saw this video. I think I've seen you
on local news. And again just remind everybody, this is
that home depot in Paramount, right And this situation did
become really sketchy really quickly, didn't it.
Speaker 7 (25:47):
It did things. There's a lot of tension in the air,
and before before the federal agent started shooting, things seemed
to be calming down and I was actually about to leave,
but my friend and I wanted to check out this
area real quick, and that's when the federal agents came
out and started shooting.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Are you a member of the press, I'm unclear when
you say your friends and you want to check this out?
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Those these are other journalists or how were you there?
What was your.
Speaker 7 (26:12):
Presence due to Yeah, so, I'm a journalist with the
Southern California News Group and I was down there covering
this event for my company. And me and another fellow
reporter were down there, and before we were leaving, we
wanted to check out what was going on near the
home depot because we were at an intersection before down
the street or shriff deputies had a line, so we
(26:35):
checked out that area.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
And as you say that, then you were hit by fire.
Was that fire directed at you or was it just
sort of indiscriminately? Was it shot into the crowd? What
was the nature of that? Less than lethal but still
incredibly painful. Apparently these things can really be injurious. These
pepperballs describe how that happened.
Speaker 7 (26:59):
So my fellow reporter and I were we weren't even
in a crowd. I'm not sure if they were targeting
us or firing indiscriminately, but I mean both of us
were fired. We were injured on our heads. So while
we don't know, while if they were targeting us directly,
we were there as journalists to cover what was happening
and were injured.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
And so what what happened next? What do you do
on your hit by that? I mean, give me the
give me the narrative. Do you do you get first aid?
Do you go to a hospital?
Speaker 8 (27:30):
What?
Speaker 2 (27:31):
Because what I think if it's the same incident, I
mean you there was a welt on your head I
remember seeing in local news.
Speaker 7 (27:39):
Yeah, my friend and I both had welts on our heads.
And after we were hitting the head, we were also
tear gas. So we were also, you know, really shocked
by being hit on the head, and we're we also
couldn't see, so we were just trying to find a
way out around the corner to you know, escape this
really terrible tear gas. It was really hard to breathe,
(28:01):
we couldn't see, so we just went into we need
to run away and get help.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
So again, let me just review what the surrounding situation was,
because I just was it chaotic?
Speaker 3 (28:14):
Was it?
Speaker 2 (28:15):
I saw, for example, trash bags being set on fire.
I saw this is all at that Paramount home depot.
The throwing objects, bottles and pieces of like cinder block
or bricks at officers. There was a there was a
real sense of things spilling over. Was it during all
(28:35):
of that that you were hit by that fire?
Speaker 7 (28:38):
No, I did not witness any of that happening. I
believe some of those incidents happened before I arrived myself.
But again, the scene was very calm at around the
time that federal agents started firing.
Speaker 4 (28:51):
At the crowd.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Okay, okay, all right, so you know that makes it
even obviously more disturbing.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
So how are you now? What did you do? Did
you medical attention?
Speaker 7 (29:02):
I took my friend to the er because we believe
he was hit with a cheer gas canister, so his
welt was pretty significant, and I felt fine, though I
am going to the hospital later today. So we went
to the er, got him checked out, and I woke
up this morning with my neck feeling really sore and injured.
(29:23):
And yeah, it was a terrible experience.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
Do you have any kind of markings that indicate that
you're press or do you just look like another person.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
There at the event?
Speaker 7 (29:32):
I had my press pass on me, very visible.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
So what does that look like? It's around your neck?
Speaker 7 (29:41):
Correct, Yes, it's on a lanyard around my neck and
it says press on both sides.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
Okay, just trying to get a sense of it. It's
really disturbing.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
Ryan.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
I'm glad you're okay. And we can see your stuff
at the Southern California News Group and and and that's
a stringer service.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
Or help me.
Speaker 7 (30:00):
We have eleven different newspapers across Southern California, including Orange
County Register, ELI Daily News, Riverside Press, Enterprise, and others,
so a bunch of different newspapers in So cal.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
That's great. Well, we'll watch for your stuff. And I
think it's courageous work that you're doing and I really
appreciate you describing it to our audience here on KFI.
Ryan mina crime and public safety reporter for the Southern
California News Group covering those ice raids in LA. Good luck, Ryan,
stay safe as best you are able. I mean, these
are very unpredictable situations. With all of the assembled thousands
(30:34):
that have now entered the downtown LA area, most of
them probably just want to be there, They want their
presence to do the talking. But there are agitators in
all of that, and those agitators can create issues for everybody.
So even as this becomes an increasingly problematic situation with
(30:56):
the politics of the National Guard and who order them
National Guard into La, does the National Guard presence inflame
the situation? These are all questions that I think are
reasonable to ask. But in all of that, most of
the demonstrators, even as they take to the streets, they
want to make a statement, and they want to make
a nonviolent statement. But remember the police officers and law
(31:20):
enforcement authorities are charged with protecting the surrounding area and
keeping the people of the LA community safe. So they
have to push these crowds back. They have to manage
these crowds. You can't just let these crowds go anywhere.
So again there is a tension between both allowing peaceful
(31:42):
protest and also managing peaceful protest, and that tension is
being played out now in LA for Day number three.
We're watching it hour to hour for you.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
One of those days in Los Angeles that we hate
to see. This gorgeous sunny day marked by a volatility
the protesters and the protest growing in size, protesters growing
in number as they occupy downtown la and heroic work,
(32:20):
I would say, I mean, the guy's already taken tear
gas and communications tough from downtown with everything going on,
But Michael Monks has been brilliant in giving us a
sense of what is actually happening down there.
Speaker 3 (32:34):
Do we have Monks? Now?
Speaker 2 (32:36):
No, I wanted to mention one other thing. You'll let
me know if we get him back the other. And again,
there are so many areas of controversy here, so many,
and you can talk about the Ice raids to begin
with as controversial, right, there are many you feel like,
what's Ice doing here?
Speaker 3 (32:55):
Now?
Speaker 2 (32:56):
I thought you guys are going after violent criminals, you know,
show me six or seven violent criminals, But meanwhile you're
scooping up guys at home depot who are just looking
for day work. I mean, there are plenty of people
who feel that way, and there are others who go, hey,
if they're not in the country legally, they should be
scooped up and deported. And there's still others to say, well,
why do the deportations have to occur this way? Why
(33:18):
do they have to occur with everybody in military gear
and with the night vision glasses, And there's just a
lot of there's a flex here, a military flex that
seems both unnecessary and deliberately cruel. So they are all
of these, both opinions and facts that are essentially dictating
a lot of these reactions. So California lawmakers and immigrant
(33:41):
advocates are being denied entry to this ice facility where
a lot of immigrants are being detained. This ice facility
is at Alanto, and it is generally understood that lawmakers
get access to these areas. I don't know about you know,
(34:01):
immigration advocates, They I think, probably reasonably legally can can
kept out of these places. But if you're a US congressman,
you are allowed entrance to these facilities without any kind
of resistance. And so the turning away of a lot
of these California lawmakers, I said, I'm looking one, two, three, four,
(34:26):
all turned away. This is all part of congressional oversight.
They're allowed in. So I think that that again is
one other area. As I've told you when we first
started this conversation a couple hours ago, this is a
multifaceted situation, and this is a facet associated with congressional oversight.
(34:47):
So watch this because you're going to hear more about
this and the same Gabriel Valley is represented by it
says Narrows, right, Gilbert says Narrows. And his office is
all already issued a statement and saying we're doing a
legal congressional oversight, and the congressman is allowed entrance, and
(35:09):
you'll hear more, you'll hear more from other congress people.
But again, one more way in which ICE agents and
ICE policies are being held to account. That's the oversight,
and right now that oversight is not going on. So
obviously the thing that has been front and center this day,
(35:29):
the protests in downtown LA And as I mentioned, Michael
Monks is embedded in us all. Michael, I think we
have a signal to you, tell us what's going on.
Speaker 8 (35:39):
You've got a signal to me. It looks like things
are going to come to sort of an end, although
for the past couple of days they've lingered well into
the night, although not much action takes place at night,
as we discussed a little bit earlier, very strange that
most of the action takes place in the daytime during
these particular protests instead of at night. But what we've
(36:00):
got going on now is after that massive march from
LA City Hall to the federal building where the California
National Guard and federal agents from the Department of Homeland
Security were protecting that building. They've declared an unlawful assembly
and have demanded that everybody go home. And so everyone
actually for the most part, has started to go home.
(36:23):
The LAPP showed up and blocked off a lot of streets.
There's nothing going on at City Hall right now. I
just made my way back there. And so after several
hours this afternoon, and that, as you noted, beautiful hot
southern California sun on this Sunday, everything is kind of
collieting back down except for the occasional siren and those
ongoing in cessant helicopter blades from above.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
Yeah, it's it's a guess, a contrast to what I
was seeing and hearing just ninety minutes ago. You know,
I just didn't know where this is going to end up.
And it sounds to me like it's ending up with
just a dispersal of the crowd. And I mean, there
are a lot of people, thousands of people have to
but there's no aggressive move on the part of law
enforcement two to hurt everybody out.
Speaker 3 (37:05):
They're letting the crowd disperse.
Speaker 8 (37:07):
No question at this, you know, being the home of Hollywood,
that we had a bit of a story art today
and we're now in that denu mount of it all,
and it certainly had a peak right around one o'clock
when that violence started to break out, the National Guard
pushing the protesters off the sidewalk into the street, tear
(37:28):
gas thrown into the street. I got hit by the
tier gas, flash bangs going off, and people fleeing very quickly,
including members of the press like me who all got
hit by that tear gas. And then after that moment,
and that was to allow some federal vehicles into the
parking garage. There After that ended, the National Guard reformed
(37:48):
their skirmish line, the protesters reconvened in the street, and
then the crowd of protesters started to grow. It was
around two o'clock when this rally was scheduled for City
Hall that people started art to leave the protest at
the Federal building. Somebody got on a bullhorn and said
let's go to City Hall, and they dig and that
was the first time I saw the LAPD. All afternoon,
(38:09):
they had started to shut down some streets down there
and sent all the protesters back the other way, incidentally
towards the Federal Building, which I thought was very odd,
but then we realized why, and it's because the rally
at City Hall had turned into a massive march thousands
deeep on downtown Los Angeles streets, moving from LA City
Hall right back down in the direction of the Federal Building.
(38:32):
When it got to the Federal Building again, it got
a little chippy, little jawing going on, some verbal exchanges there,
hurled by the protesters towards the federal agents and the
National guardsmen, and the LAPD started to push people back,
and an unlawful assembly was declared and that started to
clean up really quickly.
Speaker 2 (38:50):
Yeah, LAPD has really distinguished themselves today, at least based
on my vantage point and what I can see, they
really they've done very, very well with this situation. Michael,
I just want to say, for all of us, thank you.
It's been a very long, unpredictable day, and I know
your day's not over, but I just want to thank
you for keeping us posted.
Speaker 8 (39:10):
That's what I'm here for. It's my pleasure to serve.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
Okay, my friend Michael Monks KFI News. Someone contacting me
on social media saying the Trump is such a we
can we can turn Michael down. Now we can turn Yeah,
I can probably lose Michael. I don't know what button
you have to push, but if you could push it,
that'd be great. The uh, what I was going to say?
Somebody countrying me a social media saying Donald Trump is
(39:35):
in such a hurry to deploy the National Guard in
Los Angeles, but where was he on January sixth? I
mean that's a fair point. I mean, again, you're seeing
a lot of different viewpoints on what's happening. Donald Trump
is the reason that National Guard troops are in Los
Angeles over the objections of the governor and the mayor.
Speaker 3 (39:55):
It is unprecedented.
Speaker 2 (39:57):
And of course it's true that I know without president
on January sixth, he did not deploy the National Guard.
And what happened in the Lafayette Square area outside the
White House was filled with some similarities. I mean, they
used tear gas to disperse that crowd. They used a
(40:19):
rubber bullets to or pepper what do they call those,
Chris Pepper the bullets.
Speaker 4 (40:25):
Or yeah, pepper balls, pepper balls, thank you, yeah to.
Speaker 3 (40:29):
I just made that.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
Up to do to disperse that crowd, and as we
learned later from Mark Asper, his secretary defension at the time,
Trump asked about actually firing into the crowd to not
kill anybody, But isn't there a way we can just
you know, hurt shoot him in the leg? So so
I mean, you know, again, this is a guy in
the president who has a much different perspective. And you
(40:51):
may be a big back of the president, this isn't
an assault of the president. I'm just describing the situation.
And so when I got that on social media, that
person's not wrong. I mean that Trump didn't pull the
trigger on the National Guard for the January sixth protesters,
and now he's pulled a trigger for National Guard presence
in Los Angeles at a time when it doesn't appear
that Los Angeles really needs those National Guard troops based
(41:14):
on everything the governors said and the mayors said, and
even the mayor's adversary in the mayoral race, Rick Caruso,
who posted a long thing essentially agreeing with Bass and
newsom you know, Chris saying, hey, we don't need the
National Guard in Los Angeles.
Speaker 9 (41:31):
Did you think you'd see a time that you'd have
hydrama like this, and then Caruso and Bass would be
agreeing on something that speaks volumes. I think I think
you're right. I think you're absolutely right. I'm kind of
watching what's going on.
Speaker 4 (41:42):
Mark.
Speaker 9 (41:42):
You kind of called it earlier when you talked about
the potential for something to spill over onto the one
oh one.
Speaker 4 (41:48):
That looks like that's kind of the hang up right now.
Speaker 9 (41:51):
As the protesters have gotten on to one to one
and they've they've stopped that traffic. So anybody's headed downtown,
just stay the hell away from one Way.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
Oh yeah, the thousands of people who are just now,
you're right, it's the ripple effect is like one of
those things. You do want to stay away from that area.
So Chris again called in off the bench to save
the universe. He'll be with us through the afternoon and
the evening hours.
Speaker 3 (42:14):
Merrill.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
I don't know how you do it, but it is
great that you do it. So wishing you the best,
my friend, Thank you, sir, thank you. I have a
wonderful rest of your evening. Stay safe. I'll be listening
kf I AM six forty. We are live everywhere on
the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (42:29):
KFI AM six forty on demand
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