On Friday, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents circulated in the Los Angeles area executing a law enforcement mission to nab criminal illegal aliens as part of an investigation into drug-cartel money laundering, one of the more pointless and unwise activities of recent vintage came courtesy of a union leader.
His name is David Huerta, and he’s the president of the Service Employees International Union in Los Angeles. And Huerta thought he’d participate in a group that was attempting to prevent ICE officers from accessing a Department of Homeland Security headquarters.
That interesting bit of FA led to a quite obvious FO — namely, that Huerta was arrested and remains in custody.
What has followed has been as familiar as it is ridiculous.
Again, remember — what kicked off Huerta’s antics wasn’t an operation to deport illegals. It was an effort to disrupt the money laundering activities of Mexican drug cartels.
Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, revealed that the raids that sparked the violent LA riots were not for immigration purposes. Homan explained that the raids that took place in downtown Los Angeles on Friday were part of a criminal investigation into a money laundering…
— Peter Schweizer (@peterschweizer) June 9, 2025
Los Angeles has been the scene of rioting and violence ever since — with public art defacements, rock-throwing thugs attacking police, attacks on federal law enforcement, burning cars, and lots of other “mostly peaceful” activities meant to get the public’s attention and convey a narrative.
But rioting in Los Angeles is no longer a particular crisis event. Not after the Rodney King and George Floyd chaos. At this point, civil unrest by have-nots is basically expected if some upsetting event might fall afoul of the Hard Left elements in that metropolis.
And were it not for some of the more glaring optics — perhaps best exemplified by the images of masked aliens on motorcycles wheeling past burning vehicles with Mexican flags in tow — not that many people would care that some union boss got the legal trouble he asked for and a ginned-up mob acted the fool in response.
But when Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a real live Castroite communist who — natch — was up for the job of vice president on Joe Biden’s 2020 ticket before ol’ non compos mentis Joe went with Kamala Harris instead, and California Governor Gavin Newsom decided to side with the rioters against ICE, things got a little interesting.
Even more so when President Trump, recognizing that urban riots are a thing which must be nipped in the bud if an American revival and golden age is to be had, federalized the National Guard and sent them to Los Angeles to protect federal buildings.
Newsom’s response to that was bizarre in the extreme, making the entirely false claim that everything was fine until Trump escalated the situation by sending in the troops.
Los Angeles: don’t take Trump’s bait.
Trump wants chaos and he’s instigated violence. Those who assault law enforcement or cause property damage will risk arrest.
Stay peaceful. Stay focused. Don’t give him the excuse he’s looking for.
— Governor Gavin Newsom (@CAgovernor) June 9, 2025
That was a bit off the narrative track, as the previous claim was that everything was fine until ICE began conducting raids in the Los Angeles area. Which makes Newsom seem almost sane by comparison.
The conceit here is, apparently, that Los Angeles isn’t really part of the United States, because somehow it’s inappropriate for ICE to enforce immigration law there.
Newsom might certainly agree with that, but it isn’t where he placed his emphasis. And while Ellie Gardey Holmes, who wrote the definitive work on California’s governor Newsom Unleashed: The Progressive Lust for Unbridled Power last year, can give a better recitation of the man’s character and motivation than can I, what’s obvious is that Newsom is playing this version of the L.A. riots with a specific goal in mind.
That being, making himself the face of the Democrat Party.
And what Newsom has decided this means is he has to stand against Trump in such a way that both satisfies the Hard Left that he can’t win the 2028 Democrat presidential primary without, and doesn’t alienate the fairly strong majority of Americans who want to deport every single illegal alien across the fruited plain. (RELATED: The Democrats Have Normalized Political Violence)
In other words, to lie. Or to be Kevin Bacon in Animal House…
…while downtown Los Angeles emits billows of smoke from burning cars.
And it seems to be working. The Hard Left is eating all of this up.
BREAKING: Governor Newsom responds to threats from the Trump Administration by DARING Trump’s border czar Tom Homan to arrest him. Newsom has done nothing wrong. The Trump Administration has gone mad with power.
pic.twitter.com/WAYTE6UnQT— Trump Lie Tracker (Commentary) (@MAGALieTracker) June 9, 2025
My friend Kurt Schlichter noted Monday at Townhall.com that this is a highly overrated event, at least so far…
Remember, it’s an information operation. None of what you see on the regime media is real. Oh, they are burning a few cars and screaming and yelling and running around waving flags of garbage countries, but what does any of that actually do? Nothing. They can’t make anyone do anything. They are not eliminating any federal law-enforcement capabilities. They are not significantly hindering federal law enforcement operations. They are not holding significant territory over time. They’re simply acting out in front of the cameras to try to convince you that Trump is powerless.
To some extent, this works. As a Southern Californian, I’ve been bombarded by people around the country asking me if I’m okay. Of course, I’m okay. I live among rich people who like their Chardonnay oaky and their illegal alien domestic help cheap and compliant. They won’t let that nonsense happen in my neighborhood. Hell, my liberal neighbors would call the local SWAT team in if poor people knocked over one of their “Hate Has No Home Here” signs. The violence is happening downtown, where practically nobody lives except bums and a few urban pioneers, as well as in some scruffy suburban cities on the east side of the metropolis. The impact on the daily life of 99% of people in Los Angeles is exactly zero. There are approximately 20 million people here. Maybe 5,000 have anything to do with this nonsense.
He’s right about this, of course, and Schlichter is also right that Trump’s response so far has been vigorous enough to (1) cram down much of the mob activity on the streets of L.A. and (2) show up the idiots in charge of that city and state for the ineffectual dunces they are — without tipping over into Kent State territory.
And Trump has called their bluff. They were counting on what usually happens when the professional agitators in blue cities start getting frisky — they get catered to by the Democrats who run these urban areas. The Democrats react like a mommy while Trump reacts like a daddy. He’s not taking any of their guff, but what is important is that he understands that this is an information operation. He escalated by activating the California Army National Guard — I was a deputy commander of the brigade Trump called out and on the streets with the Army during the Los Angeles riots — but not so he could go kinetic. He’s not calling in the Guard or the Marines to bust heads or quell disorder, like we did in 1992. The guardsmen are basically providing point security around federal facilities to free up federal cops to go out and do cop things like arrest scumbags.
What Trump is doing is messaging to the country that he’s not taking their crap. He’s not going to be intimidated. He’s not going to let this get out of control. The ones who are letting it get out of control are the Democrats who run California, like slack-jawed moron Mayor Karen Bass and Governor Gavin Hairstyle. Let’s understand the relationship between the riots and the Democrat establishment. The rioters are catspaws, cut-outs whose act of violence and intimidation support Democrat policies even as the Democrat establishment pretends to be upset about the chaos. However, the Democrats must at least appear to be trying to maintain order. Trump knows that is one of their weaknesses. He is sticking them with the consequences of their own disorder. Have you noticed how the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles sheriffs, and the California Highway Patrol are the ones dealing with riots? They are the ones who look powerless in the face of the rioters. This, in turn, makes Gavin Newsom and his pals look powerless – an image compounded when they whine and complain impotently about Trump calling up the Guard and Trump ignores them.
The question is what’s next.
We know that Newsom and California’s bumbling attorney general, Rob Bonta, are threatening to sue the president for intervening…
So you’re aware:
Some district court judge is going to issue an injunction and order troops be forcibly removed from Dept. of Defense command.
This is Gov. Newsom overtly attempting to create chaos, the side effects of which will put Guardsmen in danger. https://t.co/NZjOWMSTd3
— Tony Kinnett (@TheTonus) June 9, 2025
…and when they do, we’ll have the potential for a real constitutional crisis — because it isn’t in Newsom’s interest for the riots to calm down as a result of federal action, and it might not be in his power to stop them if ICE is going to continue conducting raids.
And ICE is going to continue conducting raids in Los Angeles.
Not just to deport people. Again, the raids that spun up David Huerta and then the entire structure of the Democrat Party were in pursuit of law enforcement activity against the Mexican drug cartels.
Which makes you wonder who is actually in charge of the Democrat Party, both in California and the rest of the country.
So they poked the cartels, and the entire Democrat party started squalling and rioting. Interesting.
— Interesting Times (@FreeTheBee22) June 9, 2025
This certainly isn’t going to end well for them. Let’s hope it ends well for the country. It’s beginning to look like those are mutually exclusive outcomes.
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