Combating the LA Riots. A Battle Worth Having

Déjà vu.  

That’s what Americans felt after the recent riots, violence, and left-wing antics centered in Los Angeles, California. Radicals used President Donald Trump’s deportations of illegal immigrants from communities around the nation as their pitiful excuse for the chaos. After weeks of simmering opposition to the federal government’s enforcement actions, those advocating for lawlessness began a relentless cycle of violence under the guise of “protesting.” 

Lest we forget, the Los Angeles riots commenced due to left-wing agitators attempting to stop federal agents from executing their sworn duties to arrest immigrants who are illegally in the United States. Some of these out-of-control individuals went so far as to block and impede progress of the law enforcement agents and to assault them in the light of day.

Despite clear evidence of the lawlessness occurring on their streets against federal officers, California politicians, led by Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass, refused to lend aid and quell the growing violence across Los Angeles, emboldening the rioters. With violent escalation all around his federal agents, Trump was forced to call out the National Guard and U.S. Marines to ensure the safety and security of American assets and sovereignty in the face of hateful and unlawful behavior.  

It’s important to note that what unfolded in California under its extreme leftist government was nothing short of an atrocity. These ongoing altercations should never be confused with “protests,” which are protected under the First Amendment. Rather, these were violent riots carried out by criminal thugs threatening life and property. Yet again, California politicians jeopardized the lives and livelihoods of both our law-abiding citizens and federal agents, while also undermining the rule of law, thanks to their blind allegiance to a fundamentally anti-American ideology of open borders and lawless streets. 

What the nation observed in California hearkens back to another recent period of American history—the riots of 2020, where anarchists again took to the streets in many communities across the country and caused irreparable harm to brick-and-mortar establishments and the seats of governmental power—like federal courthouses in some jurisdictions. As in California today, many left-wing politicians stood by or even fanned the flames of anarchy as their own cities and towns burned to the ground. These results would have been the fate of Los Angeles had not Trump put his foot down and increased manpower and political will of the federal government to protect his men and women in uniform against the lawless rioters.  

Protesting a government’s policy is one thing—lawful assemblies of many forms are the hallmark of our American constitutional republic to beseech those in authority over us to change or modify the laws that keep order in our communities, states, and country. However, it is another thing entirely to resort to violence to accomplish that same goal—and the Left has a perpetual tendency to do just that when they run into severe disagreements. These antics are not the American way and are dangerous to our nation’s unity and survival.  

Unfortunately, like many areas surrounding the political arena these days, the ability to riot or not to riot has encountered a partisan divide. Democrat governors, including Arizona’s own Katie Hobbs, issued a scathing statement, writing, “Trump’s move to deploy California’s National Guard is an alarming abuse of power.” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes joined a legal fight against the president’s decision to bring the National Guard into action to defend federal agents.  

These Democrats know full well who started the mess in Los Angeles; they simply wanted to prevent the president of the United States from having a clear runway to enforce the law and provide peace and safety to our schools and neighborhoods from the many documented harms of illegal immigration. They would rather compromise the rule of law and let lawbreakers run free than to join with the Trump administration and Republicans on enforcement of federal immigration laws, deportations of criminal illegal aliens, and accountability for those who violate state laws when demonstrations spiral out of control. 

Americans are tired of the violence on our streets fueled by left-wing politicians who are content to see their cities become failed Third World-like displays to advance their schemes throughout the entire nation. The United States should never tolerate such unlawful antics, nor should our leaders give in to threats and violence over attempts to enforce the law and secure our communities. I am proud of the president’s efforts to keep the promises he made to the country over the past year, and I am grateful for the men and women in both federal and local law enforcement who risked their lives to keep our neighborhoods safe.  

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