Public opposition to the Trump administration’s ICE raids continued in Los Angeles on Saturday, as Trump officials took to social media—and Fox News—to condemn the protestors as insurrectionists.
On Saturday, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials threw tear gas and fired less-lethal rounds at protestors in Paramount, California, in an effort to force them to disperse.
Friday, the first day of protests in Los Angeles, resulted in 45 arrests, with Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem telling Fox News on Saturday, “I believe that we will press charges against everybody who has broken the law last night.”
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Meanwhile, in New York, footage posted to X showed protestors being dragged and arrested by NYPD police outside 26 Federal Plaza. Protestors had gathered there, where an ICE office is located, in an attempt to prevent officers from conducting raids. DHS later confirmed on X that the NYPD had made five arrests.
As law enforcement officials attempted to crack down on protests, the MAGA media machine was in high gear, with multiple members of the Trump administration and other pro-Trump lawmakers making appearances on Fox News to condemn the protestors, and senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller taking to X to share his thoughts.
Speaking to Fox News’ Kevin Corke, DHS official Tricia McLaughlin said that far from protesting, Americans should be thanking ICE agents “every single day” for “waking up and mak[ing] sure our communities are safer.” She also accused senior Democratic Party members, including House minority leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, of demonizing America’s ICE agents. On Tuesday, Jeffries said he wanted to see every ICE agent who has engaged in “aggressive overreach” be unmasked.
McLaughlin’s comments echo the rhetoric used by ICE acting director Todd M. Lyons who, in a video posted to social media earlier this week, chastized Democrats for “mak[ing] up talking points that get activists riled up.”
Senior Trump official Stephen Miller, meanwhile, has been tweeting up a storm, condemning protestors for participating in what he deemed “an insurrection against the laws and sovereignty of the United States.”
Doubling down, he responded to footage of protestors attempting to stop an ICE bus with the message, “Deport the invaders, or surrender to insurrection. These are the choices.”
FBI deputy director Dan Bongino also posted to X on Saturday afternoon, urging a protestor who was recorded throwing rocks at law enforcement vehicles to turn themselves in. Miller reposted footage of a different Customs and Border Protection vehicle being pelted with rocks, adding the caption, “This is a violent insurrection.”
Vice President J.D. Vance also weighed in, offering advice to protestors in a tweet: “For the far left rioters, some helpful advice; peaceful protest is good. Rioting and obstructing justice is not.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) borrowed from Miller’s vocabulary, tweeting late Saturday night, “Thank you for defending ICE and federal law enforcement as they arrest and remove people breaking our laws. End the insurrection in LA!!!”
Making the Trump administration party line clear, Attorney General Pam Bondi tweeted on Saturday evening, “It doesn’t matter if you’re a judge, a member of Congress, or a protestor in Los Angeles: If you obstruct or assault a law enforcement officer, this Department of Justice will prosecute you.”
