Author name: moderat ereport

A community’s rapid response to a heavily militarized raid targeting undocumented immigrants in Los Angeles’ diverse MacArthur Park neighborhood helped stave off authorities. By George B. Sánchez-Tello for Capital & Main Los Angeles’ MacArthur Park was strangely desolate on a summery Monday morning until the ground began to rumble. Then, the convoy arrived: The eight-wheel diesel-powered U.S. Army tactical trucks, Humvees and armored vehicles — with roof hatches. They accompanied white, unmarked passenger vans and black SUVs, not to mention a large trailer containing numerous horses. Federal agents use an armored truck to block off Wilshire Boulevard and Alvarado Street, the eastern road through MacArthur Park. The Humvees blocked traffic on Wilshire Boulevard, which bisects the 35-acre park at the heart of this densely populated and famously Central American neighborhood west of Downtown Los Angeles, leaving diesel exhaust in their wake. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had arrived, along with its support, including U.S. Border Patrol agents on horseback. Those agents wore black padded armor, helmets and, beneath them, masks that made them virtually unidentifiable. Dozens of other masked agents, dressed in camouflage and tactical vests and heavily armed, emerged from armored cars and unmarked vans. Their faces too were hidden — beneath reflective glasses, military-style helmets and more masks. (Their U.S. Border Patrol patches were visible on their uniforms.) A black Department of Homeland Security helicopter circled overhead.   Meanwhile, the normal daily life of MacArthur Park had come to a halt. There were no children hanging from its jungle gyms, swinging from its bars or just running around on the playground. The parents who typically lounge about on the nearby benches, keeping an eye on their children, were gone, as though by some magic spell. The ambulant vendors who sell candy, fruit, juices, soft drinks and cheap plastic toys were nowhere to be seen. No one kicked a soccer ball. Border Patrol agents atop horses equipped with protective armor march across an empty soccer pitch in MacArthur Park. Other typical sounds of the park, like people speaking Spanish or the ancient Quiché Maya indigenous language from Central America, were gone. There was no music — no cumbias, merengue and reggaeton blasting from visitors’ handheld speakers — and no evangelical preachers quoting Bible verse to warn listeners of the End of Days on mobile speakers. The previous day, warnings appeared — single sheets of paper taped to light poles, trees and fences around the park — warning locals to stay away. They cited rumors of possible ICE raids at MacArthur Park. Word also spread on Instagram, as well as other social media apps such as Signal, Telegram and WhatsApp. A federal agent looks at a flyer taped to an electric box warning residents of rumored ICE raids that morning at MacArthur Park. Ad hoc community defense groups that have formed in recent weeks to protect locals and document raids in many parts of Los Angeles played a substantial role in spreading the warnings in online discussion threads. Such efforts succeeded in essentially emptying the vast park of its habitual patrons. So, when the agents on horseback and others swept through the park, they encountered little more than empty playgrounds, fields and benches. The agents, for the most part, advanced quickly. But the area wasn’t empty. Local Spanish-language television crews were ready to broadcast from their branded vans. Photographers representing the New York Times, the Associated Press, Agencia Press, the Los Angeles Times and other news organizations were present near the park’s amphitheater and beyond. Dozens of anti-ICE rapid response team organizers, as well as legal observers in bright yellow t-shirts, stayed close, some speaking into megaphones to tell residents to stay away. One man rolled a mobile P.A. system that played a pre-recorded message in English and Spanish laying out people’s rights — to remain silent; to speak to an attorney; to ask for a signed warrant; and to not sign documents. The cacophony of their announcements drew people out of surrounding businesses, medical offices and apartments, even as more reporters arrived to document the scale of the “raid,” as well as its lack of any apparent success in detaining people without papers. A federal agent wears a keffiyeh, a traditional Palestinian scarf. By the time agents walked from the west end of the park to the eastern edge, the rapid response teams and people in the neighborhood — collectively numbering in the hundreds — began to surround the agents and their cars, in some cases cutting them off from their own route out of the area. Some yelled, “ICE out of L.A!” Many recorded the confrontation on their phones, live streaming it onto Instagram and other social media platforms. Related | Trained volunteers patrol LA streets as ICE raids intensify On the northeastern corner of the park, beyond the intersection of Sixth and Alvarado, a pair of dark SUVs attempted to drive into a traffic blockage where federal agents had shut down the intersection. The window of one of the vehicles, which had police sirens blaring, rolled down, revealing the head of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who peered out. Recognizing their mayor, people moved toward the vehicle, yelling at her to protect the city — before the vehicles made their way through traffic and onto Wilshire Boulevard. In a subsequent news conference, Mayor Bass described the Customs and Border Protection action at MacArthur Park as “outrageous and un-American.” Federal agents gather on Wilshire Boulevard, empty of traffic because of federal vehicles blocking the road. Soon after, the mounted officers retreated back to the horse trailers, and the armed agents returned to their vehicles. A separate group of people followed armed agents back to another collection of parked vehicles. Agents gathered around a black armored car with a decal of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A gold stencil on the vehicle read “Special Response Team Police Rescue.” Atop the vehicle was a tripod-mounted rifle. Below, a rifleman peaked out of the roof hatch, looking east through the gun’s scope while aiming his weapon. An agent in

PoliticusUSA will provide independent news, thanks to the support of readers like you. Please consider supporting our work by becoming a subscriber. Subscribe now Those who attribute any sort of rational calculation or sane motive to Donald Trump’s words and actions are trying to rationalize the irrational. In simple terms, Trump is an impulsive bully who tries to hide his weaknesses by projecting strength through threats and intimidation. As Donald Trump ages and declines more, his blustery bag of tricks takes on a twinge of sadness. Preceived old enemies become fodder again, as an aging man can’t let go of his grudges. PoliticusUSA is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Such is the case when Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship. She is a Threat to Humanity, and should remain in the wonderful Country of Ireland, if they want her. GOD BLESS AMERICA!” Trump is living all of his fantasies of power and dreams that he gets to decide what is best for America. The president’s mindset and impulse are fundamentally undemocratic. Donald Trump’s mindset is also an impossible fantasy. The secret of Donald Trump’s success isn’t that he is a visionary, strategist, or a master at pulling the levers of government to get things done. Trump’s only skill is that he has been able to sell the fantasy in his head to enough Americans to get elected president twice. The problem is that after he takes office, fantasy meets reality, and the American people get stuck with a person in charge of the federal government who is living in a dreamland that only exists in his mind. Donald Trump can’t take Rosie O’Donnell’s citizenship away. Trump can’t change election law with an executive order, or bring peace to Ukraine in 24 hours. Trump can’t lower prices or magically deport 20 million people. It’s all a fantasy. The reality of the current right-wing Republican run federal government is much more brutal for regular people than detached Trump could ever understand. Trump is declining, and when he lashes out at someone like Rosie O’Donnell, it is a sign that the overmatched man is sinking. What do you think about Trump’s threat to take away Rosie O’Donnell’s citizenship? Share your thoughts in the comments below. Leave a comment