06/09/25 (Special Episode)

Good morning! It’s Monday, June 9th.

This is a special episode.

There is another episode in the feed with the normal news, but this one is all about what’s happening right now in Los Angeles.

And now, the special episode.

Los Angeles

-via AP News, BBC, CBS News, CNN, The Guardian, NY Times, LA City, Politico, and The Independent

With more than 3.8 million people, it is the most populous city in the country.

It is the county of Los Angeles. It is also the city of Los Angeles, with 573 neighborhoods, including 88 established cities and 187 unincorporated areas.

Before it was any of that, it was first inhabited by the indigenous Tongva people.

It was later claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542.

It was officially founded on September 4, 1781, under Spanish governor Felipe de Neve and became part of the First Mexican Empire in 1821 after the Mexican War of Independence.

Along with the rest of California, LA was purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War. And that is when it became a part of America.

1848.

The border moved.

Los Angeles didn’t move. The border did.

In 1979, with the institution of Special Order 40, the LAPD began, and has maintained, a policy of not arresting people based on their immigration status. They do not take action to determine someone’s immigration status. Additionally, they do not work with ICE to enforce civil immigration law.

In 2017, former Mayor Garcetti issued Executive Directive 20, banning city resources from being used for immigration enforcement and prohibiting ICE agents from getting access to city facilities.

We were officially declared a city of sanctuary at that time, but seeing that more formal municipal laws were needed, in 2024 the LA City Council unanimously voted to make LA an official sanctuary city. Meaning in addition to all of that, absolutely no city resources, including property or personnel, can be used for any immigration enforcement.

There are more than 1.35 million immigrants in Los Angeles. More than 34% of the entire city.

There is no way to know this city. To exist in this city. To respect this city. There is no way to love this city, without loving that 34%.

And before I go on, let’s talk about what we’re talking about. Let’s be clear. That 34% encompasses a large range of countries. But the largest percentage is from Mexico. (So then – are they immigrants? Because again… the border moved.)

But by and large, these are people immigrating from Mexico. To a place called Los Angeles.

We are a sanctuary city. And the reason that is so important to us, the reason we have taken steps towards that title since 1979 is because there is no Los Angeles without everybody. And that includes our immigrants.

Citizens and non-citizens alike.

And here’s the thing. You don’t have to agree with the way we run our city. That’s our business. Just as every other city and county and state – we elected our leaders. Our leaders turned us into a sanctuary city. This is how we want to run our city.

This is family business.

In 2024, Los Angeles voted 64.8% for Kamala Harris. If I had to guess, one of those reasons was probably because Donald Trump ran on a horrific anti-immigration policy.

Overwhelmingly, we do not want that in Los Angeles.

He wants to deport a million people a year. He’s behind on that goal.

So, he sent ICE agents to LA.

It started on Friday, with three immigration raids, leading to a large protest downtown at the Federal Building. Homeland Security officers fired pepper spray at protestors before LAPD stepped in to break up the crowd.

100 people were arrested, yes, but that’s like – hey, on the paddwagon and then get on outta here.

This was a peaceful protest that, by all accounts, was escalated by Homeland Security’s frustration that protestors were, you know… protesting.

One of the people who was arrested while protesting at an immigration raid at a downtown work site, and is still, as of this recording, under arrest, is David Huerta, the president of the Service Employees International Union of California. You may know the union as just SEIU.

He was knocked down and sent to the hospital. Upon release from the hospital, he was arrested for blocking a law enforcement car – he has not been released.

On Saturday, there were rumors that ICE agents were going to a Home Depot in Paramount, which is a small city south of downtown. Protestors headed there, and there were several clashes between protestors and law enforcement. It became the start of pretty high tensions.

And let’s be super clear about what happened next.

LAPD had it under control.

LAPD is famously overmilitarized. The city council literally calls the equipment they have “military” equipment. We have the third-largest police department in the country.

We had it under control!

Without being asked, while on his way to a UFC fight in New Jersey, Trump authorized 2,000 National Guard troops to be sent to Los Angeles.

Our Governor and mayor both said no.

Trump said he was doing it to stop the looters and rioters.

Can’t stop what you don’t have… There were no riots. There was no looting.

But you can’t trust anything he says. On Saturday, he also thanked the National Guard for quelling the chaos in Los Angeles… the National Guard hadn’t even gotten to Los Angeles yet. So what on earth was he talking about?

The National Guard got to LA Sunday morning.

You’ll be shocked to hear they didn’t have much to do because again… these are protests. Not riots.

Protests have spread around downtown. They’ve been largely peaceful. The 101 was shutdown for about 90 minutes. Tear gas was shot into the crowd to try and disperse the crowd. But again… protests not riots.

It’s important to note that I’m recording this while the sun is out. Things change when the sun goes down, and we don’t know what tomorrow will look like.

On Saturday, Pete Hegseth said there are 500 Marines ready to be deployed if the unrest, his words, continues.

Sunday afternoon, Trump posted “I am directing Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and Attorney General Pam Bondi, in coordination with all other relevant Departments and Agencies, to take all such action necessary to liberate Los Angeles from the Migrant Invasion and put an end to these Migrant riots.”

It sounds like California will file a suit against Trump’s national guard deployment tomorrow.

Although Governors are almost always in charge of when the National Guard comes into their state, Trump signed this order Title 10 of the U.S. Code on Armed Services, which allows the National Guard to be deployed “there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.”

I don’t know what that means, but it certainly feels like the language and actions of someone who would like this to escalate. He literally said, “I have a little statement: they spit, we hit. If that happens, they get hit very hard.”

Five months ago, the country watched and praised us for coming together while our city burned. So please do not be surprised that we’re doing it again.

We do not want these federal troops to be here. We are not asking for the federal government’s help. This is a dangerous situation, and it’s one that the Trump administration has manufactured and escalated. Putting this city, and all of us in it, in very real danger.

In a city that never asked for any of this.

We are a sanctuary city.

The border moved.

And that’s it. That’s the news.

This is a rapidly developing story. I’ll keep you updated in daily episodes, but I’d recommend trying to keep up with this throughout the day as much as you can.

Hey, you know something… I’m proud of you.