Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) warned on Tuesday that those vandalizing federal property and looting stores in downtown Los Angeles amid the ongoing protests against the Trump administration’s immigration raids will be “held accountable.”
“Let me be clear: ANYONE who vandalized Downtown or looted stores does not care about our immigrant communities,” Bass said in a Tuesday morning post on social media platform X. “You will be held accountable.”
President Trump and his allies have criticized Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) for their response to the protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids.
Trump’s administration has approved the deployment of 4,000 National Guard troops, with Trump making the case that the mobilization is needed to address the chaos and violence, with demonstrators clashing with law enforcement.
Some protesters have set cars on fire and vandalized federal property. The Pentagon has deployed some 700 Marines to Los Angeles to assist in protecting federal buildings.
Bass on Monday criticized Trump’s actions in light of the protests that have intensified over the weekend.
“Trump didn’t inherit a crisis — he created one,” Bass wrote Monday on X. “To those stoking the fire of lawlessness and chaos alongside him — LA will hold you accountable.”
The Los Angeles mayor then said Friday night that she told the administration that sending the National Guard was not needed and that the Los Angeles Police Department could have taken care of the violence that broke out.
“But we did not need this to happen. This was a solution in search of a problem. And – and it has left the city in fear,” Bass said during her Monday night appearance on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show.”
Newsom argued that Trump’s deployment of troops to the City of Angels is a warning to other states.
“To preview things to come. It’s a coming attraction,” Newsom said Monday night while on “Pod Save America.” “I mean you, I’m sure you guys have been saying it. This is what he did to create the conditions that led to the insurrection on January 6th.”
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