LA Riots 2025

[Jimmy Higgins]

Why did the Democrats think the Jan 6 protests were so much worse than these LA riots?

Might have something to do with the fact that the LA riots had nothing to do with destroying American democracy, overturning the results of a free and fair presidential election, and did not assault our Nation's Capitol.
I thought even ignorant right wing morons knew that.

Are these even "riots"? The word keeps being used without appreciation to the context of its meaning.

 

[Spacetime Inhabitant]

If they hate America this much, why don't they just leave?

Same reason you don't just leave when your government does something you disagree with.
Some people protest their government's action. Others, not so much.

But in this case many of the people doing the rioting are not citizens and they are not just protesting in disagreement. They are actually protesting the existence of the US.

Why did the Democrats think the Jan 6 protests were so much worse than these LA riots? At least those people in Washington were not opposed to the US existing as they were simply protesting the validity of a recent election.

If Abraham Lincoln was alive today he would be doing exactly what Trump is doing today. Preserving the union.

The January 6 "protests" were not protests but insurrection; they were trying to overthrow the result of the election so as to make Trump POTUS illegally. People died directly and indirectly as a result of that insurrection, including some police personnel.
Their disagreement with the validity of the election was done through violence, not by legal court action.
Trump is not trying to preserve "the union", but the opposite, destroying it for personal gain.

If they hate America this much, why don't they just leave?

Same reason you don't just leave when your government does something you disagree with.
Some people protest their government's action. Others, not so much.

But in this case many of the people doing the rioting are not citizens and they are not just protesting in disagreement. They are actually protesting the existence of the US.

Why did the Democrats think the Jan 6 protests were so much worse than these LA riots? At least those people in Washington were not opposed to the US existing as they were simply protesting the validity of a recent election.

If Abraham Lincoln was alive today he would be doing exactly what Trump is doing today. Preserving the union.

We don't know the above. Some of the protestors could be US residents furious that their mother or father will be soon deported. They have the legal right to peacefully protest. This is a situation that should be managed by locals. Not a federal government trying to expand its constitutionally limited power.

I agree with you that Trump is exceedingly incompetent at times.

But he can not just sit back and allow a state that is already disobeying the spirit of his elected mandate to get out of control. The voters of the US clearly said they want to curtail illegal immigration. And like it or not, California is part of the US now and not Mexico. It is the responsibility of the POTUS to ensure that remains the case going forward.

The fact that the local politicians refuse to do anything about this should tell you something important. It tells you that the local community is already highly sympathetic to Mexico and would like California to become part of that country instead of the US.

Have you ever heard of states rights? It is supposed to be a fundamental part of the US, but Trump is overriding this foundation.
You are fantasizing about what Californians believe; conjecture without evidence.
Without Trump's provocative intervention there would probably have been non-violent protesting. Protesting is supposed to be a right in the USA, but again Trump violates people's rights, and turns a peaceful situation into riots.

 

[Elixir]

Why did the Democrats think the Jan 6 protests were so much worse than these LA riots?

Might have something to do with the fact that the LA riots had nothing to do with destroying American democracy, overturning the results of a free and fair presidential election, and did not assault our Nation's Capitol.
I thought even ignorant right wing morons knew that.

Are these even "riots"? The word keeps being used without appreciation to the context of its meaning.

Yeah - these are "riots", as much as J6 was "a peaceful non-violent protest" that just happened to injure 140 Capitol Police Officers, killing a few of them. How many police are dead or injured in LA today due to these supposed "riots"?

 

[TV and credit cards]

If they hate America this much, why don't they just leave?

Same reason you don't just leave when your government does something you disagree with.
Some people protest their government's action. Others, not so much.

But in this case many of the people doing the rioting are not citizens and they are not just protesting in disagreement. They are actually protesting the existence of the US.

Why did the Democrats think the Jan 6 protests were so much worse than these LA riots? At least those people in Washington were not opposed to the US existing as they were simply protesting the validity of a recent election.

If Abraham Lincoln was alive today he would be doing exactly what Trump is doing today. Preserving the union.

Come on. You're shoehorning events to fit your narrative. The insurrection at the capitol was at the behest of Trump and had nothing to do with the validity of the election as all claims were dismissed by the courts. People still not willing to accept this prior to Jan 6 had no justification whatsoever for their actions. Once the courts ruled, that's it. It's over.
People opposing the deportation of those in the country illegally had longstanding government inaction at the federal level to support their position. The federal government permitted these people to stay here and make a life for themselves. My opinion is it is morally reprehensible to uproot these people after such an extended period.
Where you get this "opposed to the US existing" is beyond me. Is this drawn from people waving the Mexican flag? Should I not fly the Ukrainian flag?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

If they hate America this much, why don't they just leave?

Same reason you don't just leave when your government does something you disagree with.
Some people protest their government's action. Others, not so much.

But in this case many of the people doing the rioting are not citizens and they are not just protesting in disagreement. They are actually protesting the existence of the US.

Why did the Democrats think the Jan 6 protests were so much worse than these LA riots? At least those people in Washington were not opposed to the US existing as they were simply protesting the validity of a recent election.

If Abraham Lincoln was alive today he would be doing exactly what Trump is doing today. Preserving the union.

Come on. You're shoehorning events to fit your narrative. The insurrection at the capitol was at the behest of Trump and had nothing to do with the validity of the election as all claims were dismissed by the courts.

NO! EXPLICITLY NO!

This is important... Trump took ZERO cases regarding election fraud to the courts. So it wasn't even tried, because he couldn't find a lawyer dumb enough to try it. Most of the cases by Trump's lawyers were about technicalities on post dates, receiving dates, how many feet a person could be to a counter.

Trump raised hundreds of millions to stop the steal... and didn't take a single fraud case to court.

 

[laughing dog]

By literally invading the halls of Congress with the stated intention of hanging Mike Pence, and killing some members of Congress,. I think it is hard to take seriously the observation that was simply some peaceful protest.

That is certainly not what all of them thought or wanted.


A good argument can be made that Jan 6 was more peaceful than whats in LA right now. AFAIK, no cars were burned and no one threw bricks in Washington.

That's right, focus on the level of property damage, not the intent to murder or overthrow the government.

 

[laughing dog]

Shouldn't this thread be merged with the thread entitled California doing California Things?

 

[EricH]

This time, the riots are pro illegal immigration.

That is not true. The protests are pro rule-of-law more than anything else. A lot of people are outraged that the Government is conducting warrantless searches and seizures, invading private homes and businesses and arresting people without warrants signed by a judge. Every person on US soil is protected by the Bill of RIghts whether they possess the right paperwork or not.

 

[laughing dog]

This time, the riots are pro illegal immigration.

That is not true. The protests are pro rule-of-law more than anything else. A lot of people are outraged that the Government is conducting warrantless searches and seizures, invading private homes and businesses and arresting people without warrants signed by a judge. Every person on US soil is protected by the Bill of RIghts whether they possess the right paperwork or not.

Not to mention, invading the wrong facilities and arresting the wrong people.

 

[bilby]

Cars set on fire or had rocks dropped on them. And not just police vehicles, but Waymo vehicles as well. Stores are also getting looted.
Foreign flags are being waved, while US flags are being burned by the rioters.

This makes it known which country ICE should deport them to.

Presuming the people protesting with flags aren't citizens.

Well, they aren't. Doesn't the Bill of Rights make clear that free expression of views that are (or can be construed to be) unpatriotic, is punishable by deportation without trial to El Salvadorean jails?

It's in the small print of the First Amendment. Speaking out against the government is unAmerican.

Probably.

 

[bilby]

LA is not under threat of Mexican annexation. So I have no clue what you are talking about.

They are all carrying the Mexican flag and burning the US flag. This is pretty basic stuff actually.

All of them??

Are you sure?

 

[bilby]

Where you get this "opposed to the US existing" is beyond me. Is this drawn from people waving the Mexican flag? Should I not fly the Ukrainian flag?

Not if your apartment building has any high windows, comrade.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

60 days of Marine presence in LA -> $134 million.

The Trump administration’s military response to unrest in Los Angeles is expected to cost $134 million for 60 days of operations, a senior Pentagon official told lawmakers on Tuesday.

The estimate includes food, transportation, housing and other associated costs, said Bryn Woollacott MacDonnell, who testified before the House Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on defense alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The money is expected to come out of operations and maintenance accounts, funds that can be used to pay for a variety of things, including military training.

 

[EricH]

Foreign flags are being waved, while US flags are being burned by the rioters.

To which I say:

First Amendment​

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Burning a flag or even waving a flag of another nation as part of a peaceful protest almost certainly qualifies as protected speech. As is the right to assemble in traditional public forums like public streets and petition the government to redress grievances. There is a lot of case law from the US Districts and SCOTUS supporting this idea. You have a right to be upset that your delicate sensibilities are offended by people protesting in such a manner, but your feelings do not trump the Constitution.

Perhaps you should take a moment to reflect on WHY people are doing these things instead of clutching at your pearls after viewing some pictures on social media.

 

[southernhybrid]

No surprise that the idiots who are part of the Trump administration or Trump supporters are spreading false information like crazy. Please read the article as it has lots of good information about the disinformation. Like, did you all know that Obama has a secret plot to turn the country into socialism or that poor old George Soros is behind these demonstrations. Who they gonna blame when George dies? So, I had to gift my first article for the month and you don't even need to sign up for anything to read it.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/10/...e_code=1.N08.3dce.otcHYHHZEq24&smid=url-share

Misleading photographs, videos and text have spread widely on social media as protests against immigrant raids have unfolded in Los Angeles, rehashing old conspiracy theories and expressing support for President Trump’s actions.

The flood of falsehoods online appeared intended to stoke outrage toward immigrants and political leaders, principally Democrats.

They also added to the confusion over what exactly was happening on the streets, which was portrayed in digital and social media through starkly divergent ideological lenses. Many posts created the false impression that the entire city was engulfed in violence, when the clashes were limited to only a small part.

There were numerous scenes of protesters throwing rocks or other objects at law enforcement officers and setting cars ablaze, including a number of self-driving Waymo taxis. At the same time, false images spread to revive old conspiracies that the protests were a planned provocation, not a spontaneous response to the immigration raids.

The latest deployments prompted a new wave of misleading images to spread — some purporting to show Marines and the military service’s weapons in action. One was a still from “Blue Thunder,” a 1983 action-thriller about a conspiracy to deprive residents of Los Angeles of their civil rights. It features a climactic dogfight over the city’s downtown.

James Woods, the actor who has become known for spreading conspiracy theories, used his account on X to rail against the state’s elected officials, especially Mr. Newsom, a Democrat. He also reposted a fabricated quote, attributed to former President Barack Obama, discussing a secret plot to impose socialism on the country, as well as a video of burning police cars that was from 2020.

An innocuous photograph of a pallet of bricks, actually posted on the website of a building materials wholesaler in Malaysia, was cited as proof that the protests were organized by nonprofit organizations supported by George Soros, the financier who, to the feverishly conspiratorial right, has become a mastermind of global disorder.

Disinformation in situations like these spreads so quickly and widely that efforts to verify facts cannot keep up, said Nora Benavidez, senior counsel at Free Press, an advocacy organization that studies the intersection of media, technology and the law. She described it as part of “a much longer effort to delegitimize peaceful resistance movements.”

“Information warfare is always a symptom of conflict, stoked often by those in power to fuel their own illiberal goals,” she said. “It confuses audiences, scares people who might otherwise have empathy for the cause and divides us when we need solidarity most.”

Ok. I copied some of the most important part of the article but the facts are that these protests have been mostly peaceful while the right wing jerks are spreading lots of lies and disinformation to make them look violent. Sort of like what they did during the BLM protests which were also mostly peaceful with some exceptions.

 

[Derec]

Are these even "riots"? The word keeps being used without appreciation to the context of its meaning.

Why would they not be? You have rioters set cars on fire, both police and Weymo taxis, you have them drop rocks and scooters off an overpass at police vehicles, you have them vandalize and loot stores.

How would you describe it? It certainly isn't a "peaceful protest".

 

[Derec]

Foreign flags are being waved, while US flags are being burned by the rioters.

To which I say:

First Amendment​

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Burning a flag or even waving a flag of another nation as part of a peaceful protest almost certainly qualifies as protected speech.

First of all, this isn't a "peaceful protest". Peaceful protests do not involve arson.

Second, I never said that waving a foreign flag or burning a flag (that belongs to you) is in itself a criminal act. But, as you say, it qualifies as protected speech. Emphasis on speech. If it is speech, it is saying something. And what this is saying is "We hate America and support Mexico instead". And that is not exactly a message that will lead most Americans to support these people, or lead them to question Trump, esp. when it is combined with violence.
Note also that writing "Death to Amerikka[sic]" on the side of a building is vandalism, and not protected by the First Amendment. Though it still sends a loud and clear message about these creeps.
I am convinced that the #BLM riots of mid-2010s played a role in getting Trump elected in the first place. For example, the Charlotte Riots which broke out when an armed thug was shot by police happened mere weeks before the 2016 election.

but your feelings do not trump the Constitution.

Who said that they do? But burning cars and other shit these people are pulling is definitely not protected by the Constitution.

Perhaps you should take a moment to reflect on WHY people are doing these things instead of clutching at your pearls after viewing some pictures on social media.

It is pretty clear why they are doing it: they support illegal immigration. Many, if not most, of the rioters are probably illegals themselves.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Are these even "riots"? The word keeps being used without appreciation to the context of its meaning.

Why would they not be? You have rioters set cars on fire, both police and Weymo taxis, you have them drop rocks and scooters off an overpass at police vehicles, you have them vandalize and loot stores.

How would you describe it? It certainly isn't a "peaceful protest".

I'm not minimizing the damage and violence, nor condoning it. But is dropping rocks and scooters from an overpass (as in one) a riot? Is burning a few vehicles a riot? There is vandalism, but riots are about widespread destruction. Minneapolis most recently or in LA after the King verdict, those were riots.

 

[Derec]

That is not true. The protests are pro rule-of-law more than anything else.

Nothing says "we support the rule of law" than wanton lawlessness.

A lot of people are outraged that the Government is conducting warrantless searches and seizures, invading private homes and businesses and arresting people without warrants signed by a judge. Every person on US soil is protected by the Bill of RIghts whether they possess the right paperwork or not.

So sue the government. Not this:

 

[Derec]

I'm not minimizing the damage and violence, nor condoning it. But is dropping rocks and scooters from an overpass (as in one) a riot?

Several police vehicles were damaged in the overpass incident. And I saw sveral scooters that were thrown, in addition to rocks and incindiary devices.
In any case, it's violence.

Is burning a few vehicles a riot? There is vandalism, but riots are about widespread destruction. Minneapolis most recently or in LA after the King verdict, those were riots.

What word would you use instead? And note that the Left minimized the 2020 violence as well, and called those riots "peaceful protests". And the armed occupation of Seattle's Capitol Hill was described as "Summer of Love" by the lefty ex mayor.