The riots that have broken out in Los Angeles in response to crackdowns by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are an example of “mob rule,” and President Donald Trump won’t allow it to stand, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“The most basic duty of government is to preserve law and order and this administration embraces that sacred responsibility,” Leavitt told reporters at a news briefing Wednesday afternoon. “President Trump will never allow mob rule to prevail in America.”
ICE agents were conducting sweeps Friday of businesses and warehouses across L.A. that were believed to employ immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally, arresting undocumented workers, when crowds began to gather in protest. The protests devolved into violent clashes with law enforcement, and the Los Angeles Police Department began declaring unlawful assemblies. On Sunday, about 2,000 National Guardsmen mobilized by the president descended on the city, followed by several hundred Marines on Monday.
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass quickly and publicly condemned the ICE raids, saying they were “[sowing] terror in our communities and [disrupting] basic principles of safety in our city.”
Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom have said the troops were authorized without their consent and the president is abusing his authority by acting independently of the state. Other critics have maintained that the president was too quick to militarize immigration enforcement and that this is another example of improperly heavy-handed governance from the Trump administration.
It was because Newsom and Bass were failing to live up to their basic obligations as city and state leaders to protect their citizens, Leavitt said, that Trump intervened in the way he did.
“They didn’t have the courage to do the right thing, and protect law-abiding Californians from rioters. That’s why President Trump deployed the National Guard and mobilized Marines to end the chaos and restore law and order,” Leavitt said. “They’re attempting to use a violent mob as a weapon against their own constituents to prevent the enforcement of immigration law.”
Leavitt said Trump was merely acting on the “mandate” he received when he was elected by the American people to enforce immigration laws, and hundreds of noncitizens have been arrested thanks to the work of ICE, the LAPD and the troops called to the city.
“Since June 6, there have been 330 illegal aliens that have been arrested as part of these riots in Los Angeles,” Leavitt said.
Leavitt added that 113 of those “had prior criminal convictions, and overall – and this includes arrests of American citizens, there have been 157 people arrested for assault and obstruction, obstruction-related charges, including the attempted murder of a police officer with a Molotov cocktail.”
Leavitt also warned that should similar riots break out in other cities, the administration won’t be thwarted in its immigration crackdown.
“The Trump administration’s operations to arrest illegal aliens are continuing unabated,” Leavitt said.
