The summer heats up

The Trump administration wants a fight.

The West Coast will be on fire in more ways than one this summer.

Let’s first acknowledge the cause of the protests—in Los Angeles and elsewhere, ICE has been abducting people from their places of work, from immigration courts directly, generating an environment of fear, of panic, of cold realization that our current federal government is operating under orders based in retribution and hate.

Communities are protesting in response to their treatment in the only way they think they can. Let’s all remember, numerous people have been deported without due process and not to their home countries—to a “no way out” prison in El Salvador and to South Sudan, which might be considered one of the most unstable countries in the world. U.S. citizens have been deported and detained without due process. A U.S. marshal was detained in Arizona just yesterday, because he “fit the general description of a subject being sought by ICE”. And we all know what that means.

No one trusts ICE to follow the law, and the people have no timely recourse against them. These protests are the fault of the Trump administration, full stop.

The protests are angry and fierce. The “riots”? The “riots” do not exist.

The protests in LA died down last night. By 8pm, there was a shopping cart or something on fire in Compton and a whole bunch of people taking pictures of it. For comparison, there were 5 shootings last night in DC… crime was apparently unfazed by the tanks rolling in for Trump’s planned big birthday bash. My point is that the protests in LA were notable, but not out of control of the local law enforcement. And it’s not like the LAPD has a reputation for being soft.

The LAPD issued a statement last night characterizing the protests as peaceful. Both the mayor of LA, Karen Bass, and Governor Gavin Newsom have made it crystal clear that they do not need nor do they want the CA National Guard to interfere. Sec. of Defense Pete Hegseth threatened to call in Marines from Camp Pendleton, an action that Newsom said would be “deranged”. Newsom and CT Senator Chris Murphy accused the Trump administration of taking advantage of the situation to cause further chaos, potentially giving Trump an excuse to declare martial law.

The law enforcement norm is “Posse Comitatus,” which dictates that police forces, not the military, are the appropriate civilian law enforcement. The military is primarily trained in the rules of engagement, while the police are trained in the more restrained use of force. Lawfare provides a good description here. Basically, the risk of escalation and harm to citizens is much higher when the military is deployed against citizens. In a healthy democracy, it is axiomatic that the military does not interfere with civilian affairs, unless the state itself is at risk.

The use of the Insurrection Act to mobilize national guard and federal forces domestically is rare. It is much rarer that the Insurrection Act is used against the wishes of state and local leaders. The last examples were during the civil rights movement, when federal units were mobilized by Eisenhower and Kennedy to enforce desegregation laws and by Johnson to protect civil rights protesters.

This crisis is sharpening less than a week before Trump’s birthday bash, which will feature a highly controversial military parade in DC.

Counter-protests are planned across the US.

The entire west coast was on Trump’s sanctuary jurisdictions list, including the states of CA, OR, and WA as well as the major cities. I say “was,” because the list has been removed from the DHS website. How’s that for transparency?

These events in LA are just the beginning. The City of Seattle is under investigation by the FBI after residents counter-protested an event by anti-gay, anti-trans Christian organizations. The Seattle police only arrested counter-protesters, so I’m not sure why the federal agencies are stepping in.

The PNW has a long history of aggressive protest movements. The Christian protest was held at Cal Anderson park, named for the first openly gay member of the WA state legislature and the heart of the CHAZ/CHOP takeover in 2020. A similar Christian protest has already been scheduled for August, portending more clashes.