If you are just tuning in, wide ranging immigration raids in Los Angeles yesterday faced backlash from dozens of protestors, with police responding with crowd control such as flashbangs and tear gas. A summary and video of the violent arrest of SEIU president David Huerta can be seen here courtesy of Z_Poster365.

Brief clip from AP news showing conflict between cops and the people during the response:

Police and protesters clash outside federal detention center in LA after ICE raids

One thing you can see in this clip is a technique for neutralizing a tear gas grenade at 0:55. A demonstrator puts a traffic cone over the grenade and pours a bottle of water into the top. Several of the police in the shield line are wearing plain-clothes with riot gear over. It’s a bit funny to see them jump and get startled by their own flashbang at 0:23+.

The fear that is clearly visible among even the kitted out troops in these clips shows they were likely not expecting such intense resistance from regular people, or they are untrained chuds that can’t handle the terror that strikes them when the fantasy of crushing dissent becomes reality and the people massively outnumber you. There are completely average looking people, even elderly, throwing objects and screaming at the goons as they back off. The more these clips come out, the more people are becoming incensed. Even on Reddit comments the majority seem to be aligning with the idea that these nazis need to be stopped.

It was interesting to compare the front pages of a couple major news outlets after what was somewhat intense unrest involving a significant number of people. AP News is probably seen as less biased either right or left by most USians, but their right-wing bias is clear when you compare the major headlines with others. Here’s the AP front page when viewed on my PC a minute ago:

Compare to Reuters:

The only full article from AP I could find about the violence had this headline: Federal authorities arrest dozens for immigration violations across Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES (AP) — After federal immigration authorities arrested more than 40 people Friday across Los Angeles, protesters gathered outside a federal detention center demanding their release before police in riot gear tossed tear gas canisters to disperse the crowd.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers executed search warrants at multiple locations, including outside a clothing warehouse where a tense scene unfolded as a crowd tried to block agents from driving away. Sirens blared as protesters surrounded black SUVs and tactical vehicles. Officers threw flash bangs into the street to disperse people as they shouted and filmed the scene with their cell phones. One demonstrator tried to physically stop a vehicle from leaving.

“One demonstrator tried to physically stop a vehicle”, what happened after that? They were partially ran over, as well as a bicycle and nearly it’s rider while the ICE vehicle escaped, that wasn’t relevant information according to AP. I haven’t found any update on their condition, but from what I could tell on the helicopter footage before they quickly cut away they were being helped up by others so it didn’t appear they were severely or gravely injured.

Forty-four people were arrested on immigration violations across multiple locations, said Yasmeen Pitts O’Keefe, a spokesperson for Homeland Security Investigations. The president of SEIU California, a major labor union, was arrested and charged for impeding a federal agent while protesting, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

Can’t bother mentioning a labor leaders name I suppose (David Huerta), or the fact that he was injured and sent to the hospital from the arrest. They don’t mention that the charges will most likely be dropped because he was not actually impeding anyone and was acting as an observer, but I suppose that would be editorializing anyway.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the activity was meant to “sow terror” in the nation’s second-largest city.

The video coverage from Reuters is a decent summary, they even have a close up on the face and visible name of one of the nazis named “Bruner”. The AP videos had no commentary and made sure to obscure the police actions, but had some clear clips of protesters faces and actions. Reuters seemed to avoid filming faces of those protesting, purposely filming from a low angle.

Reuters: Riot police, anti-ICE protesters square off in Los Angeles after raids

LOS ANGELES, June 6 (Reuters) - Helmeted police in riot gear turned out on Friday evening in a tense confrontation with protesters in downtown Los Angeles, after a day of federal immigration raids in which dozens of people across the city were reported to be taken into custody.

Live Reuters video showed Los Angeles Police Department officers lined up on a downtown street wielding batons and what appeared to be tear gas rifles, facing off with demonstrators after authorities had ordered crowds of protesters to disperse around nightfall.

Early in the standoff, some protesters hurled chunks of broken concrete toward officers, and police responded by firing volleys of tear gas and pepper spray. Police also fired “flash-bang” concussion rounds. It was not clear whether there were any immediate arrests.

An LAPD spokesperson, Drake Madison, told Reuters that police on the scene had declared an unlawful assembly, meaning that those who failed to leave the area were subject to arrest. Television news footage earlier in the day showed caravans of unmarked military-style vehicles and vans loaded with uniformed federal agents streaming through Los Angeles streets as part of the immigration enforcement operation.