Who are the people participating in the protests in Los Angeles?

Los Angeles: To demand justice for the scores of migrants imprisoned by armed ICE officers in armored trucks who targeted jobsites in the city’s mostly Latino neighborhoods, Estrellazul Corral participated in demonstrations outside the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center every day this weekend.

According to Corral, a social worker who works with the city’s homeless and illegal population, the National Guard started to retaliate after hours of nonviolent protests.

She said, “We were following their instructions when they threw tear gas at us.” After that, everyone became quite irate and indignant. And I believe that’s when things start to get out of hand.

CNN journalists recorded the protesters’ descent into violence as the sun set on Sunday night. Self-driving vehicles were set on fire by some demonstrators. After protesters halted traffic, several threw rocks at police officers taking cover behind a highway bridge. On a federal building in the downtown area, others sprayed anti-law enforcement slogans. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, at least 21 persons were taken into custody on Sunday.

The Trump administration’s tough stance on illegal immigration is consistent with the raids. However, the first time a US president has used such authority since 1992, when riots broke out after the White officers who beat Black motorist Rodney King were found not guilty, President Trump’s decision to federalize and use the National Guard against American citizens sparked an immediate backlash that eventually turned violent.

In fact, the demonstrations seemed to be split into two factions: those who were committed to bringing the city into violent disorder and others who were progressive and felt compelled to protect the rights of those without documentation.

Protecting “La Raza”

The actions to retaliate against ICE and other agencies were commended by Unión del Barrio, an organization whose members are committed to protecting the rights of “la” raza”—Mexican and indigenous people — in the United States.

In a social media message, the group’s spokesperson said that the people of Los Angeles had “the moral authority and universal right to defend our people from kidnappings and family separation.”

The spokesperson said that the recent events were acts of resistance against a regime that was abducting our dads, mothers, wives, husbands, and children rather than crimes or vandalism. “Out of a great sense of justice and love for our families and our people, the people took this action.”

However, a county official called Sunday “likely one of the city’s most volatile nights.”

The head of the Los Angeles Police Department, Jim McDonnell, denounced the brutal assaults on his officers. He also made a contrast between those who incited violence at night and those who demonstrated peacefully throughout the day.

“It’s not the people we see during the day who are legitimately exercising their First Amendment rights to be able to express their feelings about the immigration enforcement issue,” he added, referring to those who are engaging in acts of violence.

According to a senior law enforcement source who spoke to CNN, intelligence analysts have been evaluating the masses who assembled on Sunday night.

They discovered that the recent immigration sweeps and the federal government’s use of National Guard soldiers in Los Angeles served as major motivators for a large number of demonstrators.

However, according to the intelligence source, some demonstrators match the characteristics of so-called “professional rioters,” who actively seek out conflicts with police enforcement.

The impact of violence on populations that are already at risk

Pablo Alvarado, co-executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, started urging demonstrations to safeguard vulnerable immigrant communities around Pasadena after learning that ICE officers were interrogating employees at a hotel in the city.

“The message was clear and loud: we don’t want to see your armored vehicles and men in masks coming to our communities to pick people up and tear families apart.” The Pasadena community turned out in force.

However, Alvarado went on to say that he believed their cause was being tarnished by the violence that broke out in the city as a result of the raids.

“The most vulnerable populations suffer the most whenever there is violence. Low-income areas’ businesses are burnt down every time there is a disturbance, he claimed.

“You’ve seen armored vehicles and ICE agents armed to the teeth come into the neighborhoods, so it’s understandable why people are angry,” he added.

However, Alvarado said that there is no justification for violence, even if he can see why demonstrators are upset. “Without attacking anyone, we can convey the message we wish to convey,” he said.

Families enmeshed in the confusion

The relatives of those arrested in the weekend’s immigration raids called for their loved ones to be freed from ICE custody during a press conference Monday morning, only blocks away from the burned husks of self-driving vehicles and buildings covered in graffiti.

Each of them approached the microphone holding placards with pictures of their family members and demanded that the rights and due process of their loved ones be upheld.

Julian, a young lady, stated that although her whole family was frightened by seeing her father being cuffed and taken away by ICE officers, her crippled 4-year-old brother has been most affected by his incarceration.

Julian claimed her brother hasn’t stopped begging for his father since he was “kidnapped by ICE,” despite his communication difficulties. “We have informed him that he is working,” she said.

However, she noted, it has been much harder to express the facts. “We all know that the city where we live is not a sanctuary city, even though it claims to be.”

Montserrat, another young lady, informed reporters that her father, George Arrazola, was one of the scores of people arrested during the raid on the Fashion District in Los Angeles.

“I was there,” she said. “Like me, I witnessed firsthand the anguish of the families who were screaming, crying, and unsure of what to do,” she added.

She demanded that the designation of Los Angeles as a “sanctuary city” be honored.

“Everyone’s life is valuable, regardless of their origins or how they got to this country,” she said. “We demand justice immediately—the treatment they received is unacceptable.”

Despite being repeatedly kettled and tear gassed by police authorities, Corral said she continued returning because she wanted the individuals in custody to know that someone was there, advocating for them.

As she confronted the line of armed US National Guardsmen on Sunday, Corral said she started to question what was going on in her nation after being exposed to pepper spray for days.

“Those are weapons of war,” somebody yelled. That is not for a circumstance like this, she continued. “Those are weapons to murder people, to kill people in a war zone.” We said, “We’re not going to let them intimidate us,” and we maintained our ground.