LA Misérables

Scott, Alissa, Rachel, and Mike recap an astonishing week as Los Angeles is occupied by the federal government. How the city and state are responding to ongoing ICE raids, the federalization of the National Guard, the handcuffing of Senator Alex Padilla at a Homeland Security press conference, and the deployment of the U.S. Marines on the eve of nationwide protests. The Guardian: “‘Kidnapped’: families and lawyers desperate to contact LA workers arrested in Ice raids” LA Times: “What really happened outside the Paramount Home Depot?” "What happened to me is not about me; This is about something much bigger.” SEIU California president David Huerta was freed from federal detainment after thousands rallied for his release in Grand Park This is a must-watch: In her remarks to LA’s City Council, Angelica Salas, CHIRLA’s executive director, provides more details of the raids, describes how the rapid response network is activated, and explains how difficult it has been to track detainees “You’re asking me to warn you about an enforcement action being taken by another agency before it happens? We can’t do that,” said LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell as he disagreed with councilmembers on LAPD’s role in cooperating with federal agents “If we know someone is coming here to do warrantless abductions of the residents of this city, those people are not our partners.” Watch this statement from LA City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson Tech reporter Brian Merchant on the weaponization of Waymo at his newsletter Blood in the Machine Watch California Governor Gavin Newsom address the ICE raids: “Democracy is under assault” Senator Alex Padilla explains how he was tackled and removed from a press conference in the Westwood federal building Watch an angry LA Mayor Karen Bass and dozens of local leaders proclaim “This is Los Angeles” The Dodgers and many other sports institutions remained silent about the raids Alissa wrote about how the raids are impacting upcoming megaevents, including a Club World Cup tournament happening at the Rose Bowl right now Even former chief Michel Moore agreed that the feds should not bring in the troops How outrage about Glendale holding ICE detainees in its jail led to the termination of the contract by the city State Senator Sasha Renée Pérez on how direct actions are forcing ICE out of hotels in smaller LA County cities Read LA Taco’s on-the-ground reporting After we recorded, the No Kings rallies that took place on Saturday drew tens of thousands of protesters to dozens of LA-area locations and may have been be the biggest protests in U.S. history (yet) Save CHIRLA’s rapid response line to your phone contacts (1-888-624-4752), donate to Ktown for All’s vendor buyouts, volunteer for Polo’s Pantry food distributions, join the LA Tenants Union’s defense centers at Home Depots, get resources and information for your workplace from Day Laborer Network Coming up this week: Mike’s interview with Ami Fields-Meyer on What’s Next, Los Angeles? Become a paid subscriber and keep LA Podcast publishing weekly at thinkforward.la Produced by Sophie Bridges