Category: blaze media

The twin daughters of a top Los Angeles Democrat were arrested for allegedly assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon during the ICE riots in California, according to numerous reports.

As of Tuesday, at least 378 people have been arrested in connection with the Los Angeles ICE protests and riots, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Included in those arrested on Sunday were 26-year-old twins Lucia Aguilar, who goes by Luz, and Antonia Aguilar.

‘The allegations are deeply concerning, and I take them very seriously.’

The Daily Mail and New York Post reported that the twin daughters are suspected of assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon. It was not certain what the two women reportedly used as a deadly weapon.

According to jail records, both women were held on $50,000 bail before being released on Monday afternoon.

Blaze News reached out to the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

Both women are scheduled to appear in court on June 30.

The two arrested suspects are the twin daughters of Rick Cole — a Democrat Pasadena City Councilmember and the former mayor of Pasadena. The Los Angeles Times noted that Rick Cole is also “a high-level aide to L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia.”

“I’ve just seen pictures of my two daughters on a curb in downtown Los Angeles in handcuffs [with] the LAPD. So I’m going to be figuring out where they are so I can go bail them out,” Cole said, according to a video recorded during an anti-ICE demonstration in Pasadena on Monday.

Cole claimed that the anti-ICE protests are “personal to me” and that he would protect illegal immigrants in Pasadena. He urged rallygoers to “organize” and “mobilize thousands” to “protect our neighbors.”

RELATED: 7 shocking players behind the anti-ICE chaos

Rick Cole – Photo by Carlos Chavez/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

According to the official website of the city of Los Angeles, Luz Aguilar serves as the deputy for economic innovation and community growth for Los Angeles City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Luz Aguilar was placed on unpaid leave after being arrested for allegedly assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon.

“The allegations are deeply concerning, and I take them very seriously,” Jurado said in a statement. “While I respect the individual’s right to due process, I hold my team to the highest standards of conduct.”

Jurado’s spokesperson, Lisa Marroquin, said the arrest is a “developing situation,” and “appropriate action” will be taken following an investigation.

Jurado was previously steeped in controversy when she made anti-police comments.

In audio that was leaked in October 2024, Jurado is seemingly heard making a reference to the 1988 N.W.A. song, “F**k tha Police.”

“What’s the rap verse? ‘F**k the police,’ that’s how I see ’em.”

Jurado attempted to walk back the anti-police rhetoric.

“In a meeting with students at Cal State L.A., I quoted a lyric from a song that’s been part of a larger conversation on systemic injustice and police accountability for decades,” Jurado said. “But it was just a lyric — and I’m proud to be accessible to young people and students, listening to their concerns and treating them like the future leaders they are.”

RELATED: Glenn Beck reveals the TRUTH behind LA’s ‘Mad Max’ riots and media cover-up

Cole’s boss, Kenneth Mejia, questioned whether the LAPD is assisting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in any way.

“LAPD’s presence raises serious questions about whether we are abiding by our City’s mandate as a Sanctuary City and is a cause for concern and confusion regarding LAPD’s role,” Mejia said in a statement on Saturday.

Police Chief Jim McDonnell declared that the LAPD is not involved in “civil immigration enforcement” and “will not assist or participate in any sort of mass deportations nor will the LAPD try to determine an individual’s immigration status.”

As Blaze News previously reported, President Donald Trump ordered the National Guard to quell the violence erupting in Los Angeles over federal immigration raids on illegal aliens.

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After months of intraparty sniping, heterodox podcast appearances, and executive vetoes, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) bent the knee and kissed the ring. His yearlong rebellion is over, the left won back its first serious presidential candidate, and the Democratic Party’s moderating forces seem to be losing.

Republicans are laughing all the way to the polls.

The ghost of Chris Christie’s political future hangs over any partisan crisis interactions, and the White House seriously narrowed the tightrope Newsom could walk.

Newsom has been trying to put some distance between his long, public past and his ambitious future for well over a year now. Even before November’s presidential election, he knew which way the wind was blowing.

For example, in October 2023, he vetoed a radical transgender kids bill. This year, he began appearing with conservative podcasters, including Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon, and said that men should not be competing in women’s sports — breaking with current Democratic Party dogma.

Few of his fellow party members came to his defense. Gay activist groups and prominent Democratic politicians (and presidential candidates) like Govs. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Tim Walz of Minnesota loudly criticized Newsom for pitting his ambitions against “the most vulnerable,” while his supporters quietly whispered to reporters on background that he’s right and they agree. Their relative silence makes it tough to tell how the broader Democratic Party actually took this messaging. But when one side silently watches its champions get torn up and the other vocally tears them down, it’s easy to tell who’s in charge – and it isn’t the voices of moderation.

Newsom wasn’t the only Democrat flirting with apostasy, but he was by far the most visible. Rahm Emanuel, the former Chicago mayor and Obama consigliere, has long warned against the party’s progressive excesses. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, another supposed moderate, stayed silent through the whole mess — a luxury afforded to those safely on the sidelines.

Newsom, by contrast, walked straight into the transgender minefield. As governor of the nation’s largest state and the Democrats’ most visible rising star, he faced more high-stakes tests — and more chances to lead — than any of his peers. The California wildfires gave him a golden opportunity: Cut through Los Angeles red tape, expose local mismanagement, and fast-track rebuilding to score a win.

He blew it. As of last week, Altadena, which lost hundreds of homes in January, had issued just 15 rebuilding permits. So much for seizing the moment.

Then came the riot’s fires. Again, Newsom had every opportunity to lead. He could have cracked down on the violent street crime from the outset, ordered California law enforcement to protect federal officers, and restored order — even while criticizing the president. Instead, he logged on and sided with the rioters.

Some of that posturing likely came under pressure from the White House, which refused to let Los Angeles — or California — off the hook. After state officials declined to back federal agents, President Trump took control. He denied Newsom authority over the National Guard, deployed U.S. Marines to bolster federal presence, and threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to restore law and order by force.

For years, Trump has trumpeted an invasion of military-age foreign men, while people like Newsom and L.A.’s deeply unserious mayor called him a racist and a tyrant. There’s little more embarrassing for California Democrats than the imagery of masked men waving foreign flags in front of looted shops and burning vehicles.

It all put Newsom in a terrible bind. Los Angeles has long been a haven for illegal gangs, and California remains prime territory for cartel activity. His reckoning arrived — and Trump made sure the spotlight stayed on him. The ghost of Chris Christie loomed large: a cautionary tale of what happens when partisan posturing meets real crisis. Even with the LAPD showing up in force Tuesday night, the damage is done.

Flipping off the cameras for the first couple of days while your state’s largest city burns is exactly the kind of meltdown Republicans dream about. Tweeting in Spanish about the Founding Fathers peacefully resisting didn’t help his case, either.

In the short term, bashing Trump made sense — at least for a Democratic primary. The base loved it. In fact, this week marked the first time all year a major activist outlet ran glowing coverage of Newsom. That’s how you know he finally gave them what they wanted.

But nationally, the political winds are shifting — and fast. A recent CNN poll showed a staggering 40-point swing among legal immigrants, from backing Democratic immigration policies to supporting Republicans. Even Politico admitted the optics of the riots were a disaster. And even the New York Times’ reporting conceded: Trump had the legal authority to invoke the Insurrection Act.

Newsom had few good options. Los Angeles has gone up in flames twice this year alone, and both disasters bear the fingerprints of Democratic mismanagement. The president stands on firm legal ground and popular national sentiment. The Democratic base, meanwhile, demands total opposition — no matter how insane the circumstances. Newsom knew he couldn’t count on the party’s so-called moderates to back him in a real fight. So he folded.

Now he’s their standard-bearer — whether he likes it or not. That might help him survive the early rounds of the primary, but could prove a burden later on. And will it be enough? Probably not. The base doesn’t want compromise. It wants a war. And this week, it won its first major battle.

Blaze News: Order mostly restored in Los Angeles after days of riots, but the damage is done

The Spectator: Newsom blew his chance to stand for law and order

Blaze News: A president’s historic job is to stop the burning if governors won’t

Blaze News: Anti-ICE violence spreads across America

Blaze News: Reckless Democrats are turning ICE agents into cartel targets

Blaze News: The lie that launched a thousand riots

Blaze News: Billionaire Walmart heiress funds anti-Trump chaos, backs radical ‘No Kings’ protests

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Tony Moon, a self-professed “rooftop Korean” who helped defend Los Angeles businesses during the Rodney King riots of 1992, says incompetent leadership is the cause of the current destruction in the city.

Moon joined BlazeTV’s Glenn Beck and spoke about “centralized” riots in California that have been a response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents apprehending illegal aliens.

Moon explained on “The Glenn Beck Program” that there have been distinct and obvious differences between the riots in 2025 and those he experienced in the early 1990s.

‘They’re letting these protesters get out of control.’

“The 1992 riots were organic,” Moon claimed, saying that violence and looting came as a result of built-up tensions between Koreans and black Californians. But whereas black people were upset about Koreans opening businesses in their community, Moon explained, the 2025 violence seemingly does not have a legitimate starting point.

“These riots that are occurring right now … they’re very centralized. They’re not organic. They’re funded by NGOs,” Moon said.

“[The rioting] shows incompetence of the current leadership … a lack of leadership and common sense. They’re letting these protesters get out of control,” Moon continued.

RELATED: Order mostly restored in Los Angeles after days of riots, but the damage is done

— (@)

Gross incompetence from California Governor Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass has not helped the situation, Moon explained, stating that wrongdoing from the city and state leadership is often ignored by local media.

“Local news covers for the current leadership in California. … I would trust a meteorologist more than I trust Newsom or Bass,” Moon laughed.

Korean store owners defend their property as gunfire breaks out in Koreatown at Western Avenue and 5th Street in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Hyungwon Kang/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Beck then asked Moon about his thoughts on U.S. Marines and the National Guard being mobilized to quell violence in Los Angeles, to which Moon replied, “I think it’s awesome.”

“I think this should have been done [by Trump] back in 2020,” Moon told Beck. “But when you take a shot at a man and try to assassinate him, he comes back different.”

RELATED: Judge DENIES Newsom emergency request to halt Trump order for military in Los Angeles

— (@)

Pulling from his experience, Moon had advice for local business owners after looting took place during the recent riots.

“Steel roll-up doors do well,” the rooftop Korean explained. He added, “Deterrence is a great way to keep looters out.”

Moon supported the right for business owners to defend their property, given that the streets of L.A. can sometimes become the “Wild West” when police are not present.

He emphasized, however, that “some semblance of peace” can be achieved “through the barrel of a firearm.”

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​Riots, News, Los angeles, Rooftop koreans, La, Karen bass, Gavin newsom, Ice, Illegal immigrants, Politics 

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) added fire to the already burning city of Los Angeles when he dared President Trump and border czar Tom Homan to arrest him following the deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops to the city to quell violent anti-ICE protests.

In a June 8 MSNBC interview, Newsom, responding to Homan’s threat to arrest officials obstructing ICE immigration raids in L.A., taunted, “Come after me, arrest me. Let’s just get it over with, tough guy. I don’t give a damn.”

The illegal aliens ICE was targeting, he claimed, were just “poor people … trying to live their lives, paying their taxes,” who have “been here 10 years.”

“Who was arrested on Friday?” asks Glenn Beck. “A rapist, a murderer — people who are not here just paying their taxes trying to live a quiet life.”

He’s right. Among the illegal immigrants arrested last weekend were several people with criminal convictions for second-degree murder, rape, burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, and vehicular manslaughter, among others.

In another interview with Fox News, Newsom said that President Trump’s end goal isn’t restoring public safety and national security. It’s “a civil war on the streets of America.” Deploying the National Guard in Los Angeles, he claimed, was just Trump “testing the boundaries.”

Glenn sees through Newsom’s recent comments to the truth the radical governor hoped to keep concealed: It’s the left that’s pining for a civil war. Accusing Trump of trying to start one is yet another example of Democrat self-diagnosis.

“[Democtats] want civil war, and they’re testing their boundaries — period,” says Glenn.

Co-host Stu Burguiere brings up a good point: Many of the organizations currently protesting on the streets of L.A. have openly “advocated” for uprising and revolution.

One of those organizations is the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which aims to overthrow capitalism and establish a socialist system. That’s who’s “printing the signs for the people to carry in the streets!” says Glenn.

Another group currently on the streets of L.A. is Unión del Barrio, another Marxist-Leninist political organization that seeks the destruction of imperialism, capitalism, and essentially “all the institutions that make America America.”

One of its leaders, Ron Gochez, who helped organize the L.A. protests against ICE, framed the clashing of protesters and law enforcement in the exact same way Gavin Newsom framed it. He said that because of the “fierce resistance of the community,” “hundreds of workers that were in the factories … were able to escape” and “go to their cars and go home.”

Even though neither Newsom or Gochez “are saying ‘we want revolution in the streets,’ both of them want revolution in the streets,” says Glenn. “They always tip their hand by telling you what Trump is doing or what the right is doing. It’s always projection.”

To hear more of Glenn’s analysis, watch the clip above.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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Days after calling Elon Musk “disrespectful” and indicating he had “no intention of speaking to him,” President Donald Trump said of Musk during a press conference on Monday, “We had a great relationship and I wish him well — very well, actually.”

Their relationship was strained to the point of possibly breaking last week — first by a dispute over the One Big Beautiful Bill and then by a subsequent exchange of unpleasantries and threats, which prompted some tertiary characters to choose sides, others to reveal their previously dormant hostilities, and a handful of prominent allies to call for a coalition-preserving détente.

Musk responded to Trump’s well-wishes on X with a heart emoji, prompting further speculation that a reconciliation might be possible and that Musk, who expended over $270 million last year in hopes of getting the president elected, might ultimately be brought back into the fold.

On Wednesday morning, the world’s richest man went a step further, expressing remorse for attacking the president and suggesting that some of his remarks were out of bounds.

“I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week,” tweeted Musk. “They went too far.”

While Musk did not specify which tweets “went too far,” the tweets he chose to delete provide a fairly good idea.

The Tesla and SpaceX chief executive tweeted last week that “the real reason” the Epstein files have not been made public is because Trump was somehow implicated in them. He has since deleted that tweet.

RELATED: Will Elon Musk be brought back into the fold?

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

“That’s called ‘old news,’ that’s been old news, that has been talked about for years,” Trump said on Saturday when asked about that particular accusation in an NBC News interview. “Even Epstein’s lawyer said I had nothing to do with it. It’s old news.”

Musk also deleted a post where he said, “Yes,” in response to Malaysian commentator Ian Miles Cheong’s statement, “Trump should be impeached.”

‘Let’s stay focused on saving our country.’

Blaze News reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Musk’s quasi-apology was well received online.

“Love to see this,” wrote Utah Sen. Mike Lee (R).

Former Trump White House press secretary Sean Spicer wrote to Musk, “Thank you for doing this[.] Your @X purchase, work at @DOGE and massive achievements at @Tesla @Starlink etc you have been instrumental in advancing free speech, government accountability and industry advancement.”

Conservative activist Scott Presler similarly thanked Musk, noting, “We are grateful for BOTH of you. Let’s stay focused on saving our country & holding the House in 2026. We can do this.”

Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch emphasized that political differences aside, Trump and Musk “surely know and agree that the Left want to jail and kill them both.”

To Fitton’s point, a recent poll conducted by the Network Contagion Research Institute revealed that 56% of liberals said someone would “be at least somewhat justified” in assassinating Trump. This figure includes the 14.1% of liberals who said his murder would be “completely justified.”

Liberals apparently would similarly be content to see Elon Musk murdered — 50.2% said his slaying would be at least somewhat justified, including 10.7% who said it would be completely justified.

Tesla stock rose Wednesday following Musk’s expression of regret.

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Burnt-out vehicles. Smoldering fires. Mobs hurling debris at police. This isn’t Caracas or Kabul. This is downtown Los Angeles — again — paralyzed by riots that shut down streets and unleashed chaos. These weren’t “mostly peaceful” protests. They were deliberate assaults on order, not demands for justice.

Americans have seen enough.

Every sovereign nation has the right — and the duty — to protect its borders. Failure invites disaster. Look at Los Angeles.

After dithering for days, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass (D) on Tuesday ordered a curfew on a small section of downtown, all while continuing to denounce President Trump and federal immigration authorities for inciting the violence.

Meantime, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) continued his war of words with the president as a federal judge denied his request to block Trump’s deployment of the National Guard. Trump, Newsom said, “chose more force. He chose theatrics over public safety. … Democracy is under assault.”

But behind the slogans and smoke, the truth stands naked: These riots, driven by Marxist agitators, aim to shield illegal immigration at all costs. The left casts illegal immigrants as victims. Most Americans see lawbreakers who disregard our borders, our laws, and our nation. That isn’t democracy. That’s mob rule.

The rioters view law itself as oppression. Violence, disorder, and collapse are the predictable results. Strip away order, and law cannot survive.

Unchecked immigration brings consequences — real ones. Flood the nation with millions who have no loyalty to its people, no respect for its laws, and no desire to assimilate, and you get chaos. Housing prices spike. Schools overflow. Wages stagnate. American taxpayers foot the bill.

Emergency rooms delay care for citizens while illegal immigrants receive treatment — then leave without paying. That’s not compassion. That’s betrayal.

Blame doesn’t belong solely to the left. Establishment Republicans want cheap labor. Democrats want easy votes. Neither pays the price. Working Americans do. Their neighborhoods change overnight. Their jobs vanish. If they speak up, they’re called racists.

That slur doesn’t work anymore. The collapse of DEI programs proves Americans are done being shamed into silence.

Now comes Donald Trump, doing what no other president would dare: mass deportation — not just of violent criminals but all illegal immigrants. Because none have a right to remain. The policy is straightforward: Break the law, go home. No drawn-out court battles. No excuses.

Every sovereign nation has the right — and the duty — to protect its borders. Failure invites disaster. Look at Los Angeles.

Sending the National Guard and a few companies of Marines to restore order was a start. But this calls for more than a show of force. It demands divisions of tough men ready to defend sovereignty and say, “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Pat Buchanan once put it plainly: “The mob threatened and cursed, but the mob retreated because it had met the one thing that could stop it: force, rooted in justice, and backed by moral courage.”

That’s what this moment demands — force, courage, and zero tolerance for criminal mobs.

Trump’s immigration crackdown may be messy. But America tried being nice. Reagan’s 1986 amnesty didn’t solve the problem. It only resulted in more border crossings, more crime, and more betrayal. Our cities suffer. Our laws decay. And leaders pretend everything’s fine.

Voters know it isn’t fine.

Naturally, the elites panic. But they don’t live with the consequences. Their kids don’t attend terrible public schools. Their streets aren’t patrolled by cartel foot soldiers. Their jobs aren’t lost to under-the-table labor. From gated communities, they preach tolerance while the country unravels.

RELATED: Order mostly restored in Los Angeles after days of riots, but the damage is done

Photo by Katie McTiernan/Anadolu via Getty Images

Trump acts instead of preaching. Fixing this mess will be harder than ignoring it — but ignoring it means surrender. Europe made that mistake. We must not. We either fight or lose everything without firing a shot.

So what comes next?

After deportations, we slam the door shut. No more catch-and-release. No more loopholes. No more anchor policies. A full immigration moratorium gives America time to assimilate legal immigrants already here. This nation isn’t a charity. It’s a country with borders. Without borders, it’s nothing.

Leftists will rage. Let them. Their “compassion” skips over Americans who can’t afford homes, who’ve lost jobs, whose communities have been upended. Trump doesn’t flinch. He knows what it takes. He’s willing to be hated to do what’s right.

The riots are only a symptom. The real sickness is the erosion of national sovereignty.

We can’t negotiate with mobs. We meet them with strength. We back it with moral clarity. As Trump says: “Fight, fight, fight!”

Clear them out — by the hundreds of thousands, by the millions. Because the alternative isn’t peace. It’s ruin.

​Opinion & analysis, Los angeles, Riots, Ice, Immigration and customs enforcement, Illegal immigration, Illegal aliens, Crime, Mass deportations, Donald trump, Stephen miller, Gavin newsom, Karen bass, Civil unrest, National guard, Marines 

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) issued a curfew Tuesday evening for her city’s downtown, telling interlopers to avoid the area and warning would-be violators that police would arrest them. Exceptions were made in certain cases, such as for emergency and medical personnel and for credentialed media.

The Los Angeles Police Department indicated shortly after the curfew went into effect that “mass arrests are being initiated.”

‘They’d better do something before it’s too late.’

Whereas LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said the “curfew is a necessary measure to protect lives and safeguard property following several consecutive days of growing unrest throughout the city,” Bass initially adopted a different framing, making sure to continue blaming President Donald Trump for the rioting.

The Democrat stated on X that she imposed the curfew “to stop bad actors who are taking advantage of the President’s chaotic escalation.”

This claim prickled White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, who noted in response, “‘Chaotic escalation’ = federal authorities arresting illegal aliens. The Mayor is using the rhetoric of the insurrectionist mob.”

Bass had multiple opportunities prior to reaching her “tipping point” to clamp down on “bad actors,” yet delayed, instead spending her energies attacking federal authorities and blaming Trump for the unrest.

When, for example, radicals began savagely attacking U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who were conducting lawful operations in Los Angeles County last week, Bass accused ICE agents of sowing “terror” and stressed that the city would “not stand for this.”

RELATED: Order mostly restored in Los Angeles after days of riots, but the damage is done

Julio Rosas/Blaze Media

Bass’ announcement of the curfew came just as riots were cooling down, within hours of Trump hinting he might have to restore order for her, and following the publication of a new poll revealing significant public support for local authorities taking action with regards to the riots.

In his Tuesday speech at the 250th anniversary of the Army at Fort Bragg, Trump said, “Within the span of a few decades, Los Angeles has gone from being one of the cleanest, safest, and most beautiful cities on Earth to being a trash heap with entire neighborhoods under the control of transnational gangs and criminal networks.”

“They don’t like it when I say it, but I’ll say it loudly and clearly: They’d better do something before it’s too late,” continued Trump. “Very simply, we will liberate Los Angeles and make it free, clean, and safe again.”

“We will use every asset at our disposal to quell the violence and restore law and order right away,” stressed the president.

It’s presently unclear whether Trump said so directly to Bass.

When asked for comment, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Blaze News in a statement, “If Karen Bass had any self-respect, she’d apologize for her incompetency and failure to stop the violent riots occurring in L.A. President Trump rightfully stepped in to defend American law enforcement officials against Karen Bass’ violent left-wing supporters.”

While Bass has made known her fury regarding Trump’s recent efforts to restore order and protect federal personnel, recent polling is clear: A plurality of Americans disapprove of the anti-ICE “protests” and want to see action taken locally.

RELATED: Lies, flags, and firebombs: Just another ‘mostly peaceful’ riot in LA

Photo by Apu Gomes/Getty Images

YouGov polled 4,231 U.S. adults on Monday and found that 45% of Americans disapprove of the anti-ICE “protests” in Los Angeles; 36% said they approve; and 19% said they were unsure. When broken down by region, 40% of respondents in the Western U.S. signaled disapproval.

When asked who should be taking the lead in dealing with the L.A. “protests,” 56% of respondents said state and local authorities.

Regardless of whether Bass wants to curb anti-ICE fervor, imposing a curfew appears to have been a politically pragmatic move on her part. After all, she cannot afford to lose any more support or confidence.

A UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll revealed last month that the majority of Angelenos view Bass negatively.

Her bungling of the Palisades Fire in January certainly did not help her cause.

Months after slashing her city’s fire department budget and shortly after the National Weather Service warned of an imminent windstorm, Bass broke a pledge in January not to “travel internationally” and absconded to Africa. While deadly fires consumed her city, Bass attended a cocktail party in Ghana. Upon her return, she did her apparent best to displace blame.

Editor’s note: This article has been edited after publication to include comment from the White House.

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​Karen bass, Los angeles, Riots, Rioting, Leftism, Bass, Gavin newsom, Donald trump, Stephen miller, Curfew, Politics 

For years, I’ve heard the same complaint from friends, family, and the nightly news: Donald Trump is his own worst enemy. The real problem, they say, is the man’s personality. If only he weren’t so obnoxious, if only he didn’t speak off the cuff or insult his critics, then maybe his enemies would stop calling him a Nazi. Maybe the protests would stop. Maybe the country could calm down.

It’s true that Trump’s tactlessness and unreflective speech can grate, even on those who support him. But let’s not pretend his critics hold anyone else to the same standard. Where was their outrage when Joe Biden declared that Trump supporters were “the only garbage I see,” smeared the GOP as “semi-fascists” and “terrorists,” or cursed at reporters who dared ask unscripted questions?

The rage over Trump’s language comes from anxiety. The ruling class members fear that his return to power could disrupt their ideological monopoly.

The same people clutching pearls over Trump’s tone cheered on mouthy scolds like Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama. They ignored threats by former Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who warned Supreme Court justices against overturning Roe v. Wade outside their own courthouse. When it comes to rhetoric, Democrats don’t offend them — only Republicans do.

And the hypocrisy doesn’t stop there. Anti-white racism is commonplace among Democrats. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) mocked Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) as a purveyor of “white tears” for disagreeing with her. Crockett also derided “mediocre white boys” who oppose race-based preferences and once referred to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as “Governor Hot Wheels” without consequence. No apology. No media outcry. Just applause.

At some point, the conclusion becomes obvious: The outrage over Trump’s rhetoric has little to do with his words. It has everything to do with the groups he opposes. His critics don’t hate how he speaks. They hate what he threatens.

If rhetoric really mattered, then Democrats would call out their own side for the endless stream of vile speech and political violence. But they don’t. They won’t. Because they know it’s not about tone. It’s about power.

Would the Trump-haters change their tune if a more well-mannered Republican — House Speaker Mike Johnson (La.), Chuck Grassley (Iowa), or even Dr. Oz — pushed Trump’s policies? Don’t bet on it. Democrats didn’t tone down their vitriol even after two assassination attempts against Trump, the second by a man, Ryan Routh, who explicitly cited Democratic rhetoric and media hysteria as his motivation.

Legacy media rage against Trump not because he speaks crudely, but because he disrupts their agenda. He guts bloated agencies, cuts funding to woke nonprofits, and works to dismantle bureaucracies like the Department of Education — which caters to teachers’ unions but has done zilch to improve American learning.

Trump also dares to enforce immigration law. After Democrats spent years encouraging waves of illegal immigration, he tried to reverse the damage — and they called him a “tyrant.” He asserts that men are men and women are women, even as the ruling class invents new genders and demands compliance.

RELATED: Progressives’ ‘democracy’ is just a cover for unaccountable power

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The ruling class can get away with its double standard because its multiple armies close ranks to defend any lie or exaggeration from its government placeholders. When Biden labeled Trump’s voters as terrorists, the foreign policy blob, the think-tank class, and the media all fell in line. Groups like the Council on Foreign Relations echoed the claim, amplifying a fantasy of right-wing extremism while excusing left-wing bigotry.

Search engines bury criticism of Democrats while promoting glowing defenses of their nastiest remarks. The same media that spent years covering for Biden’s obvious cognitive decline and told you it’s a conspiracy theory to question his mental fitness to serve now say they had no idea anything was wrong. Trust them.

And don’t forget the cultural cleanup crews. During Pride Month, every major corporation, institution, and media outlet falls in lockstep. No dissent. No nuance. Just forced applause for whatever new orthodoxy the cultural left pushes. (Though that might be changing.)

The rage over Trump’s language comes from anxiety. The ruling class members fear that his return to power could disrupt their ideological monopoly. Even modest success in weakening their grip on government, culture, or education terrifies them. Because once that monopoly breaks, their entire edifice could fall.

That’s why Trump provokes such hysteria. Not because he insults people. But because he threatens the system that protects their power.

And maybe, just maybe, that’s a good thing.

​Opinion & analysis, Donald trump, Media bias, Democrats, The left, Michelle obama, Hillary clinton, Jasmine crockett, Joe biden, Lies, Democracy, Ruling class, Elites, Deep state, Council on foreign relations, Marjorie taylor greene, Dr. oz, Mike johnson, Chuck grassley, Civility, Illegal immigration, Department of education, Riots 

The House passed another bill Tuesday night protecting election integrity, but Democrats are once again digging their heels in.

The bill repeals a Washington, D.C., ordinance known as the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2022 that allows noncitizens to vote in local elections. Just 56 Democrats joined 210 Republicans to bar noncitizens from voting in these American elections, while 148 Democrats voted to continue allowing illegal aliens to vote in D.C.

‘It is a national embarrassment that foreign citizens can vote in America’s capital city.’

Republican Rep. August Pfluger of Texas, who led the bill in the House, said the legislation was “common sense” and that “only American citizens should be able to vote in U.S. elections.”

“Last night, 148 Democrats voted against my bill to prohibit noncitizens from voting in D.C.,” Pfluger said. “Let me be clear: Every vote against this bill was a vote for the transfer of political power away from the citizen voter.”

RELATED: Democrats overwhelmingly vote against resolution condemning anti-Semitic Boulder attack, while lone Republican votes present

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) echoed Pfluger’s sentiment, saying “foreign actors” are being given the same privileges as American citizens.

“Only American citizens should decide the outcome of American elections,” Johnson said. “Yet the D.C. City Council has made it clear they actually want noncitizens and even foreign actors to have an equal say in choosing a mayor and other local public officials in our nation’s capital. As the constitutional authority overseeing the District, House Republicans stand firm against this un-American decision which undermines the rule of law and the core principles of our republic.”

RELATED: Republicans clash with Democratic lawmakers defending violent anti-ICE rioters

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Other Republicans like Rep. Brandon Gill of Texas and Sen. Mike Lee of Utah came out against the D.C. ordinance, calling it an “embarrassment” and “grotesquely unjust.”

“For decades, Democrats slandered conservatives as conspiracy theorists for exposing their strategy to import illegal alien voters,” Gill said. “But that’s exactly what they are doing right now: fighting to allow illegal aliens to vote. This is not only grotesquely unjust, but it waters down the meaning of American citizenship.”

“It is a national embarrassment that foreign citizens can vote in America’s capital city,” Lee said.

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​House democrats, House republicans, Noncitizens voting, Washington dc, Congress, Capitol hill, Donald trump, August pfluger, Mike johnson, Brandon gill, Mike lee, Illegal aliens, Foreign nationals, Anti-ice, Mass deportations, Border crisis, Politics 

One of the more viral moments of the last several days comes from a cellphone video showing three police officers in downtown Fargo, North Dakota, attempting to arrest a male — and somehow the guy wrangles out of their collective grasp, punches all three of them in their faces in quick succession, and then runs off.

The incident occurred around 4:35 p.m. Saturday in the 200 block of Roberts Street North after a report about suspicious activity, KVRR-TV reported. According to KFGO-AM, a suspect allegedly was seen smoking meth.

‘I mean, police officers need to be tougher, stronger, than these three! What the hell?!’

Three officers tried to detain the suspect — 37-year-old Joseph Manitowabi — and he slugged all three of them and ran away. Officers did manage to wrangle the assailant after a short pursuit, KFGO said, adding that Manitowabi was charged with three counts of assault on a police officer, possession of drug paraphernalia, preventing arrest, and refusal to halt.

Manitowabi — who has no permanent address, KVRR said — has been held in the Cass County Jail on $25,000 bail, KFGO noted. Jail records indicate he was still behind bars as of Wednesday morning.

What’s more, he has a criminal history that includes disorderly conduct, fighting, and possession of marijuana, KFGO added.

RELATED: North Dakota school district will conceal students’ gender identities from parents despite state law prohibiting it

Joseph Manitowabi after a previous arrest.Image source: Cass County (N.D.) Jail

But what’s been on many minds is the short video that KVRR news reporter Alex Bertsch recorded of Manitowabi dishing out haymakers to the officers. Bertsch noted on X that it was a “really crazy thing to witness.”

KFGO reported that the controversial clip — which you can watch here — has been viewed over 6 million times online.

The three officers — who were treated for minor injuries in the aftermath, KVRR said — have come under heavy criticism. Two of the officers immediately turned away and disengaged from Manitowabi after he punched them. While the third officer held on to Manitowabi’s wrist after getting punched once, he let go after a second sock to the head.

Check out some of these comments on X:

“Those cops are never living this one down…” one user said.”I mean, police officers need to be tougher, stronger, than these three!” another commenter declared. “What the hell?!””LMAO — seriously??” another user noted. “They need to put hand-to-hand combat training in the academy… This dude [the officer wearing a helmet] got punched once and nope’d the f**k out. I understand the chick — but the dude didn’t even circle back to tase or anything. PATHETIC.””Why are those police so f**king soft!?” another commenter wondered.”Once again, I’m not favorably impressed with cops’ grappling skills,” another user wrote. “They need remedial martial arts training, pronto.”

Jay Thomas — who hosts “The Jay Thomas Show” in the afternoons on 970 WDAY AM/93.1 FM in Fargo — told Blaze News he generally was of the same mind after he first got a gander at the beatdown video.

“What the hell’s going on here?” Thomas said he initially wondered, adding that the clip looked like something out of the “Keystone Cops.”

“Holy smokes,” Thomas exclaimed to Blaze News, adding that viral video contributes to the prevailing narrative that “your cops are not trained” and “it looks bad.”

Well, Thomas on his Tuesday show (47:40 mark) spoke to Fargo Police Chief David Zibolski about the video, asking him how and why the attempted arrest went down the way it did.

RELATED: Target apologizes after employee was allegedly fired for signaling her Christian faith

Police Chief David ZibolskiImage source: City of Fargo, N.D.

Zibolski told Thomas there’s police bodycam video the public hasn’t seen that gives a fuller picture of what happened. The chief added that the suspect — a “large man” — was observed “smoking meth,” and the officers confronted him.

Zibolski told Thomas police were able to get Manitowabi’s left wrist handcuffed, but when they tried to get his right wrist handcuffed, “that’s when he explodes and punches each officer individually.”

The chief said the suspect was “methed up,” which presented a “superhuman strength issue” — and that Manitowabi is a “former boxer, so when you hit someone in the head without a pad, that’s a pretty good hit.”

“They all got their bell rung,” Zibolski added to Thomas.

In addition, Zibolski said one officer was busy trying to hold Manitowabi’s one handcuffed wrist “so he doesn’t swing the cuff around, and that could cause significant injury to the other officers.”

The chief also told Thomas that what the short clip doesn’t show is that the three officers, after they recovered, chased down the suspect and successfully arrested him behind a Salvation Army.

Zibolski was not happy that the public jumped to negative conclusions based on the short viral video that didn’t tell the full story.

He added to Thomas that the involved officers “really deserve that respect and trust” and “should not be placed in a position where they are subject to denigration” based on video viewers only getting “a little piece of the story.”

“I take issue with that,” the chief added to Thomas.

Thomas told Blaze News that he hopes Fargo police release the full bodycam video as soon as possible, because “whether you like it or not, it’s about perception” — and in the world of news driven by social media “it’s about getting clicks and views.”

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​North dakota, Fargo, Failed arrest attempt, Police officers punched in face, 3 cops punched, Suspect runs off, Viral video, Jay thomas, Joseph manitowabi, Fargo police chief david zibolski, Arrest, Repeat offender, Controversial video, Crime 

Los Angeles was burning, via angry protesters speaking out against Trump’s deportations over the weekend, and the president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, appeared to encourage it — despite claiming she did nothing of the sort.

“If necessary, we will mobilize, because we do not want taxes on the remittances from our fellow countrymen, from the United States to Mexico,” Sheinbaum said in a statement that’s landed her in hot water.

“He’s got these tariffs on the foreign remittances, and she’s very upset about what’s going on this country, that we’re actually cracking down on all of her people who are coming here and all of the lack of doing due diligence that her country did, and the people who didn’t come from Mexico, who went right on through,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales says on “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered.”

“They were like ‘Could I see your papers please,’ and they’re like, ‘Don’t worry, I’m just passing through, going to the United States,’” she continues. “So she’s very upset that this gravy train for the cartels and the coyotes has run out.”

Not only does it appear that the Mexican government did not do due diligence in protecting Mexico’s own borders, but BlazeTV contributor Matthew Marsden can’t understand why those who are protesting in favor of Mexico, and against America, live here.

“This is the weird thing, right, number one, they’re flying flags of the country that they left. Why aren’t you back there? Just go,” Marsden says.

“This is something that I have literally asked them,” Gonzales says. “I have literally asked them here in Dallas at the anti-ICE protest in Dallas, they’re all waving Mexican flags, and they were all yelling in my face, ‘Viva Mexico.’”

“Why don’t you just go back if you’re so proud of that country that you want to wave that flag here? Why are you staying? Makes no sense,” she adds.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara’s no-holds-barred take to news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Free, Upload, Video phone, Sharing, Video, Camera phone, Youtube.com, Sara gonzales unfiltered, Sara gonzales, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Mexican president, Claudia sheinbaum, Mobilize, La riots, Los ángeles riots, Trump remittance tariffs, Trump tariffs, The trump administration 

Electric vehicles were the transportation of the future, until they weren’t.

General Motors has given up on its plan to put $300 million toward electric vehicle motor production and instead is nearly tripling that by putting $888 million into the latest V-8 engines — which not too long ago BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere believed were a thing of the past.

“The story is that GM is now investing in V-8 engines as it backpedals on EVs,” Burguiere tells journalist and automotive expert Lauren Fix. “Now, I bought a car that was supposed to be the last V-8 in this line from GM, thinking to myself, ‘Oh, well I’m going to have the last one, and it would be great to have that.’”

“She did what I call the big U-turn,” Fix says of GM’s CEO, Mary Barra. “She was in some Wall Street Journal conference the other day saying, ‘Oh, electric cars are the future. I still believe in them 100%.’”

“But on the other side, she put $888 million into a plant here in Buffalo, New York — the Tonawanda Engine facility, which is one of the original engine plants — and a total of $1.4 million into the Flint Engine plant to build V-8s, which they’re having issues with,” Fix explains.

“So, I think they need to figure out their V-8s and maybe reduce their electric vehicle footprint because while they’re continuing four more products coming out — as I’ve been saying … this is a disaster,” she continues.

“I’ve been seeing — and tell me if this is just what I’m seeing on the internet, if this is real — I’m seeing cars with MSRPs of $60,000 being offered at lots, brand new, for $35,000 and $40,000 because they cannot get rid of them,” Stu says.

“That is 100% correct,” Fix says.

Want more from Stu?

To enjoy more of Stu’s lethal wit, wisdom, and mockery, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Video, Video phone, Sharing, Upload, Camera phone, Free, Youtube.com, Stu does america, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Lauren fix, Auto industry, General motors, Mary barra, V-8 engines, Electric vehicles, President trump, The trump administration, Elon musk 

Federal authorities arrested another University of Michigan scholar from China this week, revealing an alarming pattern of potential national security threats.

Chengxuan Han is facing federal charges for attempting to smuggle biological material into the United States, according to a criminal case filed Monday and reviewed by the Detroit News.

‘The American taxpayer should not be underwriting a (People’s Republic of China)-based smuggling operation at one of our crucial public institutions.’

Han is pursuing a doctorate at the College of Life Science and Technology in the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China, and was invited to participate in a visiting scholar program at UM.

From September to March, while in China, she allegedly mailed four packages containing “biological material related to round worms” to the UM Professor Laboratory, according to prosecutors. The recipients of the packages were not named.

Interim U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon stated that Han obtained the biological materials from the Wuhan university.

On Sunday evening, Han arrived at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport after catching a flight from Shanghai.

An FBI agent claimed that Han, while undergoing secondary inspection at the airport, “made false statements that she had not sent packages to members of the UM Lab.”

RELATED: Agroterrorism plot? Chinese nationals arrested for smuggling potential bioweapon into US: FBI

Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

“When pressed, Han admitted that she had shipped packages to members of the UM Lab. Han initially stated to (Customs and Border Patrol) officers that the packages were plastic cups (rather than petri dishes) and a book (omitting the envelope with suspected biological materials concealed in it),” the FBI agent wrote.

During another interview with the FBI, Han “admitted to sending the packages, admitted that the packages contained biological material related to round worms, and admitted to making false statements to the CBP officers during her inspection,” prosecutors’ argued.

Han told federal authorities that the concealed or mis-manifested biological material included Nematode Growth Medium, a formulation used to cultivate microscopic roundworms, and plasmids, small and circular DNA molecules in bacteria and some microscopic organisms.

According to the FBI, Han claimed she sent one of the packages “as a ‘game’ with clues written above each plasmid.”

Han also allegedly deleted the contents of her electronic device a few days before arriving in Michigan.

According to the complaint, “Han stated she deleted the content to ‘start fresh’ while she was in the United States.”

RELATED: ‘There are Chinese spies at Stanford’: Shocking report unmasks CCP’s espionage at American universities

Nematode. Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

Gorgon called Han’s alleged attempt to smuggle in the material “an alarming pattern that threatens our security.”

“The American taxpayer should not be underwriting a (People’s Republic of China)-based smuggling operation at one of our crucial public institutions,” the interim U.S. attorney added.

CBP Acting Director of Field Operations John Nowak stated, “The guidelines for importing biological materials into the U.S. for research purposes are stringent, but clear, and actions like this undermine the legitimate work of other visiting scholars.”

Han faces up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted.

Her attorney, Rhonda Brazile, declined a request for comment from the Detroit News. UM did not respond to the outlet’s request for comment.

Last week, another University of Michigan scholar and her boyfriend, both from China, were arrested by federal authorities for allegedly attempting to smuggle a potential bioweapon into the U.S.

These arrests come just days after Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the Trump administration would “begin revoking visas of Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.”

However, President Donald Trump indicated on Wednesday that his administration would be pulling back those efforts, citing a new trade deal with China.

He wrote in a post on Truth Social, “OUR DEAL WITH CHINA IS DONE, SUBJECT TO FINAL APPROVAL WITH PRESIDENT XI AND ME. FULL MAGNETS, AND ANY NECESSARY RARE EARTHS, WILL BE SUPPLIED, UP FRONT, BY CHINA. LIKEWISE, WE WILL PROVIDE TO CHINA WHAT WAS AGREED TO, INCLUDING CHINESE STUDENTS USING OUR COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES (WHICH HAS ALWAYS BEEN GOOD WITH ME!). WE ARE GETTING A TOTAL OF 55% TARIFFS, CHINA IS GETTING 10%. RELATIONSHIP IS EXCELLENT! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!”

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​News, University of michigan, Um, Michigan, Chinese students, Chinese scholars, Biological material, Smuggling, China, Chinese communist party, Ccp, Donald trump, Trump, Trump administration, Trump admin, Marco rubio, Rubio, National security, Fbi, Politics 

UFC middleweight Joe Pyfer vowed he would never fight in Mexico again. Then, after apparent backlash over the comments, Pyfer doubled down and said he will “stand firm” and never fight there again.

Pyfer, who was born in Vineland, New Jersey, was scheduled to fight veteran fighter Kelvin Gastelum in Mexico City on March 29th. However, Pyfer’s experience preparing for the fight in Mexico led to him referring to the country as a “s***hole” that is rife with corruption.

‘That’s why I said Mexico is a s***hole and I’ll never go back.’

Hours before “UFC on ESPN: Moreno vs. Erceg” in March, Pyfer revealed he became “super sick” and pulled out of the event, per MMA Junkie.

The fight was rescheduled for UFC 316 last Saturday. Pyfer explained exactly what occurred in Mexico during a June 4 press conference.

“Fourteen out of the 15 meals, I cooked. I didn’t cook on the last day, and I got super sick and I was sick for weeks,” Pyfer told reporters.

The fighter said that after losing 14 pounds in just seven hours and sleeping only one hour, he was very disheartened to see fans threaten and taunt him over his decision to pull out of the fight.

“That’s why I said Mexico is a s***hole and I’ll never go back. I won’t fight there, but the people were nice. I have no problem with the people. It’s just fighting there as a professional athlete makes no f**king sense to me. That’s just my personal opinion.”

RELATED: VIDEO: Blaze News reporter on scene as tensions escalate in Los Angeles for 4th night

Pyfer said that while in Mexico, his coaches and teammates were stopped by the police, who tried to shake them down “for cash that they didn’t have.”

Pyfer rhetorically asked why fans would take issue with his comments.

“Why anybody would dispute that it’s not the best country; all we have to do is look at how many people have crossed the border in who knows how many f**king years, like, come on man. Don’t act like it’s such a great place. It’s ran by gangs … and law enforcement’s paid off by gangs. It’s not that great of a place.”

Following a unanimous decision win over Gastelum at UFC 316 — in New Jersey — Pyfer slightly walked back his comments in a post-fight press conference.

“Ultimately, things did not go well, PR-wise, for me in Mexico,” Pyfer admitted. The 28-year-old again stated that his remarks were never a commentary on Mexican culture or people, but reiterated his stance about fighting in the country.

“I should’ve rephrased it a lot kinder and I didn’t, so it is what it is. But I do stand firm that I will never fight there again. It’s too big of a risk for a bitch like me,” Pyfer added.

RELATED: US Supreme Court unanimously shoots down Mexico in lawsuit alleging gun smuggling to cartels

Featherweight and former UFC fighter T.J. Laramie told Blaze News that preparing for fights in foreign countries can be painstaking, particularly regarding the available amenities.

“Just preparing for the amenities they may or may not have for the weight cut is the most crucial,” Laramie said. “Some of these places have nothing.”

Laramie explained that fighters even need to be aware of cultural differences in some countries. While in Japan for a fight, Laramie said he was kicked out of a sauna simply for having tattoos.

UFC’s parent company, TKO Group Holdings, did not respond to a request for comment regarding whether or not the company will change protocols (for safety or otherwise) with fighters while in Mexico or if it plans to host events there again.

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​Fearless, Ufc, Mma, Mexico, Mexico city, Cartels, Sports 

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Amid a group of protesters who showed up outside the federal building near City Hall on Tuesday to oppose U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a man tried to get into the Veterans Affairs clinic to pick up his prescription medication but was told by the California National Guard that the building was closed.

A man unable to get his medication is one of the many big and small ways the riots in Los Angeles have disrupted daily life in the downtown area. Though Democrats like Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass have shifted the blame for the violence onto President Trump, it was clear from day one that the riots were sparked by people interfering with federal immigration enforcement.

After days of unrest that started last Friday, federal agencies, the Los Angeles Police Department, and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department were out in full force to clamp down on unruly protesters before things spiraled out of control once again. A curfew from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. was imposed and mostly adhered to. Downtown restaurants and bars had noticeably fewer patrons, and many food trucks were not parked at their usual spots.

RELATED: Lies, flags, and firebombs: Just another ‘mostly peaceful’ riot in LA

— (@)

Over the course of Tuesday, anti-ICE protesters marched all over the heart of downtown. While the demonstrations mostly remained peaceful, there was a moment when the crowd found a big gap in a fence running along the U.S. 101 freeway and rushed onto the road to disrupt rush-hour traffic. The California Highway Patrol was initially caught off guard but promptly responded and forced the crowd off the freeway to get cars moving again. At least one person was arrested during the many scuffles with state police.

— (@)

A large crowd did show up outside the federal building before the curfew went into effect, but many people quickly scattered after seeing the large deployment of LAPD officers move into the area. Some protesters stayed behind but were easily moved away from the intersection.

RELATED: Fiery footage shows radicals in LA savagely attack law enforcement on second night of violent riots

Fiery footage shows radicals in L.A. savagely attack law enforcement on second night of violent riots. Photo by RINGO CHIU/AFP via Getty Images

— (@)

Even though the riots in Los Angeles appear to have calmed down for now, the damage is already done. Stores and restaurants have been looted, officers and rioters have been injured, and the unrest has spread to other cities. The Trump administration faced a similar test during the Black Lives Matter riots in 2020. While immigration is energizing people to get out into the streets now, the same far-left networks that helped foment violence five years ago have been reactivated to spread chaos on the streets of America once again.

Protests and riots are expected to continue in different parts of the country, as the Department of Homeland Security has made it clear that ICE operations will proceed at a high tempo.

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​Politics 

“It’s convenient, but I like to see the things I’m buying in person before I spend my money on them.”

This is one of the most common complaints about the rise of Amazon and same-day delivery services. After all, we want to try on a pair of jeans before we buy them or physically see the apples at the grocery store so we don’t get bruised ones.

Dating and marriage should be a beautiful, loving process. But online, it becomes as predatory as LinkedIn.

But why doesn’t this same principle apply to dating?

In the digital age, online dating has become the standard method of meeting for adults seeking a serious relationship. Research shows that 10% of married adults in the U.S. met their spouses on a dating app, with that number rising to nearly 20% for those under 30. Further, 53% of people under 30 have used a dating app at some point.

This trend is no longer a rare, last-ditch attempt to find a partner, but has become the overwhelmingly normalized expectation for meeting a significant other.

‘Love’ on demand

At first glance, online dating seems harmless, if not beneficial.

It allows people to distinguish religious beliefs, physique preferences, and long-term relationship goals through a quick swipe through someone’s profile. This convenience can help prevent the awkward incompatibility of a butcher asking out a vegan.

But the cost of this commodity is authenticity. Fairy tales and rom-coms have a reputation for their tacky love-at-first-sight stories, where two people’s eyes meet, someone tells a good joke, and a spark is lit between them. Many people’s parents and grandparents met their spouses this way. For generations, high school sweethearts and chance encounters were the start of a typical love story.

The problem with online dating apps is that they take the humanity out of relationships. Individuals are trying to sell themselves, so they spend time crafting carefully manicured versions of themselves. They edit photos, reuse their friends’ witty one-liners, and leave out unattractive imperfections. Online dating is much more akin to a game of “Sims,” where people become characters with hand-selected features who lack any shortcomings. Tinder users report going on two to four dates per week, often with different potential partners.

The process has become impersonal, with users trying to meet as many potential matches as possible in a desperate attempt to find someone who fits their desires.

Beta mode, activated

This detached style of relationship-building has completely removed masculinity from dating.

It begins with a lack of courage. Dating apps remove the age-old anxiety of just going up and talking to her. Men no longer have to initiate face-to-face contact. Instead, they can send half-hearted text messages behind the comfort of their phones.

It’s a small change, but it has meaningful impacts. It symbolizes waning gallantry.

The removal of physical interaction creates a disparity between reality and fiction. About 57% of women under 30 have received unsolicited explicit messages on dating apps. Without the corporeal link between two individuals, it becomes much easier for men to jump into the murky waters of unchecked vulgarity. The male attributes of confidence and leadership are used in perverted ways that ruin the chances of building meaningful relationships as ordained by God.

It’s not the fault of men.

This is the exploitative nature of online dating. Dating and marriage should be a beautiful, loving process. But online, it becomes as predatory as LinkedIn.

Seeking out a partner should be about finding someone with similar values, shared experiences, and who gives you butterflies. Instead, online dating turns the process into another networking system. People must pull from a handful of photos, a bit of basic information, and a few brief sentences about hobbies to sum up their entire being.

This is why online dating looking a lot like online shopping. Now, people swipe left for the most insignificant offenses, which Gen Z calls “the Ick.” It’s a superficial process that doesn’t rely on creating a genuine connection. It only fuels the ego.

Death of duty

Online dating, however, does result in a significant number of long-term serious relationships — but fewer and fewer marriages.

As growing numbers of young people turn to apps to find their partners, marriage rates among this group have significantly fallen. Worse, the proportion of young couples who have children has reached almost historic lows in the U.S.

Traditionally, men have always been the leaders in a relationship. They’re the ones who get down on one knee; they’re the ones tasked with protecting and providing for their families. Online dating slowly chips away at cultivating these types of men.

Relationships are built on responsibility. Without the authority of masculinity, these relationships are increasingly less fruitful. People are more likely to live with their partners without ever getting married. And if a couple do marry, they’re less likely to have children.

The burden of responsibility is cast aside because masculinity’s value has been degraded.

The sacred chase

Familial relationships are crucial to maintaining a healthy, balanced society. They are the building blocks of communities, the biblically ordained gift that structures Western civilization.

As online dating becomes the norm, it hides crucial elements of the human spirit. For all of human history, men learned to overcome their fear of the beautiful girl rejecting them by holding on to the hope that she might agree to a date. The uneasiness allowed for something holy to arise.

But the self-satisfaction created by flipping through people’s profiles is the mark of an age held hostage by technology. If you don’t want the online food delivery service to leave bruised fruit on your doorstep, you should go to the farmers’ market and pick some out for yourself.

Maybe while you’re there, you’ll walk by someone who seems nice and get the courage to go up and talk to her.

​Dating apps, Online dating, Masculinity, Beta male, Marriage, Dating 

Rap artist Doechii used her victory speech at the Black Entertainment Television Awards to go on the attack against the policies of President Donald Trump and garnered a lot of support from the audience.

Doechii, whose real name is Jaylah Ji’mya Hickmon, won the award for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist and then launched into an invective against the president on Monday evening.

‘I want y’all to consider what kind of government it appears to be when every time we exercise our democratic right to protest, the military is deployed against us.’

“As much as I’m honored by this award, I do want to address what’s happening right now outside of the building,” said Hickmon at the Peabody Theatre in Los Angeles.

“There are ruthless attacks that are creating fear and chaos in our communities in the name of law and order,” she added. “Trump is using military forces to stop a protest, and I want y’all to consider what kind of government it appears to be when every time we exercise our democratic right to protest, the military is deployed against us.”

RELATED: Hollywood director defends child drag shows during rambling Oscars victory speech

Photo by MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty Images

“What type of government is that? People are getting swept up and torn from their families, and I feel it’s my responsibility as an artist to use this moment to speak up for all oppressed people,” she continued.

“For black people, for Latino people, for trans people, for the people in Gaza, we all deserve to live in hope and not in fear. And I hope we stand together, my brothers and my sisters, against hate, and we protest against it!” she concluded.

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​Doechii vs trump, Hollywood vs trump, Rappers vs trump, Los angeles riots, Politics 

For decades, academic leaders insisted on “neutrality” when it came to life’s most important questions — whether God exists, what defines the highest good, and how to live a virtuous life. But that neutrality was always a ruse. Now the roof is caving in.

In Los Angeles, rioters burn police cars, wave foreign flags, and earn praise from elected officials who call them “peaceful demonstrators.” These aren’t isolated incidents. They reflect the long-term effects of a philosophy cultivated on campus and subsidized by taxpayers.

The neutrality myth has run its course. The wolves are no longer pretending to be sheep.

The recent unrest didn’t appear out of nowhere. It’s the predictable bloom of a poisonous seed — one we let grow under the false belief that the First Amendment demands silence in the face of subversion. It doesn’t. And this strategy from America’s enemies didn’t begin last week. It’s been unfolding for decades.

Attacking the American order

Arizona State University, the nation’s largest public university, offers a snapshot of the broader national crisis. It imports professors from elite graduate programs and churns out activist graduates steeped in a worldview that condemns the United States as irredeemably evil.

Look at the student organizations ASU endorses — like MEChA, whose stated mission reads like a political ultimatum:

“[We] devote ourselves to ending settler colonialism, anti-Black racism, heteronormativity, borders and prisons because our liberation does not exist until these legacies of colonization are abolished.”

In 2024, ASU suspended the campus chapter of the far-left Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán — and only suspended them — after the group declared, “Death to the ‘Israeli’ entity! Death to the ‘American’ entity! Long live Palestine! Long live Turtle Island!”

(“Turtle Island” refers to a Native American creation myth that North and Central America rest on the back of a giant turtle.)

Despite the suspension, MEChA remains listed as an active club on campus. The group still enjoys faculty support.

This isn’t about revising reading lists or replacing Shakespeare with indigenous poetry. “Decolonizing the curriculum” masks a much larger goal: revolution. This is a coalition of radicals — communists, LGBTQ+ activists, pro-Mexico nationalists, anti-Semitic “Free Palestine” organizers, land acknowledgment militants, and Islamist groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations — who align not because they share values, but because they share a target: the American constitutional order and its Christian foundations.

And yet naïve liberals and sentimental Christians often fall for the rhetoric. These groups invoke empathy, community, and sacrificial love — virtues rooted in the Christian tradition. But they weaponize those virtues. They wear sheep’s clothing to cloak their wolfish designs.

Rather than reform through representation, they aim to abolish representative government entirely. They don’t seek equality before God; they demand a transfer of power — to a Native tribe, to Mexico, or to some vague utopia where oppression has been deconstructed out of existence and LGBTQ sex litters every street corner.

That may sound absurd. It is. Mexico, after all, functions under cartel rule and bleeds citizens who risk everything to escape. But revolutions don’t require coherence. Absurdity often accelerates them. These movements aren’t governed by logic or principle. They run on resentment — the fury of those who believe life cheated them.

What the moment demands is moral clarity. That begins with rejecting the lie of neutrality.

Neutral education is a lie

A “neutral” education doesn’t exist. Every curriculum is built on a view of the “good life.” Every professor teaches from a vision of what humans are and what we are meant for. When we allowed universities to abandon the pursuit of wisdom and virtue — to stop teaching that God created us and that our rights come from him — we didn’t establish neutrality. We created a vacuum — and radicals rushed in to fill it.

As a professor, I’ve seen firsthand how godless academics wield the First Amendment as both shield and sword. They argue that “free speech” protects those who seek to dismantle the very system that guarantees that right, while insisting those same protections exclude Christian ideas from the classroom.

But the Constitution doesn’t require taxpayers to subsidize sedition. Nothing compels a university to hire professors who publicly call for the abolition of the American republic.

RELATED: Academia fuels the fire that torched Jewish grandmothers in Boulder

Photo by Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images

This isn’t about banning ideas. People can believe whatever they want. But taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to underwrite the education of young Americans in philosophies that teach them their country is an imperial cancer.

If a professor wants to advocate abolishing the United States, let him do it honestly. Declare it on the syllabus. Reject public funding. And stop pretending any of this qualifies as neutral education.

A little truth in advertising would go a long way. Imagine just a few basic reforms.

Preparation: Professors should demonstrate a grasp of foundational truths — about God, goodness, virtue, wisdom, and the greatness of the U.S. Constitution. Anyone who denies these basics has no business teaching at a taxpayer-funded institution. Private universities exist for that. Once upon a time, American universities valued this knowledge, often requiring courses in natural theology for all students.

Transparency: Require state-employed professors to disclose if their courses promote a political or ideological agenda — especially one hostile to the principles on which this country was founded.

Accountability: Tie public funding to standards that reflect the values of the citizens footing the bill. That includes respect for the rule of law, representative government, and the God-given rights enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

Reform: Restore universities that teach what used to be obvious — that God is our Creator and knowing Him is the highest good of human life. State dollars come with strings. Those strings should include love of God and country.

That last point may sound idealistic, but it’s far more grounded than the utopian fantasies now taught with your tax dollars. It takes human nature seriously. It acknowledges the need for redemption, the pursuit of virtue and wisdom, and the moral order built into creation.

It’s time for students, parents, donors, governors, pastors — and yes, President Donald Trump — to recognize what the Los Angeles riots truly represent: not just political unrest, but philosophical collapse. The neutrality myth has run its course. The wolves are no longer pretending to be sheep. They’re outside your child’s classroom, dressed in regalia, holding a metaphorical Molotov cocktail.

Enough pretending. The time for reform has come.

​Opinion & analysis, Campus protests, Leftists, Universities, Indoctrination, Nihilism, Neutrality, Los angeles, Riots, Immigration and customs enforcement, Illegal immigration, Chicano student movement, Mecha, Arizona state university, God, Christianity, Atheism, Anti-semitism, Anti-israel, Cair, Islamism, Lgbtq agenda 

What’s the connection between Angel Reese winning the BET Sportswoman of the Year Award for the third year in a row and the anti-ICE riots currently raging in Los Angeles?

Most would say nothing, but Jason Whitlock sees a common thread: Both reflect a calculated strategy, led by black feminist women, to antagonize white evangelical Christian conservatives and deepen cultural divides.

To explain what’s going on in California, Jason points to a 2018 Netflix documentary series titled “Wild Wild Country,” which tells the story of an Indian guru named Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh who, after experiencing government pushback, moved his “religious sex cult” out of India and into rural Oregon after reading the U.S. Constitution.

Rajneesh figured he could “pull these shenanigans in America and use the U.S. Constitution to set up [his] own little sanctuary city,” Jason explains. Over time, as the commune grew, leaders began recruiting homeless Americans, busing them in from multiple states, in order to “change the voting demographic in Oregon.”

Jason reminds that “the census doesn’t care if you’re a legal or an illegal U.S. resident” when determining how many congressional seats a state receives.

California, one of the deepest blue states on the map, is fiercely protecting their illegal aliens because millions of deportations would amount to less seats in the House and thus less legislative power. Like Rajneesh, “people on the left have read the Constitution” and have decided to “game the system.”

Rajneesh’s plot, however, didn’t end well for anyone. Pushback from locals culminated in the cult launching the largest bioterrorism attack in U.S. history. They also committed immigration fraud, attempted murder, voter suppression through busing and sedating homeless people, and wiretapping.

Violence and chaos in the streets of L.A. as ICE conducts lawful raids and deportations is the modern day equivalent, Jason says.

But what does all this have to do with Angel Reese?

“The reason why they’re getting away with [these riots] is because there is a mentality pervasive in America that black women are at the root of,” says Jason. “You could see it last night at the BET Awards.”

“Anything that trolls and/or bothers the so-called white evangelical Christian conservative man — there’s a group of people led by black women who think that’s a positive,” he explains.

Last night at the BET Awards, which were hosted in Los Angeles, California, Doechii, who won Best Female Hip-Hop Artist, used her acceptance speech to criticize President Trump for “using military forces to stop a protest.”

“I feel it’s my responsibility as an artist to use this moment to speak up for all oppressed people — for black people, for Latino people, for trans people, for the people in Gaza,” she added, as the crowd erupted into “wild applause.”

Jason says Doechii’s speech was anything but authentic, as she, like many other celebrities, was likely “installed” in order to “influence the masses into idiocy.” These installed icons, who have “taken a check,” he explains, are there to influence the black community to support insidious ideologies by claiming “it’s the black thing to do.” As an added bonus, these ideologies antagonize the white conservative evangelical community, which Jason says is the supreme goal of black feminist women.

Reese — even though she can “barely make layups” and is an “embarrassment to the WNBA” — won Sportswoman of the Year for the third consecutive year precisely because she “antagonizes white Chrisian men and conservatives,” he argues. She, too, has been purposefully installed as part of the revolution against white conservatives, Whitlock claims.

Both Reese’s award and the anti-ICE L.A. riots are orchestrated to exploit racial tensions, Whitlock explains, serving a destructive agenda to undermine conservative values and American unity.

To hear more of his theory, watch the episode above.

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Fearless with jason whitlock, Jason whitlock, Angel reese, Bet awards, La riots, Anti ice riots, Blazetv, Blaze media, Fearless 

Reps. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) recently took aim at Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents for covering their faces during immigration raids, framing the practice as both a lack of transparency and an authoritarian overreach. Jeffries went so far as to vow to “unmask every single ICE agent,” declaring, “This is America, not the Soviet Union.”

This reckless rhetoric will lead to innocent people being harmed or killed if it continues.

By posting videos online or sharing personal details, activists provide cartels with a roadmap to retribution.

ICE agents cover their faces to protect both themselves and their families from violent retribution by human trafficking cartels, a threat exacerbated by the unprecedented lawlessness of the former Biden administration’s border policies.

The words of Jeffries, Goldman, and their activist allies not only endanger lives but also expose their inability to grasp the seriousness of the illegal immigration crisis. Such comments disqualify them as honest brokers on the subject.

Masks save lives

ICE agents operate in a high-stakes environment where their identities are a liability. Human trafficking cartels, particularly those tied to groups like MS-13 or Sinaloa, thrive on fear and retaliation. These organizations don’t just smuggle people across borders — they exploit, extort, and kill.

When ICE agents conduct raids to apprehend illegal aliens, many of whom are entangled with these cartels, they themselves become targets. Cartels have the resources and networks to track down agents’ personal information — addresses, family members, daily routines, and so on.

A single photo of an agent’s face, circulated online or sold to the wrong hands, can lead to harassment, assault, or worse. Border czar Tom Homan recently said that agents are being “doxxed all over the place,” with their pictures posted on telephone poles in major cities.

Masking is not a power play — it’s a necessity to protect agents and their families.

— (@)

Doxxing could be a death sentence

Activists who film these raids and attempt to expose agents’ identities are not champions of transparency — they’re overzealous enablers of violence. By posting videos online or sharing personal details, they provide cartels with a roadmap to retribution.

This is not speculation; it is happening. Agents have faced death threats, their children have been harassed, and their homes have been targeted.

RELATED: Sen. Fetterman breaks ranks, admits the truth about Democrats’ radical position on the anti-ICE riots

Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images

The precautions agents take stem directly from the Biden administration’s catastrophic negligence on the southern border. Over the past four years, millions of illegal immigrants have crossed into the United States, overwhelming border facilities and local communities.

The previous administration’s policies — from stopping border wall construction to limiting deportations — created a vacuum that cartels have exploited. Human trafficking, drug smuggling, and violent crime all surged as a direct result of these policies.

Biden made raids necessary

ICE raids don’t create problems — they respond to them. Agents now face the task of cleaning up a border disaster the last administration let spiral out of control, and they’re doing it at great personal risk.

If Democrats like Jeffries and Goldman understood the threat cartels pose, they wouldn’t push policies that put federal agents in danger. If they grasped the scale of the crisis — millions crossing unchecked, with thousands of criminals among them — they wouldn’t waste time posturing about “transparency” while ignoring the lawlessness that forced ICE to act in the first place.

Their obsession with exposing agents reflects a dangerous unseriousness. It disqualifies them from offering any credible solution.

ICE agents are not faceless storm troopers; they are public servants enforcing laws that Congress itself passed. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, still in effect, mandates strict enforcement measures, including deportations. Jeffries and Goldman, as lawmakers, should be aware of this. Yet, their rhetoric aligns more with activist talking points than with the reality of law enforcement.

Strong leadership needed

To solve the illegal immigration crisis, we need leaders who acknowledge its severity and prioritize the safety of both American citizens and law enforcement. Jeffries and Goldman have shown they are not those leaders.

Honest brokers would address the root causes — lax policies, cartel exploitation, and unchecked migration — rather than scapegoating the agents tasked with upholding the law. Until they demonstrate a willingness to confront these realities, their voices in this debate are not only unhelpful but also part of the problem. Our ICE agents, their families, and our communities demand better.

​Opinion & analysis, Immigration and customs enforcement, Ice, Masks, Security, Transparency, Human traffickers, Drug cartels, Illegal immigration, Illegal aliens, Criminal aliens, Mass deportations, Los angeles, Riots, Tom homan, Glenn beck, Immigration reform law institute, Democrats, The left, Hakeem jeffries, Dan goldman, Doxing