Los Angeles City Council members sparred with Police Chief Jim McDonnell on Tuesday over the LAPD’s handling of protests against President Trump’s immigration crackdown, with some challenging the department’s relationship with its federal counterparts.
Mayor Karen Bass and other local officials have decried both the federal immigration raids that prompted the demonstrations and the vandalism and violence that have broken out at some protests.
McDonnell told the City Council that his officers arrested 114 people at protests Monday night — 53 for allegedly failing to disperse and 15 on suspicion of looting.
Since 1979, the LAPD has taken a strong stance against enforcing federal immigration law, prohibiting its officers from initiating contact with anyone for the sole purpose of learning their immigration status.
Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez said that some LAPD officers acted “out of line for the situation.” “I have lawyers posting videos of them getting shot,” she said.
Members of the Los Angeles City Council argued with Police Chief Jim McDonnell on Tuesday about how the LAPD handled demonstrations against President Trump’s immigration crackdown; some even questioned the department’s relationship with its federal counterparts.
In his appearance before the council, the chief talked about the efforts of the Los Angeles Police Department to manage the protests that have broken out every day since Friday, mostly downtown, and occasionally descended into chaos.
Local officials, including Mayor Karen Bass, have condemned the federal immigration raids that sparked the protests as well as the violence and vandalism that have occurred at some of them. Above Gov. Despite the protests of Gavin Newsom, the Trump administration has dispatched the Marines and National Guard to L. a. Bass criticized it as being superfluous. She stated on Tuesday that a curfew for downtown L was something she was thinking about. A. as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared that the military deployments would last for at least 60 days, and the protests showed no signs of stopping.
114 people were arrested by McDonnell’s officers during Monday night’s protests, he told the City Council, with 15 being suspected of looting and 53 for allegedly failing to disperse. One individual was taken into custody on suspicion of attempted murder, and another was taken into custody for allegedly assaulting an officer with a lethal weapon. At the demonstrations on Saturday and Sunday, the LAPD made 27 arrests and 40 on Sunday.
In the most heated discussion of the afternoon, Councilwoman Imelda Padilla questioned the chief about whether the LAPD would think about alerting local authorities to impending immigration raids if it received word from federal law enforcement.
We can’t do that, McDonnell retorted, adding that it would be obstruction of justice if he warned him about an enforcement action being taken by another agency before it occurred.
That would be illegal and totally inappropriate, he said.
Marqueece Harris-Dawson, president of the city council, stated that he did not agree with the chief’s use of agencies like U. S. Customs and Immigration as “law enforcement partners.”. “.”.
He declared, “Those are not our partners if we know someone is coming here to abduct people from this city without a warrant.”. No matter what badge they are wearing or whose orders they are following, I don’t care. They aren’t our partners. “”.
Following the meeting, McDonnell stated in an interview that his department must keep working with federal agencies on matters other than immigration enforcement. The LAPD has been strongly opposed to implementing federal immigration law since 1979, and its officers are not allowed to approach someone just to find out their immigration status.
“We may work in conjunction with [federal agencies] on all of the crimes we look into,” McDonnell stated. “It is a partnership, and we wouldn’t be able to join the Olympics or the World Cup without that partnership.”. that call for cooperation from our federal, state, and local partners. “”.
Other members of the council criticized the chief for his officers’ use of rubber bullets during the demonstrations.
To witness the shooting of a reporter with a rubber bullet dot. Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, who was speaking about an Australian reporter who was shot during a protest on Sunday, stated that “on live television does not add to the de-escalation.”. The strategies being employed by certain LAPD officers that are contributing to the escalation must be taken into consideration. “”.
“The same can be said of LAPD, just as a few protesters may interpret the messaging differently. He continued, “It overshadows the response.”.
Some of the LAPD officers behaved “out of line for the situation,” according to Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez. “”.
She claimed to have lawyers who post videos of themselves being shot. Videos of demonstrators over fifty yards away being shot with non-lethal weapons have been shown to me. “”.
“The LAPD is the best department in the country at holding its officers accountable for their actions,” McDonnell retorted. However, because the situation was still evolving, he said he was unable to comment on specific instances of force used by his officers during the protests.
Tim McOsker, Ysabel Jurado, and Hernandez, members of the City Council, signed a proposal on Tuesday requesting that different city agencies furnish details about the security measures in place to “avoid unlawful entry by federal entities” at City Hall, council offices, public service counters, city-owned parking lots, and other locations.
The proposal stated that “for the benefit of City employees and the public, special consideration must be given to the safety of City facilities as this Federal political theater unfolds.”.
