Senator Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey, defended the anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles as ‘peaceful’ during an interview on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ while strongly criticizing President Donald Trump for deploying the National Guard. Booker accused the president of ‘sowing chaos’ by targeting individuals at immigration hearings, suggesting these arrests had provoked the unrest. The situation in Los Angeles grew increasingly violent over the weekend as federal immigration agents, including ICE officers, were attacked by rioters. Clashes erupted in Compton, where protesters set cars on fire and waved Mexican flags, while others attempted to block a federal bus carrying illegal immigrants, pushing against it as it moved forward. The Department of Homeland Security released images showing buildings defaced with graffiti containing violent messages like ‘Kill ICE,’ which the rioters claimed was a form of resistance against what they perceived as illegal immigration enforcement.
Despite the violent nature of the protests, Booker maintained that they were ‘peaceful’ in intent, a stance that has drawn criticism from federal officials who dismissed his claim as misguided. Meanwhile, President Trump defended his decision to deploy 2,000 federalized National Guard troops to the area, arguing that the state and local authorities—California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass—were failing to manage the situation. Trump posted on his TruthSocial account, declaring that the National Guard’s intervention was necessary to ‘solve the problem’ of riots and looters, which he claimed the local leaders could not handle. Newsom, however, accused Trump of using the National Guard deployment as a political spectacle rather than a genuine effort to quell the unrest, stating the move was unnecessary given the availability of local law enforcement.
Booker further criticized Trump’s approach, calling it ‘hypocritical’ given the president’s recent pardoning of those who participated in the January 6 Capitol riots. The senator argued that Trump’s use of the National Guard would only ‘incite’ the situation further, contradicting his claim of maintaining order. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, meanwhile, escalated the situation by threatening to deploy active-duty Marines if the violence was not quelled. Hegseth mocked Newsom in a post on X, sharing an image of rioters posing in front of a burning car with a Mexican flag, sarcastically labeling the event as ‘another ‘mostly peaceful protest’ brought to you by @GavinNewsom. DEPORT.’
The incident has sparked a broader debate over the role of federal authority in managing local unrest, with critics on both sides of the political spectrum arguing that the situation is a result of conflicting priorities and messaging. Federal officials have condemned the Democratic Party for what they see as ‘dangerous’ rhetoric that has inflamed tensions, while Democrats have accused the administration of using the National Guard as a tool for political theatrics. The situation highlights the deepening divide over immigration policy and the potential for escalation when these policies are met with public resistance.