Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told L.A.’s Morning News on Tuesday that the ongoing protests were “provoked” by the Trump administration.
“The president sent the letter to our governor, taking over and federalizing the National Guard,” she said. “That was something that was not needed in the city, and my plea to them when I was speaking to them before the deployment of the National Guard is that yes, we've had some problems here. There has been vandalism. There has been violence, but we can contain it. Saturday night, what they were talking about was a protest of about 120 people. Twenty people were arrested. What was happening Saturday during the day, you know, was not in Los Angeles. It was in Paramount. So they are trying to paint a picture here of utter chaos, and the irony is that they contributed to the chaos. “
Bass admitted she has not spoken with President Donald Trump.
“I felt the way I was communicating was much more productive,” she said. “I do plan to put in that request soon, though.”
She continued her criticism of the National Guard’s presence in Los Angeles, saying she hopes the troops stay in Twentynine Palms.
“ If you want to see what the federalized National Guard is doing, look at the TV footage because you can see them guarding one building, and that's 100 soldiers,” she continued. “So now we're going to send in thousands more, 2,000 from the National Guard…and now we're going to bring in the military. This is…I mean… overreach is an understatement. I need a much stronger word than that. This is ridiculous. This is why I feel like we're part of an experiment. Like I said… if we can get away with [it] in the nation's largest city, then we can take this everywhere, and then you have essentially the federal government taking over state and local power. That’s very dangerous to our democracy.”
She went on to say she did not believe the chaos at the end of the protests were connected to the people and the organizations doing “legitimate immigrant rights work.
“ I do not believe that anybody [who] is vandalizing our city or areas, enacting any act of violence, is doing it on behalf of immigrants,” she said. “They're doing it for their own selfish reasons, and they're hurting the city.”
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When asked if she would make the call to tell protestors that they can’t wear masks, she responded that it wasn’t possible to enforce it.
“ It was brought to me and I did look at it and the city attorney and other attorneys said it is not enforceable,” she said. “Law enforcement said that as well.”
She added that the city can’t afford these protests, noting it’s “very expensive for this to happen.”
“Which again is why I go back to the raids need to stop, and then the crowds will stop,” she said.
Listen to our full interview with Bass in the audio above.
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