Protests in Los Angeles: Fear of Chaos

The atmosphere is heated up after the demonstrations and riots in Los Angeles when the national guard at the federal prison in the city center marched shortly before noon. In camouflage gear, with batons and shields, the soldiers take a position – cleverly from US President Donald Trumpto protect the immigration authority ICE, which is supposed to carry out its unprecedented mass deportation. The scene interrupts a horn: « Fuck ICE, shit on the bulls, » a man screams out of a car.

Since Friday, people have been protesting in the US west coast metropolis, in which almost a million people live without valid papers, against the intimidating raids of the authorities. Mostly peaceful – but a few exceptions are causing a stir internationally: there are also – the burning cars, stone throws on police cars, the occupation of a highway. Many see a provocation in the soldiers skillful by Trump. The fear that the situation will continue to escalate is in the air.

Trump in turbulence

However, Trump could be politically located after turbulent days. During the Republican with Chancellor Friedrich Merz Steak ate in the White House last week, his friendship with men with multi -illiarch Elon Musk imploded in front of the country’s eyes. The exchange of blows resulted in the fact that Musk moved the president (without evidence) close to the abuse of minors.

Unusually, Trump refrained from a devastating counter-strike: a persistent, open hostility with the most richest man in the world could take the swing of Trump’s radical conversion of the US company. And a president who cannot hold his own coalition together looks weak. Trump can now show strength in LA. And he does.

A million without a residence permit

Trump promised the greatest mass deportations in US history. Millions of people, mostly from Latin America, have been tolerated for decades, but without a residence permit in the country. In Los Angeles alone – that also bears the Hispanic identity in the name – it should be almost a million.

Trump fueled fear of them and her alleged criminal energy in the election campaign. He gets a lot of approval for his hard line, even if studies refute his claim that migrants would drive up the number of crimes. But the narrative keeps up – and complete chaos in LA would seem to only confirm Trump.

Many of the « illegal », as the government calls it, fear the state power that Trump unleashed: hooded ICE people appear in unobtrusive cars on construction sites in Florida and New Orleans or in front of hardware stores in New York and Los Angeles and arrest people without papers. The deportation threatens. But fear also grows with inhuman treatment.

Everyday life only on the surface – Los Angeles in a state of emergency

For days, sometimes thousands – have gathered in front of the federal prison, where they suspect arrested migrants. Here and in other places there were occasional clashes. Among the protesters: many with Latin American roots, liberal trump opponents-and after darkness, increasingly rioters, who apparently drives the desire to violence.

Even if life in the middle of the metropolis also seems to be largely normal on Tuesday, not only the numerous abuse against Trump and ICE on the walls in the city center indicate the state of emergency. Autobahn descents to the quarter around the prison are closed, helicopters fly over the neighboring streets, hotels distribute safety plans to their guests. The city is preparing for another uncertain night.

Trump mobilized thousands of soldiers from the national guard and hundreds of marine fans against the will of the democratic governor Gavin Newsom. The great concern is that the troops could finally lead to the chaos that Trump had previously conjured up. The situation is also seen as a test of power: How far can Trump expand his authority in liberal California? Newsom, which presidential ambitions are said to, accuses the President of provoking a “civil war on the streets of America”.

«The government is going crazy. And our governor plays with »

Many people in Los Angeles, on the other hand, weigh off in such words. She already knows that, says a woman who works in the city center during a car rental: « Every time there is a protest, it gets really ugly. » Otherwise the national guard had not been mobilized. Trump’s measure is disproportionate: «The government is going crazy. And our governor plays along, and all of that only makes it worse. »

In the meantime, some American media heat up the situation: The propaganda-friendly right-wing conservative moderator Laura Ingraham lets Trump’s house-and-yard broadcaster Fox News in her evening show the most blatant scenes of Los Angeles in a quick episode. This creates the impression that something is completely out of hand in the US show metropolis.

Trump senses a victory

At the other end of the country, the New Yorker Susan looks at Ingraham’s show in a bar at JFK Airport. « These damn idiots burn the whole city! », She is outraged. If you ask her, she admits that she also does not know whether Trump’s soldiers are the right means. But light cars, throw stones on police officers? That must be punished.

It is exactly the scenes that Trump, who has always been a pioneer for law and order, and give its movement new strength. The President senses a political victory and new energy in American cultural struggle. He has already won a success: Nobody talks about Elon Musk anymore. How high the price for this is will be shown.