Dispatch from LA

[Jilly_in_VA]

This was posted on Facebook by a friend. I thought you might be interested. I'm leaving it anonymous because they prefer not to be outed.

To all my friends and everyone else,
Despite what you may be seeing and hearing on the news, Los Angeles ISN’T a war zone. Protests and unrest have been limited to areas of downtown near the federal building and a few other places in LA County.
For the most part, protestors are peaceful and not filled with violence as the Trump regime and some media wants you to believe. Don’t get me wrong. There are people doing illegal things, but those people include ICE who are targeting non-violent, law-abiding LA residents, not the criminals people were led to believe would be targeted.
In 1992, there were city wide riots. The National Guard were deployed (by the Governor) across the large, vast city. I live in Northwest LA in the San Fernando Valley, which is business as usual. No riots or protests here, just some worried Angelinos that are afraid of the escalation created by your President.
We are safe. For now. But make no mistake, Los Angeles and California for that matter will protect our own INCLUDING immigrants who clean our facilities and harvest our food and build our homes. And, with California being the one of the largest agricultural producers in the world and the 4th largest economy in the world, people around the country will feel the horror as food becomes scarce because there is no one to process it.
It’s unbelievable that lies and terror have now hit my home directly. We will fight, but know that we’re peaceful and safe. We also care about ALL of our people

[Silent Type]

1. Much prefer migrants missing a few papers to those who hate them. But LA optics won't help migrants one bit.

More will be deported to trumpster cheers and trump's approval won't suffer either. It will likely increase.

[Keepthesoulalive]

3. It's the media

They control the narrative and they have been kissing the orange Caligula's rear from the beginning.
The cowardice in the home of the brave is astounding.

[Silent Type]

4. It's always the media, according to Democrats and Republicans in equal numbers. I think

videos and facts speak for themselves.

[Keepthesoulalive]

6. Biden is demented

Trump is not. How about you show pictures of people in chains on the nightly news. How about you stop giving in to his baseless lawsuits. When they call the protesters criminals you show MAGA invading the capitol. We saw them put their hands on the scales and sit at his inauguration. The media is not blameless for this mess, they are complicit.

[Silent Type]

7. Do you have a quote where media -- other than FOX -- called Biden demented and trump cogent? Don't think that happened.

[Keepthesoulalive]

8. Biden, Jake tapper CNN and every channel and tons of alternate media

Trumps dementia is not mentioned no matter how crazy he sounds and all the insanity from his truth social, he reduced the price of eggs by 400%. He’s brought back American jobs. The media does not do its job and that is to tell the truth. Not cover for rich men who are gaming the system. Oh , I forgot about that monstrosity of a bill that will hurt millions to give a tax break to millionaires.

[Silent Type]

9. Didn't say trump is sane or cogent. But media I watch never said Biden is demented and trump is not.

Besides, who needs a pundit to tell one that trump is an idiot and POS when they show him multiple times a day being an idiot and POS.

[Keepthesoulalive]

13. Perhaps you don't watch the same media

When trump said he was going to investigate the Biden family for elder abuse, it was glossed over. When Jake Tapper said Biden was in decline and his staff hid it. He was on every talk show and the news media reported it. The president of the United States said everyone was kissing his ass to make a trade deal. Crickets, no one called him out on his lies or his lies about who would ultimately pay those tariffs, the head of the Chinese government said it wasn’t true again crickets.

[Torchlight]

2. ICE wears the masks and shoots civilians and reporters

as the quiescent continue to wring hands over commercial branding.

[Silent Type]

11. Don't think ICE is shooting anyone in LA. It's LAPD and they aren't wearing masks.

Nor are they shooting with lethal intention. That’s not to say rubber bullets, etc., aren’t dangerous and unwarranted. Hope Bass and Newsom come up with something that cools things down.

LA needs to show they can handle this, without Guard or Maines even having a pretense to attack. So far, troops appear hanging back around Federal buildings.

[sagetea]

5. My husband called me this morning from the port

And I had to tell him what was happening! Lol!

He went through LA last night...I guess he wasn't in the right place...?

sage

[ITAL]

10. LA is huge

Especially when you include LA County (which is where the Paramount protest was.....that's not in Los Angeles). The areas of the protests are really, really small. A few blocks is it.

[Silent Type]

12. Good point. Hope it stays isolated. I'd hate to have a business there, though a TACO stand might be popular.

Selling “trump’s a TACO” t-shirts.

[forgotmylogin]

17. My dad called me during the Ferguson protests.

I live in the St. Lous metro area. The night some saboteurs went down the road setting businesses on fire CNN made it look like Armageddon, framing nearby fires against distant lights at night so it looked like like the whole city was ablaze, prompting my dad to call me to ensure my safety and give me pointers for surviving a war zone in case I had to drive through the "carnage" to his house in Illinois to shelter.

I had to explain that the protests and fires were occurring within six blocks of one road that was carefully blocked off by police over several nights of protests, and it was 15 miles away. I hadn't ever driven in that area and had no reason to, so I wasn't going to bumble into this by accident. Plus, some of my work friends attended multiple evenings of the peaceful protests that occurred before sundown. Any major damage and tear gas was happening at night in front of TV cameras and persistent troublemakers who didn't clear out after scheduled protests. It was reported the fires were set by someone on the outside just taking advantage of curfews and general "anarchy" being reported, which was overblown.

Moral: Broacast TV wants views and can magnify any perceived drama, and ground level can look like a war zone if you frame it like a movie set. One street corralled for protests can be made to look a lot larger than it is. This is very much a case of the administration trying to wag the dog. (Wikipedia link)

[returnee]

14. TSF doesn't care if we go hungry.

He just wants to destroy California and other “blue” states.

[live love laugh]

16. And blue people too ... collateral damage notwithstanding.

[dugog55]

15. the Republicans and the press hyped up the same thing with the city of Portland supposedly on fire,

Over a period of six months this all happened protesting the George Floyd murder by police.
May 29, 2020: Some individuals broke into the Multnomah County Justice Center, setting fires while staff were still inside.

Late July 2020: Fires were set at the Portland Police Association building, resulting in a riot declaration.

August 19, 2020: Protesters set a fire inside a county government building after breaking out windows and spraying accelerant.

August 29, 2020: Dumpster fires were set and accelerant was used to ignite debris against the front door of the Portland Police Association building.

November 6, 2020: There was an attempt to set fire to Portland City Hall, though on-site security extinguished the blaze.

It is important to note that these acts of arson and violence were carried out by a relatively small number of individuals and were often separate from larger, peaceful protests. The broader movement throughout the summer involved both peaceful demonstrations and incidents of property damage, looting, and vandalism. Some reports suggest the escalation of tensions and violence, particularly in late summer, was influenced by the deployment of federal agents to protect federal property.