Bass: ICE Raids Caused Unrest, But It’s Just Some Streets, But It’s Bad Enough for Curfew

During an interview that was aired on Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “All In,” that took place before the announcement of a curfew in the city, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass stated that the handling of ICE raids have been “a catalyst for just about everything that is happening” but there isn’t citywide unrest and it’s only on some streets, but “If you go one or two miles in either direction, you don’t know that anything is happening at all.” But cited vandalism and break-ins as reasons for the curfew’s consideration.

Bass began by saying that “we have not been notified of any raids that took place today, and understand that that is a catalyst for just about everything that is happening.”

Later, she added, “I will tell you that when I look at some of the footage of what is happening, you can get the sense that there is civil unrest happening citywide. I have to tell you that the vandalism and the protests that you are looking at [are] taking place in several streets, individual streets in the downtown area. It is not even all of downtown. And so, to depict our entire city this way, or to characterize our city that our city is under duress, is just not accurate. If you go one or two miles in either direction, you don’t know that anything is happening at all. We do not need federal troops. I’ve also — you want to talk about resources, it’s my understanding that the federal government is preparing to pay $130 million to bring troops in a city where nothing is happening that would warrant their being here. That’s $130 million that our city could use in preparing for the World Cup.”

Host Chris Hayes then asked, “My understanding, final question for you, is you’re considering proactively declaring some kind of curfew, is that right? And if things aren’t so bad, then why?”

Bass responded, “Yes, we are looking at a curfew because of the vandalism that took place, and, last night, several businesses were broken into. The point is, though, is that we can handle this. This is a city that is well used to protests. And one of the protests that the president was bragging about was Saturday night, when there were about 120 protesters out, there was some violence. 20 of them were arrested. LAPD and adjacent law enforcement agencies took care of the problem. He tweeted out and congratulated the National Guard and said that it was because of the National Guard that order was brought to the city of Los Angeles. The National Guard wasn’t even deployed until the next day.”

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