Fuck ICE
Man, I don’t know what to tell you. Don’t believe the media. Don’t believe the President of the United States, don’t believe in pictures or video, and don’t believe the preacher on the old-time gospel hour. All that’s left is to believe what’s right in front of your eyes, and that’s all we have, which isn’t always a reliable source either. And now, with the rise of AI, I’m not sure that “truth” will ever exist again.
I went to one of the first ICE protests in Los Angeles. You know, the one where the President said he saved Los Angeles by sending in the National Guard, otherwise the city would have burned to the ground (well, that already happened, didn’t it, but not due to protesters but rather, wildfires). Yup, I was there and I saw it with my own two eyes. Liar, liar pants on fire, the city would NOT have burned down, AND the National Guard was nowhere to be found. In fact, when I rolled up to the protest, there were a hell of a lot of LAPD forming blockades and lots of protesters chanting and holding signs. Not pitchforks, not torches…signs with slogans.
ICE IS terrorism
And truth be told, I thought it was going to be a boring day of shooting. Which gets me to my next point: all media, including rank amateur photojournalist-wannabes like myself HOPE for something to happen so we can get stunning, sometimes shocking or provocative images. The news outlets are no different, worse even, as they have an agenda to push and Tide detergent to sell, which is why, when I went home and watched the news that night, it looked like all of LA was actually raging and on fire. But the truth is, all of LA was not raging or on fire, or surrounded by the National Guard. No need for the Marines, believe me (what a joke. Total media move by Trump). In fact, I’m pretty sure this was all a big made-for-TV special, and the cameras (and everyone outside that square mile or so of LA) ate it up. I got calls from all over the place to see if I was ok. I was, and I happened to be at ground zero (though I didn’t tell my Dad that when he called!).
I saw things that made me question if perhaps this whole thing may have been orchestrated. For example, I was there when the protestors decided to take to the 101 freeway. There were five police cars (with police) stationed at that on-ramp, but they didn’t stop anyone. At first, a few brave souls meandered down the on-ramp, testing the waters. The police didn’t say anything to anyone; they just let them pass and go straight on to the freeway. So, shortly after, I went with them, thinking the whole time someone was going to hit me on the back of my head with a billy club, but the officers didn’t seem to care. Here’s a pic, shortly after the first few people walked down the on-ramp, and soon after, the crowd followed. Note the cops stationed at the top left.
It wasn’t a mad rush at first. Just a trickle of brave souls. The police did not interfere. Then everyone followed.
I get that they were outnumbered and, probably for their own safety, did nothing…maybe. But in another instance, where a police car was being blocked by protestors on a surface street, a nearby blockade of police officers came rushing in, using their nightsticks and rubber bullets to get the protestors to clear the way for the vehicles, and they were outnumbered there too. At this point, I was sure I was going to be shot because one police officer, who was wielding a night stick and engaging people with it near me, yelled “THAT ONE” to the cop with the rubber bullet gun who then turned and took aim right at me. I wasn’t obstructing anything, asshole!
Protesters obstruct police cars before cops quickly move in with batons and non-lethal weapons
One second before the cop on the right turned his gun on me. The dude looking at the camera with his big mouth open is yelling, “That one!”. Total Dick. The picture is blurry as I was trying to get out of there as fast as I could while still snapping frames.
The Waymos are burning! The Waymos are burning!
Maybe nobody gives a shit about Waymo cars, at least not the police, though some of the protestors seemed to HATE them, and I couldn’t help think, “What in the hell did Waymo do to the immigrants? ICE isn’t nabbing and throwing them in Waymos to be taken to detention centers, are they?? Why are A FEW of these people beating up on these cars and setting them on fire?? I was there seconds after the first Waymo was set ablaze. No cops. No fire dept. Just hoodlums beating on Waymos and setting them on fire. Why were 4 or 5 Waymos parked together on the street anyway? Meanwhile, a brigade of CHP officers in heavy riot gear was just a block away, down the street. Didn’t they care about the Waymos? The Fire? Oh, right, the media needed to have some fire to support the President’s claim of the city burning to the ground. The Waymos took it like sacrificial lambs.
The first Waymo to be lit on fire
Lots of cops just one block away from the Waymos
Another thing that troubled me about this whole thing was what I saw later on the nightly news. I saw a reporter, reporting while on the freeway at the time when the police were finally moving in to disperse the crowd after what seemed to be an hour. They were using flash bangs and smoke to try and disperse the crowd. SMOKE, not tear gas. But the reporter, with some panic in her voice and while on camera, told her crew, “We gotta move now! They are using tear gas!!” It played well on TV. But I was there. I was right THERE. Honestly, at first I thought it was tear gas too, but it only took a second to realize it wasn’t. No gasping, no struggle to breathe, no…tears. Just plan ol’ smoke bombs. I get why the reporter might have thought that it was tear gas in the moment, but that story should have never hit the airwaves or it should have been corrected. It wasn’t. More Tide detergent needed to be sold. It was good for TV but it’s not what went down that day.
A police officer enveloped by smoke on the 101 Freeway
Now, I’m no conspiracy theorist. Not by a long shot, but what I saw that day, didn't jive with what I saw on the news or with the stupid words falling out of the President of the United States’ stupid mouth. I will say, though, if you look through my pics, it may support both those narratives. Why? Because I, too, was trying to get the most action-packed, shock-factor images. Yes, some bad things happened, some unnecessary and stupid things, but 95% of the protest was done as it should be, peacefully. But that won’t get me or anyone else a Pulitzer, make for interesting TV, or sell a single box of Tide.
Protestors sit in peaceful protest while a woman walks in front of them
