‘All the violence comes from the state’: voices from the LA uprising

On the streets of LA (Picture: Marx21)

Donald Trump is determined to use the military to crush the uprising in Los Angeles. But people remain on the streets six days after protests exploded against “military-style” immigration raids in the city. 

And protests have spread to other cities—with a day of action planned across the United States on Saturday. 

Photographer Nick Stern was released from hospital less than 24 hours ago after police shot him with a rubber bullet at the weekend. 

He wasn’t surprised to be hit. He’s been hit before—five years ago while covering the Black Lives Matter movement. He told Socialist Worker that the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is “trigger happy”. 

“They’re given these weapons, not just rubber bullets but all sorts of things,” he said. “They’re given lethal things and they abuse them.” 

John Parker is a steering committee member of the Community Self Defense Coalition, which led the protests in LA. 

The coalition has been running workshops and rapid response units before the uprising. Whenever Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) show up, they attend and help prevent raids and deportations. 

He told Socialist Worker, “Ice has always burst in and tried to take people—usually without warrants.” 

John hit back at Trump’s and the media’s attempts to smear protesters, saying, “All the violence has come from the military and the police being sent in.”

“It was all peaceful, all these rallies and marches,” he said. “You’re seeing these videos of people throwing rocks at the police and starting fires, but you’re not shown what happened before that.” 

The uprising in LA goes far beyond the left, migrant rights groups and people who’ve been politically active before. John says it’s bigger than during BLM with “even more people coming out” in LA. 

“We probably saw 50,000 come out on Sunday,” he said. “What’s happening now has gained momentum. 

“It has gained support from such wide sections of the community that I think it’s even wider and bigger than the BLM movement.

“Now you’re seeing white middle class people with the working class, with black and Latino people. They’re walking arm in arm together.”

“We’re seeing black and brown people really come together.” He said he “doesn’t think we’ve seen anything like it since the Black Panthers and Brown Berets” in the 1970s. 

I saw a video of farm workers running across the farm they were working on. They were being chased like scared rabbits by these men in military uniforms.

The reach—and sheer horror—of Trump’s deportations is fuelling revulsion and support for the protests. 

Nick added, “Trump claimed that he would be deporting murderers, child molesters and thieves. But the people they’re snatching are mothers, fathers, children. We’re seeing mothers with babies in their arms being grabbed.”

“I saw a video of farm workers running across the farm they were working on. They were being chased like scared rabbits by these men in military uniforms.”

These sort of scenes have led to some institutions standing up to Ice. 

John said, “Schools and local businesses are refusing Ice and police into their property. We can’t stop them from being in public but the community can shut them out.”

That’s been happening more since Ice went into a high school and snatched a 16 year old high school student. 

“They just went into his school and took him,” he said. “His parents don’t know where he is—I can’t imagine what that’s like for them.”

The basic task of the left is to unequivocally stand with the revolt—and oppose the violence of the police, military and Ice. 

But, when faced with the might of the US state, the question is what force has the power to disrupt its power.

The working class welding its collective power—crucially through strikes—would take the uprising forward. 

John pointed to the mass marches and strikes for migrant rights in 2006. The Border Protection, Anti-terrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act sought to criminalise anyone found to help an immigrant enter or stay in the US. 

He said, “It had passed the House of Representatives which was run by Democrats then, and we knew it would pass the Senate. One million people in LA alone came out, with millions more across the country. 

“It was May Day and a weekday too—so that really cut into their profits. After those demonstrations nationwide, you didn’t hear about the bill again. It disappeared. That’s what happens when you attack their profits.”

There have been small instances of workers taking action, but the union leaders haven’t moved in a serious way against Trump. 

John said, “The rank and file are really a lot more radical than the top of the unions.” But he hopes things might be shifting after police arrested, hospitalised and charged Service Employees International Union (SEIU) president David Huerta on the demonstration last Friday.

John says he “knows that people are looking to America and taking inspiration from LA”. “We need unity,” he said. 

“There’s a lot of disagreements on the left but we all need to come together over this.”