‘Police don’t protect and serve us, they terrorise us’: eyewitness report from LA

Protesters used metal fences as a barricade to protect themselves in downtown LA (Picture: Socialist Worker)

In Los Angeles, the police initiate violence at every turn. 

Hundreds of thousands poured onto the streets of LA on Saturday for the “No Kings” protests against Donald Trump that took place across the United States. 

They peacefully demonstrated from the morning, only to be met with shocking police brutality.

At 4pm, the police unleashed a wave of violence. It started with police on horseback charging down a street in downtown LA, forcing protesters to flee. Cops then began corralling protesters and sweeping out streets. 

At 4.15pm, police escalated their aggression and fired tear gas into crowds. The police then started firing flash-bang grenades into certain streets to clear them. 

Then came the rubber bullets, whistling by as cops fired indiscriminately into unarmed and peaceful protesters. 

One hit a person standing next to Socialist Worker’s reporter. “They are firing flash-bang grenades, rubber bullets and tear gas and people wonder who the fucking agitators are? Fucking pigs,” the protester said.

Solidarity was everywhere. Protesters with first aid kits bandaged those bleeding from being hit.  People distributed water and anti-tear gas liquids to those who needed them, as well as masks and face coverings. 

And people were checking on each other all the time and everywhere. “This is how the police treat us for speaking out,” one protester told Socialist Worker. 

Protesters with tear-streamed eyes fleed from tear gas and flash-bang grenades—and then turn back to face the cops. They reestablish a frontline—a back-and-forth of resistance and repression. 

One protester had been shot by a rubber bullet and was recovering on the sidewalk. “They didn’t move forward or give any signal, they just started shooting. I’ve been out here everyday,” he told Socialist Worker. 

He then stood up and said, “I’m heading back down there to the frontline.” “Hey mister, give me another one!” he shouted towards the cops.

People were picking up tear gas canisters and throwing them back.

Another person, after pouring water into their eyes to wash out the tear gas, turned back to face the cops. They shouted at the top of his lungs, “Fuck Ice!”.

In LA, the police initiate the violence at every turn.

Don’t believe the lie of “violent protesters”.

This is the moment police started indiscriminately firing tear gas at protesters on Saturday #Acab pic.twitter.com/fILiMRqr9r

— Socialist Worker (@socialistworker) June 15, 2025

Many times protesters would walk back down to where they had retreated from. They held their hands in the air and chanted, “Peaceful protest, peaceful protest.” 

The cops tried to kettle protesters and thousands of people retreated to the city hall. Four people carried one injured person who couldn’t walk. Another walked by with blood streaming down their head.

“Hold the line!” one protester shouted, “Don’t run!” The cops were shooting a barrage of rubber bullets. People started using metal fences as barricades at the front of the confrontation.

A rubber bullet

At 6pm, the the police launched an all-out assault with everything in their arsenal—rubber bullets, flash-bangs, tear gas, the whole lot. Everywhere the air smelt of tear gas as protesters were forced to retreat. 

Ethan told Socialist Worker, “The police are supposed to protect and serve but it seems like they just terrorise us”. He said he felt “anger, just straight anger”—“and disbelief”. 

“But you also saw it coming,” Ethan added. “Trump has always hated immigrants and this was the inevitable conclusion.”

He slammed Ice for “illegally kidnapping those in our communities, from school graduation, from immigration appointments”.

Ethan said he “wasn’t sure” what the way forward is. But he added, “We need to keep up the pressure. 

“If we don’t, we send the message it is okay to come and kidnap our community members. We can’t let that happen.”

The authoritarianism of the US state was on display on Saturday—but people remain determined to keep coming onto the streets. 

Ashley, a health worker, told Socialist Worker, “When those in power deny us our rights we have a duty to resist. If we don’t we might run out of time and get stuck in a fascist regime.” 

Another protester, Kianah, told Socialist Worker, “We have seen so much cruelty over the last year and half in Gaza that we have become desensitised. 

“These protests are a reminder we are here and we aren’t afraid of them—Ice or the military.”

‘I feel hope for the first time’ 

A festival atmosphere reigned in LA on Saturday. There was little official organisation or stewarding, no speakers at the end or the start—but a self-organised march that went all round downtown. 

From then onwards, there was a constant presence outside federal buildings as people rallied throughout the day.

“Witnessing a unifying event like this is the first time I have felt hopeful in a long time,” Emma, who works in downtown LA, told Socialist Worker. 

“Trump’s war is being inflicted on all of us and we all have something to lose. It is heartening to see those affected come together.” 

Emma argued that it is “an old playbook to scapegoat”. “It is nothing new—it resurges because it is effective,” she said. “Disenfranchised people are susceptible to Trump’s divide tactics and it is frustrating and sad.” 

The next step for protesters is “to stay unified and strong”—“we have to keep fighting and showing up.”

‘I will fight for my parents tooth and nail’ 

Trump chose to launch mass round-ups in LA last week because it is a working class, multiracial city with a large migrant population. He wants to make an example of it. 

Ice sends fear and anxiety through migrants, but there is also defiance and hope. Many of the protesters are the children of first-generation migrants, who are determined to fight for their right to a life free from fear in the US. 

Miguel, a finance worker whose parents are migrants, told Socialist Worker, “My parents fought tooth and nail for everything I have. 

“It is only fair I do the same for them. I am protesting for everyone who can’t to try and provide a voice.”

He argued, “The more disruption we can cause, the more people stand against what is wrong, the more it will penetrate into Trump’s office”.

Miguel added that he felt “unity”. “I feel united with my people. We need to have each other’s backs—and not just on Ice. We need it on the LGBT+ community, on Palestine, on everything,” he said.

‘I used to be conservative, Trump’s changed that’ 

The uprising in LA is radicalising large numbers of people. 

There are people who voted Democrat, but now rage at their inaction in the face of Trump’s assaults and look to the power of the streets. 

Richard, a director and cinematographer, says he “was a conservative all my life until Trump showed up”. “What changed it was being a human,” he told Socialist Worker. “My wife is an immigrant, all of my friends are immigrants.” 

And his message for Trump supporters was—“Stop pretending your racism is patriotism.”

One float on the march carried a banner that read, “Deport racists,” while another protester carried a massive banner of the US constitution. 

Jeffrey, a queer activist, said that he is “furious about how Ice is treating people”. “We say no to the dictator and king that Trump wants to be,” he told Socialist Worker. “We can’t sit by. We have to speak up for all marginalised groups.”

Some of the home-made signs said, “I prefer my Ice crushed, “Melt Ice,” “I drink my tequila warm because fuck Ice, “Ice belongs in coffee, not in the US.”

Another protester said Trump’s whole administration is “racist” with “an agenda to go against anyone that isn’t white”. 

The protester slammed the Democrats who “aren’t doing enough”. “They are soft and I voted for them. They did their own backstabbing which is a big part of why this is happening,” he argued. 

He argued that it was crucial to “continue to show up in numbers”. “Division between people is what he wants. He is against minorities, LGBT+ people, the poor,” he said. 

“We need to stand together. We need to show that the people run this, not them.”