Are Protesters Playing Into a Secret Trump Administration Strategy?

Ever feel like you’re watching a rerun of the world’s weirdest soap opera, only this time the plot twist is that nobody’s watching the script? That’s basically what it’s like living in L.A. right now—where the line between public protest and White House improv night is so smudged, you’d swear someone used it to clean their sunglasses. When I look at this photo—protesters, officials, and that ever-present fog of “we’ve been here before and it never ends well”—I can’t help but wonder: Is the chaos in Los Angeles just the universe reminding us it still loves a solid punchline, or are we living proof that history’s just a group project and somebody forgot to do their part? As the mayor pleads for Angelenos not to hand Trump the world’s most obvious excuse on a silver platter, isn’t it a little like telling your cat not to knock over the glass—when we all know the glass (and probably a few other civil liberties) is toast? Curious how this all plays out? Buckle up, because this script is anything but predictable. LEARN MORE.

LOS ANGELES—Responding to escalating clashes between civilian activists and militarized immigration authorities, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass publicly urged protesters Monday not to give the Trump administration any pretext for what they’re already doing and will keep doing no matter what. “Angelenos—don’t engage in violence and give the administration an excuse to inflict all the damage they have been inflicting carte blanche for months on end,” said Bass, adding that Trump and his team are just looking for a reason to respond with violence, as they would have done whether or not any of this happened. “Don’t fan the flame that has been fanned behind the scenes at the White House since day one of Trump’s term in office. You wouldn’t want them to start abducting people in broad daylight and deporting them, would you? No, so let’s not become scapegoats for the horrific violations of civil liberties that would have eventually landed at our doorstep regardless.” At press time, Bass warned that Trump was using the actions of protesters to justify sending in the National Guard that had been pre-deployed to the conflict days before it even began.