John --

What happened this past weekend in Los Angeles was not a protest—it was lawlessness, plain and simple.

Federal officers were attacked. Government buildings were vandalized. Businesses were looted. Rocks and scooters were hurled at law enforcement. And incredibly, some in the media called it “mostly peaceful.” ABC News even described the scene as “just a bunch of people having fun watching cars burn.”

This isn’t free speech. This is the unraveling of civil society.

Worse, it was sparked by a California Assemblymember who livestreamed federal immigration officers simply walking into their own building. No raid. No confrontation. Just government workers showing up to do their jobs—and it kicked off an entire weekend of destruction.

We can debate the use of deportations—but there’s no debate about this: federal officials should never be violently attacked for doing their jobs. The idea that they’re somehow to blame for defending themselves is madness.

By Friday, local police said they had things under control. By Sunday, they admitted they were overrun. And yet Governor Newsom and Mayor Bass criticized the federal response and the National Guard for trying to restore order.

Let me give you just one example of what this chaos is protecting:

On June 7, ICE arrested Cuong Chanh Phan, an illegal immigrant and convicted gang member. In 1994, he returned to a high school graduation party with semiautomatic weapons and opened fire. Two teens were killed. Seven more were wounded.

There’s a clear choice in this country: law and order—or lawlessness.

Too many politicians have chosen the mob. I won’t.

San Diego County District 5 Supervisor Jim Desmond
https://www.supervisorjimdesmond.com/