Los Angeles is burning, and the finger-pointing has already begun. Violent protests, sparked by opposition to Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, spiraled into chaos with looting, destruction, and torched vehicles across the city.
Fox News reported that over two days, demonstrations in Los Angeles escalated from peaceful objections to federal immigration policy into full-scale riots, leaving businesses ransacked and streets aflame.
The unrest kicked off in Compton on June 7, 2025, with reports of widespread violence and images of law enforcement struggling to extinguish fires amid the turmoil.
Photographs captured the scene of a determined officer battling flames, a stark symbol of a city under siege. It’s hard to look at these images and not wonder why backup wasn’t already on the ground.
By June 8, 2025, the chaos had spread to Downtown Los Angeles, with clashes between protesters and police intensifying near LA City Hall.
Pictures from that day show officers moving in on demonstrators, while elsewhere in North LA, several cars were set ablaze during confrontations. If this isn’t a wake-up call for stronger action, what is?
Patrick Gipson, L.A. County GOP Vice Chair and a former sheriff’s deputy, didn’t mince words about the disaster unfolding. “These riots, they’re completely unnecessary,” he declared. But when leadership hesitates, as Gipson suggests, unnecessary becomes inevitable—and small businesses pay the price.
Gipson pointed the blame squarely at Governor Gavin Newsom for failing to deploy the National Guard promptly. “If he had called in the National Guard earlier, we would’ve saved billions of dollars,” Gipson argued. It’s a fair critique when every delayed hour means more destruction for hardworking Angelenos.
Gipson also aimed at Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, suggesting she’s tethered to directives from Sacramento. “She’s taking her instructions from Gavin Newsom,” he noted. If true, this chain of command seems more like a chain of chaos, leaving local officials powerless to act decisively.
Adding fuel to the fire, Gipson criticized the state’s broader approach to crime, particularly the underfunding of Proposition 36, meant to counter earlier lenient policies.
“Store owners can’t even go after criminals,” he lamented. When shopkeepers and patrons live in fear, something’s gone wrong with public safety priorities.
Law enforcement, according to Gipson, is caught in an impossible bind. “They’re handcuffed,” he said bluntly, describing officers too afraid of legal backlash to follow their training. Without backing from leaders like Newsom or Bass, hesitation becomes the default, and hesitation, as Gipson warns, gets people hurt.
The bureaucratic mess only makes things worse, as Gipson explained, the tangled web of accountability. “The sheriff answers to the Board of Supervisors. The LAPD chief answers to the mayor,” he said, highlighting how delays in arrests let violence fester. It’s a system that seems designed to fail when swift action is needed most.
Newsom’s office, meanwhile, pushed back hard against the criticism, insisting the National Guard wasn’t necessary.
“State and local law enforcement were responding,” they claimed, dismissing calls for additional troops as a misunderstanding of public safety. But when cars are burning and businesses are looted, that response feels more like denial than a solution.
Newsom also tried to shift the narrative, pinning some of the escalation on federal rhetoric and policies.
Yet, as Gipson countered, “Newsom is setting up for his race in 2028.” Playing the blame game while LA smolders is the kind of political opportunism that leaves communities in the lurch.
Gipson’s frustration with state leadership extends to a decade-long pattern of neglect toward law enforcement. “They’ve been defunded, defamed, and demoralized,” he charged. It’s a bitter pill for officers who risk their lives only to feel abandoned by the very system they serve.