Violent Protests In Los Angeles Are No Longer Free Speech - These Are Criminal Acts -- My Latest in the California Post

Creating Moral Equivalency Between Legal and Illegal Acts Comes With A Steep Price Tag

I have penned a second column for the new California Post, entitled, “These Aren’t Protestors, They Are Criminals.” (The Post is always ready with eye-grabbing headlines!). I will link below my commentary.

Los Angeles is once again on edge, with violent street protests erupting around federal facilities and turning parts of the city into scenes of confrontation rather than civic expression. What began as opposition to federal immigration enforcement has, in too many instances, slid into vandalism, assaults on officers, and deliberate efforts to obstruct lawful government operations. That escalation did not come out of nowhere. It is the foreseeable result of decades of political messaging from liberals that treated immigration law as optional and enforcement as suspect from the start.

One of the most damaging myths in California politics is the idea that illegal entry into the United States is some kind of minor technical violation — the moral equivalent of jaywalking. It is not. It is a breach of federal law with real consequences for border security, labor markets, public spending, and the credibility of the entire immigration system. Yet for years, leaders in this state have minimized it, ridiculed enforcement, and portrayed anyone who insists the law should be upheld as cold or extreme.

There has also been a sustained effort to blur the line between people who follow the legal immigration process and those who do not. In speeches, press conferences, and media coverage, legal status is often treated as an impolite distinction rather than a foundational one. The implicit message is hard to miss: how someone entered the country is framed as a secondary detail, and the law itself becomes negotiable.

Meanwhile, California’s liberal leaders have expanded access to public services while limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities. To me, that combination sends a clear signal. It tells people that enforcement will be sporadic, that consequences are unlikely, and that political leaders are more interested in resistance than in upholding the law. When the government projects a posture long enough, it shapes expectations.

So when federal authorities step in to enforce federal statutes, outrage is suddenly organized in communities that have been reassured for years that the rules would not truly apply to them. People are told that enforcement is unjust, that consequences are cruel, and that their status will effectively be overlooked. Then, when enforcement occurs, it is cast as an extraordinary provocation rather than the predictable outcome of ignoring the law.

What we are witnessing in Los Angeles is not just anger. It is the collision between a political narrative and legal reality — and reality always wins that fight.

My Second Column In The California Post…

I have a piece in the California Post that appeared yesterday, which, of course, I think is worth reading. Below is the first part; click the link to read the whole thing!

THESE ARE CRIMINALS, NOT PROTESTERS…

This weekend, what began as a protest in Los Angeles turned into violence.

Not debate. Not a peaceful assembly. Violence.

As you watch the scenes unfold on television, it feels like something that should be
happening in Iran or Afghanistan — not in Los Angeles.

Downtown mobs clashed with federal officers outside the Metropolitan Detention
Center.

Protesters were seen throwing water bottles, rocks, debris, and other objects at federal and assisting law enforcement officers.

A dumpster was moved into the street and set on fire outside the federal facility.

The image was unmistakable: street chaos aimed directly at the seat of federal authority in the center of America’s second-largest city.

This is happening yesterday and today — not in some unstable foreign capital.

It is happening in Los Angeles, on streets where families work, live and commute….

Now, read the entire column here.

For our paid subscribers, I have a video commentary to go with this post… Just below the paywall.