Stephen Miller Behind Draconian Orders That Set Off L.A. Protests

Direct orders from Stephen Miller ignited the Los Angeles protests, leading to the precarious, highly militarized situation the city is currently facing. 

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Miller, frustrated with ICE’s failure to meet their lofty deportation quota, held an intense meeting at ICE headquarters  last month and bet his agents that they could go to places like Home Depot or 7-Eleven and start arresting people. 

“Who here thinks they can do it?” Miller said, asking the audience directly. Officers were repeatedly told to do “what they needed to do” to make arrests. 

ICE followed suit, flooding Los Angeles’s Westlake neighborhood with agents, accosting immigrants at their jobs and setting off resistance from community members, which then in turn led to federal agents deploying tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash-bang grenades on American citizens. Miller, who is from Santa Monica, has long been obsessed with Los Angeles as a symbol of everything he hates: multicultural, multilingual, vibrant.

Los Angeles is only the beginning of this immigration crackdown, and Miller’s aggressive, by any means necessary tactics will only continue to be met with community protest, which in turn will lead to more Marines and National Guardsmen in the street (and without rules of civilian engagement at the time of this writing). This cycle is exactly what Miller and the administration want, as they continue to use the response to their extrajudicial detainments to further justify their actions. 

Defense officials are working overtime to throw together guidance in the event that U.S. Marines—sent to Los Angeles Monday—are required to use force on civilians.

The rare prospect is the design of Donald Trump, who ordered 700 Marines to the city amid ongoing protests intended to block ICE raids and thwart his administration’s immigration agenda.

The soldiers are coming from Twentynine Palms, California, and have been trained in deescalation, crowd control, and self-defense, the Associated Press reported Tuesday. But rules on how the active duty soldiers should engage in force are still being drafted, according to nine anonymous U.S. officials who spoke with the AP.

The troops are experienced in active combat zones, having spent time in Syria and Afghanistan. But sending troops overseas is starkly different from sending them to one of America’s most populous cities. In war zones, soldiers are guided by the rules of engagement, but on American soil they will be guided by standing rules for the use of force, which must be agreed upon by Northern Command.

One U.S. official told the AP that each Marine should receive a card indicating what they can and cannot do. Another U.S. official told the publication that the troops will be armed with “normal service weapons” and will be carrying helmets, shields, and gas masks, but they will not be carrying tear gas.

Drafted use-of-force documents obtained by the newswire indicate that the Pentagon has so far written off warning shots, deciding that they should be prohibited. Marines sent to the city are instructed to deescalate but are not prohibited from acting in self-defense, according to the documents.

They are also drafting rules on how Marines should go about protecting federal personnel and property, or detaining civilians if troops are under assault.

Trump’s order violated the Posse Comitatus Act, a federal law dating back to 1878 that forbids the government from using the military for law enforcement purposes. The White House could have bypassed the military doctrine by invoking the Insurrection Act, which allows the president to utilize the military during periods of rebellion or mass civil unrest, but had not done so by the time of the order. (Trump has still not invoked the Insurrection Act, as of the time of publishing.)

The Marines are joining 4,100 National Guard members that Trump similarly tasked with disassembling the protests, against the wishes of local government officials. On Monday, California sued the Trump administration to roll back the National Guard’s deployment, citing logistical challenges that L.A. and state officials said would make it more difficult to safely handle the protests.

In a press conference announcing the lawsuit Monday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta told reporters that Trump had “trampled” California’s sovereignty.

“We don’t take lightly to the president abusing his authority and unlawfully mobilizing California National Guard troops,” Bonta said.

The president claimed on Truth Social Tuesday morning that Los Angeles would be “burning to the ground” without his militaristic directive.

Trump also endorsed threats to arrest Newsom, telling reporters that he’d “do it.”

Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman was spotted Monday night chatting with Steve Bannon, according to Politico Playbook.

Fetterman, who has displayed his own dramatic rightward shift, was reportedly dining at a top MAGA hangout near Capitol Hill with Breitbart’s Matthew Boyle, when the conservative news site’s old director wandered up and spoke to the pair for roughly 20 minutes.

Bannon took over Breitbart in 2012, and directed the site to publish patently pugnacious rhetoric and conspiracy theories cooked up by far-right activists and white supremacists. In 2016, Bannon stepped down to join Trump’s presidential campaign as its CEO, and went on to mastermind the authoritarian MAGA movement.

Fetterman broke with his party yet again on Monday to condemn the anti-ICE protesters in Los Angeles. “I unapologetically stand for free speech, peaceful demonstrations, and immigration—but this is not that. This is anarchy and true chaos,” he wrote in a post on X.

“My party loses the moral high ground when we refuse to condemn setting cars on fire, destroying buildings, and assaulting law enforcement,” he added.

Bannon has a slightly different view of the unrest in Los Angeles, which has been spurred on by Donald Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard, and now the Marines. “We’re in the Third World War,” he said in an interview published on Monday. “And it’s a battlefield that’s everywhere, including in downtown Los Angeles.”

Last month, a damning report said that some of Fetterman’s staff were concerned about his increasingly erratic behavior, and Republican lawmakers flocked to support the Democratic senator with whom they’d inexplicably come to agree.

Fetterman was one of the more than two dozen Democrats to support the Laken Riley Act, which would, among other things, allow the government to detain undocumented immigrants accused of committing nonviolent crimes.

President Trump is sending 700 Marines to Los Angeles, allegedly to help police—who have not asked for it—with protests that have occurred in downtown Los Angeles. This is an extreme escalation from the Trump administration, an aggressive demonstration of force by the government against its own citizens.

The troops are set to arrive on Monday evening, and without rules of engagement—which puts the lives of countless demonstrators at risk. 

“The rules of engagement here, we are told, are still being finalized,” said CNN’s Natasha Bertrand. “And defense department lawyers are also looking at the kinds of rules of engagement these Marines will have as they encounter protesters, possibly on the streets of Los Angeles.” 

Hundreds of Marines in a city on edge from the impact of ICE’s indiscriminate deportation raids is a recipe for a devastating tragedy.  

The deployment, moreover, almost certainly is illegal. No leader in Los Angeles or California has said that it’s necessary—the situation is not out of control, and it certainly does not need hundreds of Marines and National Guard soldiers to maintain order. Instead, this is a blanket display of force, meant to intimidate protesters and municipalities that dare to stand up to an administration that is sweeping thousands of people off the street. 

This piece has been updated.

MAGA-whisperer Steve Bannon—while claiming that he’s “taken out” Elon Musk—believes the L.A. anti-ICE protests are the start of World War III.  

“We’re in the Third World War,” he told The Spectator in an interview published on Monday. “And it’s a battlefield that’s everywhere, including in downtown Los Angeles.” He also posited that the clash between police and protesters is just the beginning of a summer-long Democratic psyop designed to destabilize the country.

“[Democrats] allowed in 10 to 13 million illegal alien invaders into this country. They all must go home. All. Not some. All must go home. They must be deported. They must go home or we don’t have a country, OK?” he said. “We’re in for another summer of riots. They just kicked it off.… The question here is, who told the police to step down? I think there’s only 10 arrests. The LAPD allowed that thing to metastasize. Who gave the order? Whoever. Whoever was the government official that gave that order should be arrested this morning.”

Bannon also echoed Trump, calling for suspension of habeas corpus and the arrest of L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and California Governor Gavin Newsom, comparing the latter to John C. Calhoun and his conflict with President Andrew Jackson. 

“Andrew Jackson said, ‘Hey, if this guy goes against me, I’m assembling the US Army, and I’m going to hang him from the first lamppost.… If Gavin Newsom is saying, ‘hey, come on, arrest me.’ Hey, well, if he gets in the way of federal officials trying to sort this mess out, he should be arrested.”

Bannon, cantankerous as ever, then moved on to his plans to financially attack Elon Musk and the other monopolistic “tech bros,” who he thinks are a “bunch of fucking pussies.” 

 “We’re going to break up Facebook,” he told The Spectator. “We’re going to break up Google. We’re going to break up Amazon. We’re going to break … I think hopefully we get to eventually break up Walmart. You’ve got too much concentration of private power. It’s obvious it’s anti-populist. It’s anti–economic nationalist.’

This “we” that Bannon keeps referring to is troubling. While he was relegated to the periphery of the MAGAsphere after his fallout with Trump a week after the white supremacist riot in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, the former White House chief executive has returned to the fold with a more naked commitment to fascism. It is Bannon who lies at the heart of the internal GOP rift between more traditional conservatives, or “neocons” to him, and the right-wing ethnonationalism of MAGA. 

Trump’s extreme immigration agenda, along with the recent ouster of Elon Musk, aligns seamlessly with Bannon’s perspective, suggesting that he is very much back as a close confidant and adviser to the president. And that will only result in an even more brutal, more authoritarian Trump administration.

Attorney General Pam Bondi’s brother is not popular with the D.C. Bar.

Bradley Bondi was practically crushed in his bid to become the president of the D.C. Bar Association Monday, earning just a fraction of the votes that his opponent, employment lawyer Diane Seltzer, received.

Seltzer earned more than 90 percent of the vote with 34,982 ballots. Bondi, the sibling of the nation’s most prominent attorney, received just 3,490 votes.

The D.C. Bar has approximately 121,000 members, making it the largest unified bar in the country. But the number of votes cast against Bondi makes this election season “extraordinary,” D.C. Bar CEO Robert Spagnoletti explained, during a press call Monday afternoon. That’s because the average number of ballots cast per election for the last five decades has been roughly 7,000, meaning that five times the typical number of voters turned out to naysay Bondi’s chance to run the group.

“Dozens of D.C. Bar members put themselves forward for leadership positions during the call for nominations, and each candidate on the slate is very well qualified to serve in a leadership role,” Spagnoletti said, underscoring the “apolitical” nature of the Bar.

Seltzer was endorsed by nearly two dozen former D.C. Bar Association presidents, who sidled up to her at a time when Donald Trump has made the judiciary a clear target of his administration. The president and his allies have slandered judges who rule against his executive agenda as “rogue” and “deranged,” undermined the courts’ authority by deriding their constitutionally provided powers as “tyrannical,” and have attempted to root out dissent among the branch by placing MAGA loyalists in key seats.

As concerns over Bondi’s familial political ties grew among Bar members, Bondi released a statement insisting that he would not allow the legal association to become a political organization.

“The D.C. Bar is not, and must not become, a political organization,” Bondi said in March. “I will fight vigorously against any attempts externally or internally to change that. The D.C. Bar should continue its role as a nonpartisan, nonpolitical organization committed to the service of its members.”

Donald Trump just rubber-stamped the arrest of California Governor Gavin Newsom amid the ongoing anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles. 

While Trump arrived back at the White House from Camp David Monday, a reporter asked him  what ICE acting Director Tom Homan should do about Newsom, who had dared the border czar to come after him next.

Apparently, Trump thought it would be a brilliant public relations move. 

“I would do it if I were Tom,” Trump replied. “I think it’s great. Gavin likes the publicity, but I think it would be a great thing. He’s done a terrible job.”

“Look, I like Gavin Newsom, he’s a nice guy, but he’s grossly incompetent, everybody knows,” Trump continued. 

Newsom swiftly responded to Trump’s green light. “The President of the United States just called for the arrest of a sitting Governor. This is a day I hoped I would never see in America,” Newsom wrote in a post on X. “I don’t care if you’re a Democrat or a Republican this is a line we cannot cross as a nation—this is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism.”

Newsom took the president to task Sunday, calling him a “stone-cold liar” for not even mentioning Los Angeles in a phone call the two had, and then bypassing his authority to deploy the National Guard in Los Angeles. 

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Monday that California would sue the Trump administration for calling in the National Guard, saying that the state’s sovereignty had been “trampled” by the president. In a post on X, Newsom said that Trump’s decision to call in the National Guard was a deliberate move to make things worse. 

“This is a manufactured crisis,” Newsom wrote. “[Trump] is creating fear and terror to take over a state militia and violate the U.S. constitution.”

Newsom called for states to reject Trump’s overreach. “This is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism that threatens the foundation of our republic,” he wrote. “We cannot let it stand.”

Homan has pushed back on the claim that he threatened to detain Newsom specifically, though he recalled responding to a question about detaining Newsom by saying that no one was above the law. 

Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard is the first time it has been federalized since 1992, when Los Angeles erupted into riots after the police arrest and beating of Rodney King.*

* This piece has been updated to correct the nature of the 1992 riots.

Vice President JD Vance is thoroughly committed to immigration authorities only rounding up the most violent criminals … oh wait, no it looks like he wants to go after the menswear guy from Twitter.

Derek Guy, the menswear enthusiast known for his searing criticism of the right’s sartorial sensibilities, on Sunday publicly shared his status as an undocumented immigrant living in the United States. Now the vice president, who has more than once been the subject of Guy’s posting for his ill-fitting suits and wretched ties, is threatening to have him deported.

In a lengthy post on X, Guy described his experience as an undocumented immigrant, after his family immigrated from Vietnam when he was an infant. “The lack of legal immigration has totally shaped my life. It has made every interaction with the law much scarier. It has shaped which opportunities I could or could not get. It has taken an emotional toll, as this legal issue hangs over your head like a black cloud,” Guy wrote.

“Ultimately, I hope me sharing this story helps push back against the idea that all undocumented immigrants are MS-13 members. I know many people in my position and they are all like your neighbors,” he added.

Clearly still holding a grudge over Guy’s unsolicited fashion advice, the terminally online Vance took the opportunity to level a veiled threat.

“JD Vance I know you’re reading this and you have the opportunity to do the funniest thing ever,” a user from an account @growing_daniel wrote about Guy’s announcement.

Vance replied to the post with a gif of Jack Nicholson slowly nodding his head with a deranged look in his eye, saying, “Yes!”

While Vance’s post is likely only trolling, the increased threat to undocumented immigrants is very very real, as the administration has pushed to increase the rate of arrests and openly admitted that they are not just targeting people with criminal records or alleged gang affiliations.

Guy had his own response to Vance, and it was true to form. “i think i can outrun you in these clothes,” Guy replied, including a photo of Vance seated onstage at CPAC, where his too-tight suit pants rode up his calves revealing tall black socks and another where Vance sat at a table ready to eat a large brisket sandwich.

“you are tweeting for likes. im tweeting to be mentioned in the National Archives and Records,” Guy wrote in another post.

Guy even told Vance exactly where immigration authorities could find him.

“here is my house” he wrote, adding an image of a Men’s Wearhouse.

Donald Trump still believes sending the National Guard into Los Angeles is a stellar idea.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has already accused the executive order of being unconstitutional, and announced Monday the Golden State’s intention to sue the Trump administration for the overextended breach.

But the president didn’t have the desires of Californians in mind when news of the impending lawsuit broke. Instead, he was waiting for their gratitude.

“We made a great decision in sending the National Guard to deal with the violent, instigated riots in California,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “If we had not done so, Los Angeles would have been completely obliterated.” 

“The very incompetent ‘Governor,’  Gavin Newscum, and ‘Mayor,’ Karen Bass, should be saying, ‘THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP, YOU ARE SO WONDERFUL. WE WOULD BE NOTHING WITHOUT YOU, SIR.’ Instead, they choose to lie to the People of California and America by saying that we weren’t needed, and that these are ‘peaceful protests,’” the president continued. “Just one look at the pictures and videos of the Violence and Destruction tells you all you have to know.” 

“We will always do what is needed to keep our Citizens SAFE, so we can, together, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” he added.

In an interview with podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen, Newsom warned that the escalating situation in Los Angeles should serve as a warning sign for communities around the country as to just how far the Trump administration will go to execute its anti-immigration agenda.

“This is a preview for things to come. This isn’t about L.A. per se, it’s about us today, and you—everyone watching—tomorrow. Donald Trump is unhinged right now,” Newsom said.

Thousands of locals flooded the streets of Los Angeles over the weekend in a stunning visual protest of the president’s agenda. Protesters blocked off a major freeway, trashed Waymos (self-driving cars), and organized outside City Hall and the Metropolitan Detention Center. In reaction, law enforcement officials shot rubber bullets and fired tear gas and flash bangs into crowds of civilians. The FBI added protesters suspected of throwing rocks at police cars to their Most Wanted list, and ominously threatened to intervene in the anti-Trump display without guidance from California or the White House.

At Trump’s behest, roughly 300 National Guard members arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday to squash the protests—the beginning of what is expected to be a wave of some 2,000 troops issued to the city.

The founder of Latinas for Trump is now denouncing President Trump.

Florida State Senator Ileana Garcia, whose organization played a key role in expanding Trump’s popularity among Latinos, thinks that the agenda that she rallied hundreds of people to vote for has gone too far in its indiscriminate crackdown on immigration.

“As the state senator who represents her district and the daughter of Cuban refugees, who are now just as American, if not more so than Stephen Miller, I am deeply disappointed by these actions. And I will not stand down,” Garcia wrote on X last weekend. “I want to put myself on record: ‘This is not what we voted for. I have always supported Trump, @realDonaldTrump, through thick and thin. However, this is unacceptable and inhumane. I understand the importance of deporting criminal aliens, but what we are witnessing are arbitrary measures to hunt down people who are complying with their immigration hearings—in many cases, with credible fear of persecution claims—all driven by a Miller-like desire to satisfy a self-fabricated deportation goal. This undermines the sense of fairness and justice that the American people value.’”

Florida congresswoman and Trump supporter María Elvira Salazar felt similarly.

“I am fully aware, and heartbroken, about the uncertainty now gripping Florida’s 27th District because of the recent immigration actions of the Administration. Arrests in immigration courts, including people with I-220A and pending asylum cases, the termination of the CHNV program, which has left thousands exposed to deportation, and other similar measures, all jeopardize our duty to due process that every democracy must guarantee,” she wrote. “I remain clear in my position: anyone with a pending asylum case, status-adjustment petition, or similar claim deserves to go through the legal process.”

While Garcia and Salazar are certainly correct and courageous in their rebukes, this vicious immigration campaign does indeed seem to be what they voted for. Trump promised the largest deportation campaign in U.S. history, and he’s trying his hardest to fulfill it, pushing to arrest 3,000 people a day. Now many of the Latinos who voted for him are recoiling at his agenda in action. Only time will tell how this development will impact both 2026 and the GOP’s long-term dream of a robust multiracial conservative coalition.