To Live and Fight in LA: People’s City Council on the Growing Mobilization in the Streets Against ICE

In early June, demonstrations exploded after ICE carried out militarized raids in working-class communities and workplaces in Los Angeles, CA, leading to large confrontations between ICE, the LAPD, and angry community members who rallied in defense of imprisoned family members and neighbors. The next day, confrontations again erupted, after ICE agents attacked protesters outside of a Home Depot, while people bravely defended their neighborhood from violent raids. The following day, Trump federalized several hundred National Guard soldiers, sending them to guard a downtown federal building, as clashes exploded in the streets between demonstrators and law enforcement, followed by the Mayor putting in place a curfew, as police violently attacked protesters and journalists.

LAPD FIRING ON US AT POINT BLANK. TAKING MULTIPLE SHOTS AY THE CHEST AND HEAD AREA!!FUCK LAPD!!

— People’s City Council – Los Angeles (@pplscitycouncil.bsky.social) 2025-06-10T04:53:17.025Z

But while the spectacular battles in the streets have died down, the organizing on the ground has not. On July 1st, hundreds responded to a call from the Los Angeles Tenants Union (LATU) to hold demonstrations against ongoing ICE activity in the city, as mutual aid groups mobilized to support those too afraid to go outside and work, demonstrators continued to rally outside of local hotels, demanding that ICE agents be kicked out, and community defense hubs have sprung up outside of Home Depot stores and beyond. Clashes between ICE and community members have also remained ongoing; a recent raid by ICE in one working-class city in LA county led to local residents damaging DHS vehicles and pushing out federal agents.

Wanting to get a better sense of the scope of this deepening organizing happening on the ground in Los Angeles, we sat down with a participant involved in the People’s City Council, an “abolitionist, anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist collective” that is reporting from the streets of southern California on the unfolding wave of activity against ICE and beyond.

IGD: There’s been a lot written about the initial demonstrations which kicked off in early June, but what’s the big picture of what’s been happening on the streets of LA?

People’s City Council: First, it’s important to understand that yes, there may be some spontaneous combustion in LA, but also that this moment has been brewing, combined with the on-going multi-generational organizing efforts here.

And as we saw in February with the high school student walkouts, many of those you see out in the streets are young people. It makes sense considering there a lot of local kids that grew up here who likely either have a parent, relative, or neighbor that the State would classify as “illegal.” The sentiment of “this is an attack on us, on our people” is widespread in the city. So, folks are upset and hitting the streets and are taking action to show that LA will not back down. It’s been inspiring to see how people are resisting. We are very proud of everyone out there, especially the young people who continue to show up.

What we are seeing right now cannot be understood without recognizing the impact of how organizers responded during the fires in January, the city showing up alongside young people getting active during the 2024 student intifada, the 2020 uprising, the decade long block by block tenant organizing spearheaded by LA Tenants Union, and the mutual aid efforts in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that have grown and saved lives across the city and county. There is a direct lineage and connection to both these modern events and historic actions like the immigration rights protests in LA in 2006 and 1994, the 1968 Chicano Moratorium – and though the current moment has not reached the level of the 1992 LA Riots or the 1965 Watts Rebellion, there has certainly been flashes of similarities.

Protesters are chanting “I know my rights” to huge police presence in LA on day four of police and ICE brutality. Most protests that took place had bought permits from the city to do so.

— LorennaCleary.bsky.social (@lorennacleary.bsky.social) 2025-06-09T22:13:06.728Z

Families are being torn a part and our neighbors are being kidnapped right in front of us. It’s no surprise that people are reacting the way they are. The events that have unfolded draw similarities to the beginnings of the First Intifada, where we see young people using whatever materials they have available to them to fight back and throw at the pigs. Though, of course, we’ve only seen a brief glimmer of rebellion and we are not yet in such a sustained historical moment.

The very first night outside the federal detention center on June 6th, we saw an hours long back and forth between federal agents and protesters. Despite the onslaught of pepper balls, tear gas, flash bangs, ‘less lethals’ and more from DHS/HSI pigs, people in the streets did not back down and kept coming back for more. Rebellion was in the air that night. Note: this is not true for all groups/orgs there that night, non-profits and big unions such as SEIU and CHIRLA were on a truck-bed chanting, “Shut it down!,” but those groups ordered people to move away from the point of contention at the detention center. Hundreds followed. Hundreds stayed.

One of the most important pieces of this moment, which has not been talked about much, is that the people on the inside of the detention center have been able to look out at the rebellion on the outside. These expressions are meaningful and legitimately connected to the theory and praxis of tearing down the prison walls. Just a few days later on June 13th in New Jersey, captives at Delaney Hall literally tore down the prison walls during a prison break.

“Get home safe” she says after sending LAPD after people in the streets. Multiple people have been hit in the head with high impact munitions. Fuck @mayor.lacity.gov

— People’s City Council – Los Angeles (@pplscitycouncil.bsky.social) 2025-06-15T05:26:02.649Z

There was a real spark of uprising that carried through the weekend. We saw people in Paramount and Compton first chase the feds out and away from their staging area and then engaged in a day long battle in the streets with the feds AND LA Sheriff’s Department. The energy continued to grow into the following day where we saw tens of thousands out in downtown Los Angeles. It was a beautiful show of what happens when you overwhelm the pigs. People surrounded the detention center, others took over the freeway and engaged with California Highway Patrol, as many others were out maneuvering through the streets of DTLA and put the LAPD on the run.

The people simply could not be contained. Because the pigs could not easily kettle protesters or push them in one direction, they were stuck and confused in the streets. As one group marched down the street with shields, advancing on the pigs, others were able to get the high ground on the police, allowing them to run across the Temple St. bridge and throw objects down at the pigs. Pretty much every building downtown was tagged with “FUCK ICE” and “ACAB” graffiti, Waymos were set on fire, and CHP and LAPD cars were sabotaged and destroyed. We saw in real time a new set of rules, theory, and understanding being developed for those in the streets. People have begun to understand that the only thing that is going to stop these fascist monsters is ourselves.

Reminder that Waymo is a project of Google, whose CEO, Sundar Pichai, attended Trump's inauguration. Waymo is also one of the frontline companies pushing automation across the US, threatening blue-collar livelihoods everywhere. Good night, tech-right.

— It's Going Down (@igd.bsky.social) 2025-06-09T00:51:08.952Z

There have been countless brave heroes like Adrian Andrew Martinez, the young man who was arrested by ICE while they attempted to grab his elderly co-worker in a Walmart parking lot. Adrian stepped up to stop the kidnapping attempt and was disappeared for 24 hours before his family could locate him at the federal detention center.

Though mainstream coverage of the “protests” has slowed down, it does not mean that the organizing and actions have stopped. The raids have continued throughout the month of June. It’s been an onslaught of attacks on our communities; targeting street vendors and day laborers, the heart of what makes Los Angeles such an amazing city. There is a strong grassroots base of folks, (born out of the Community Self Defense Coalition, led by Union del Barrio), across the city and county who are taking shifts patrolling their neighborhoods, beginning early in the morning. People are organizing “buyouts” for vendors so they have money to stay home and avoid danger. We’ve seen amazing creative actions outside of hotels where federal agents are sleeping at. These actions have been successful in either forcing ICE to flee/leave or some hotels even saying that they will not allow the feds to stay there. For more info, be sure to check out no.sleep.for.ice on Instagram.

Flyer promoting “buy-out” of street vendor’s tamales.

As one LA organizer said “Life in LA right now: Wake up and clock in for your ICE Watch shift. Clock out and deliver groceries to your neighbors. Buy as much as you can from any street vendor you see. Recharge and strategize with your comrades. End the night, loud as hell outside a hotel where ICE sleeps.”

Lastly, we have to center the importance of the Olympics. What many people don’t understand is that Mayor Karen Bass and the city of Los Angeles are obligated to comply with the feds due to the 2028 Olympics. The Olympics are designated as  “National Special Security Event” (NSSE) which allows federal agencies like DHS, ICE, CBP, and Secret Service to coordinate “security” with local law enforcement. Mayor Bass cannot legitimately say “ICE out of LA,” when she invited the feds to LA in January 2024. LAPD shares information with the feds through the joint terrorism task force and LAPD assists the feds by “securing the perimeter” during immigration raids. LAPD is essentially body guards for ICE during kidnapping operations.

To read more about NSSE’s make sure to follow NOlympicsLA.

IGD: The mass media has largely focused on the interplay between California Governor Gavin Newsom and Trump, and the supposed legality (or not) of Trump federalizing National Guard troops and bringing in the Marines. What is the reality on the ground about the State’s use of the military in Los Angeles? 

PCC: The National Guard and Marines have mainly been stationed outside the federal buildings in Downtown and Westwood. We have seen the National Guard get involved with the protests when people attempt to approach the buildings but other than that, most of protest violence we’ve seen has come from LAPD. The first day the marines were in LA, they detained a Black man outside of the VA.

Some beautiful redecorating outside the federal detention center