The FBI deputy director said that demonstrators should ‘choose wisely’ and that immigration enforcement operations will continue.
FBI Director Kash Patel said that the agency will target individuals who assault law enforcement officials during protests and riots in Los Angeles, while his second-in-command said that the government is “not stopping” immigration enforcement operations that sparked the demonstrations.
“Hit a cop, you’re going to jail… doesn’t matter where you came from, how you got here, or what movement speaks to you,” Patel wrote on Saturday. “If the local police force won’t back our men and women on the thin blue line, [the FBI] will.”
On Saturday, law enforcement faced off against anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protesters and rioters in southeast Los Angeles and then later on Saturday in downtown Los Angeles, video footage shows. That prompted President Donald Trump to sign a memorandum authorizing the deployment of National Guard troops in the area.
A day later, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said that several arrests have already been made in both Los Angeles and New York city amid the unrest, adding that more investigations are underway. Aside from Los Angeles, sporadic protests erupted in New York City over the weekend.
“Many of these subjects will face federal charges, along with local and state charges,” Bongino said on Sunday morning. “It will not end well for you if you choose violence. Choose wisely.”
He then said that the federal government is “not stopping or slowing down” and that “illegal immigration operations will continue, and anyone using violence to obstruct or impede these operations will be investigated and prosecuted.”
The Los Angeles Police Department arrested 27 people on Saturday for failure to disperse from the downtown protest, police spokesperson Norma Eisenman said.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department arrested three people on Saturday on suspicion of assaulting an officer. Sheriff’s deputies used “less lethal force” at the protest in Paramount, Los Angeles, spokesperson Deputy Brenda Serna said.
Trump administration officials have indicated they have little tolerance for violent demonstrations during his second term, while Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth signaled that Marines could be deployed if the situation deteriorates.
