By Hudson Crozier | Daily Caller
Well-funded activists and a coordinated social media campaign helped spark the pro-illegal migrant protests on Friday that descended into days of rioting in Los Angeles.
Left-wing groups posted calls to action with a location to gather on Friday in unison after the arrest of a local Service Employees International Union (SEIU) leader on Friday. The subsequent uprising echoed scenes of the Black Lives Matter riots of 2020, which brought activists such as professional “legal observers” into the streets during a wave of protests that led to fires, looting, vandalism and deaths across the country as the organization’s leaders enriched themselves.
Protests continued in a coordinated fashion through Monday, with some unidentified individuals driving up to others in trucks to distribute protective face shields resembling gas masks, according to a Fox 11 reporter who said he witnessed the trend. Fox News’ Bill Melugin reported on Sunday that protesters were being provided with ear plugs, gas masks and water bottles that they then hurled at police officers.
“The FBI is investigating any and all monetary connections responsible for these riots,” FBI Director Kash Patel said Monday night.
As the chaos built up, activist groups — and a major labor union — fanned the flames of the anti-ICE movement by fomenting resistance to law enforcement in the streets and online.
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
SEIU California President David Huerta helped kick off the tumultuous weekend by getting arrested during ICE raids on Friday morning.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) alleges Huerta tried to obstruct federal agents who “were executing a lawful judicial warrant” while ICE conducted raids in Los Angeles. An affidavit accuses Huerta of conspiracy to impede an officer by directing others to block the path of law enforcement vehicles.
SEIU said Huerta was “exercising his First Amendment right to observe and document law enforcement activity” in a Friday press release.
Aligned activist groups and local SEIU chapters began posting announcements on Friday on platforms such as X, Bluesky and Instagram telling people to come to a downtown Los Angeles federal building at 4 p.m. and stand against the ICE raids. Many groups obtained and posted the same graphic for the announcement bearing the SEIU’s logo.
SEIU California boasts of having more than 700,000 members, and SEIU chapters are funded by member dues. SEIU California’s media team did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Coalition for Humane Immigration Rights (CHIRLA)
SEIU’s shared graphic advertised a press conference with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) at the building’s address that ended up taking place. However, after hundreds showed up to the facility starting at 4 p.m., protesters began throwing objects at police, blocking off parts of a street and vandalizing federal property, ABC7 reported. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) declared an unlawful assembly after 7 p.m.
CHIRLA is a left-wing, immigration-focused nonprofit that received nearly $34 million in government grants in 2023 under the Biden administration, tax filings show. The group did not respond to a request for comment.