‘The majority of my family came from Mexico, a lot of them did end up coming illegally, building a life … I feel like our country right now is punishing them for fulfilling the American dream.’
Diego Castro, 19.
“For us Chicanos – people who were born here from immigrant parents – it’s important because we’re bridging the gap between two great countries, both rich in [their] own ways,” he said. “We’re here to better ourselves, not to forget our heritage, but to improve ourselves for further generations.”
His partner, Siomara Mata, a florist, said it was their first day demonstrating. “It’s very sad, but I think LA is a strong city, and we’re very passionate about our immigrants,” she said.
“It’s very sad, but I think LA is a strong city, and we’re very passionate about our immigrants,” said Siomara Mata on the streets of Los Angeles.Credit: Michael Koziol
“A lot of shops in downtown LA are immigrants that came here for the American dream, but not just to provide for themselves, but provide for their families here and provide for family back at home.”
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Two blocks away, Cos Trujillo was boarding up his shopfront on 1st Street, where he runs a bail bond business and houses an immigration office and tattoo parlour. Trujillo, born and raised in LA, has owned the building for more than 20 years.
He remembers the 1992 LA riots that followed the acquittal of four police officers who were charged with using excessive force in arresting and beating a black man, Rodney King.
“I was young … I went out, I was running around crazy – but don’t destroy,” Trujillo said. “What you’re doing is you’re hurting small businesses like myself.”
A couple of doors down, Rumi Fujimoto had already boarded up her sports memorabilia store. She said she was looted the previous night after briefly leaving her watch-post.
California National Guard form a line outside the Federal Building in downtown LA on Tuesday. Credit: AP
“As soon as I walked away, I got a call from my neighbour. ‘They hit your store’,” she says. “There’s no time to spare right now with what’s going on.”
But, like most merchants here, Fujimoto is not against the protesters. A couple of hours later, I spotted her leaning out of her upstairs window, hard hat on, proudly waving her US-Mexican flag as the demonstration passed by.
The protesters kept moving throughout the afternoon, meandering around downtown LA between police blockades. As they weaved past traffic, motorists blasted their horns in a chorus of support.
And while Los Angeles faces a challenging moment, it was not all grim.
Just before sunset, about 3000 people gathered in a downtown park for a multi-faith vigil led by the mayor and preachers who called for resistance to ICE and love for fellow migrants. The crowd was peaceful, and the mood positive, given the circumstances.
Diego Castro, 19, and his sister Mia, 22, from Fresno in California attended a vigil for immigrants in central Los Angeles.Credit: Michael Koziol
Among those listening was Diego Castro, 19, and his sister Mia, 22, from Fresno, California. Diego carried a sign saying: “My family fought for my future, now I will fight 4 theirs.” Mia’s sign read “Familias no tienen fronteras”, or “families have no borders”.
“The majority of my family came from Mexico, a lot of them did end up coming illegally, building a life here in the United States, building businesses, contributing to the economy, paying taxes,” Diego said. “I feel like our country right now is really just punishing them for fulfilling the American dream.”
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The vigil crowd later marched down to the federal building, where a smaller group of protesters were already gathered, staring down members of the Los Angeles Police Department and the California National Guard. Religious leaders stood in front of the law enforcement barricade, addressing protesters on loudspeakers.
Shortly after the 8pm curfew kicked in, people began to move on, though some agitators remained, chanting “Our streets” and “No justice, no peace, fuck ICE and fuck the police”. Police helicopters circled overhead.
Police blocked off streets as night fell and the curfew descended upon downtown Los Angeles.Credit: AP
By 8.45pm, the crowd had largely dispersed peacefully. A glass bottle was thrown at a police line, prompting officers to fire a couple of rubber bullets, and later, dozens were reportedly arrested for breaching the curfew.
Meanwhile, on the deadened streets, barely any shops were open. Most were boarded up or shielded behind metal grills. The constant wail of sirens punctuated the quiet night, as did the whirr of choppers overhead.
In the apartment buildings dotted around my hotel, most lights were on. Downtown residents were granted limited exemptions from the curfew, but there was little reason to be outside. Even the hotel bar was closed.
Karen Bass, the LA mayor, was keen to stress that the curfew affected just 2.5 square kilometres of the 1300 square kilometres that constitute this sprawling city. “Some of the imagery of the protest and the violence gives the appearance that this is a citywide crisis, and it is not,” she said.
That is true. From Beverly Hills to Santa Monica and West Hollywood, life goes on unimpeded. And as police chief Jim McDonnell noted, the thugs looting and vandalising central LA are not necessarily the same people exercising their First Amendment rights to protest during daylight hours.
But in the middle of this famed American city, with the world watching, another ugly night loomed. And the country – influenced heavily by its increasingly dogmatic president – is looking for people to blame.
