California Democrat demands ICE 'retreat' so locals can be 'given the opportunity to restore order'
"This is the chaos that the president created when he sent an unchecked group of ICE officers, agents to a community to profile and do, you know, these raids that they have not had a warrant," Rep. Norma Torres, D-Calif., said during an interview on MSNBC's "Chris Jansing Reports."
Riots in L.A. began over the weekend as the city's mayor, Karen Bass, called out President Donald Trump for ICE raids detaining illegal immigrants.
Footage of the riots shows people spitting on and burning the American flag as well as assaulting police officers and setting cars on fire. Rioters also smashed the windows of the Los Angeles Police Department's headquarters.
Guest host Christina Ruffini asked Torres about the "tempo of ICE activity you're hearing about in and around your district, and what's the reaction from constituents?"
Torres, whose district includes part of Los Angeles County, said she thinks the "locals" should be in charge of reinstating law and order because ICE is racial profiling.
"They are not asking for specific names," the lawmaker claimed of the ICE raids. "They are simply going after people because of the way they look. And this must stop. The president must call back these ICE agents. They must retreat in order for the locals to be given the opportunity to restore order, because that is what we are demanding right now."
The California Democrat also described her constituents as "panicked" due to the "scare tactics" being used.
"They are worried about their families," Torres said. "They're worried about the children going to school, their spouses not coming home. In many cases, people aren't reporting crimes that are occurring to them, whether they are witnesses or victims, because they are too afraid to engage with any law enforcement agency."
Trump has defended his move to deploy the National Guard to L.A., saying in a Monday post on TruthSocial that it was a "great decision," and that "If we had not done so, Los Angeles would have been completely obliterated."
Trump also announced Monday that he is deploying hundreds of U.S. Marines to L.A. to respond to the riots.
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