Who's Most To Blame for the Latest L.A. Riots?

Former leftwing public defender Laura Powell unpacks the political chaos behind LA’s immigration riots, criticizing both federal overreach, and California’s state dysfunction.

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Text and links to sources available here: https://reason.com/podcast/2025/06/10/laura-powell-whos-most-to-blame-for-the-latest-l-a-riots

Protests and unrest erupted in Los Angeles following federal immigration raids of a Home Depot parking lot and a clothing manufacturer. President Donald Trump ordered National Guard troops, and later U.S. Marines, into Los Angeles against the wishes of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. Downtown Los Angeles and the communities of Paramount and Compton have been wracked by riots, looting, and the burning of autonomous Waymo vehicles.

Today's guest is a self-described "former leftist…politically homeless" Californian who says that California's political establishment has enabled the violence and destruction we're currently seeing in response to the immigration raids. Laura Powell is an attorney and founder of Californians for Good Governance, which was founded to fight government overreach during the COVID-19 era. We discuss Newsom's war of words with Trump, the claim that these riots are an "insurrection," why Democrats have such a problem denouncing violent riots, whether the use of the military is federal overreach, and the role government-funded nonprofits and unions may have played in escalating the the situation in L.A.

00:00 Introduction and ICE raid timeline
03:38 National Guard response: Provocation or necessity?
07:09 Is Newsom abdicating responsibility?
10:01 Who are the protesters and what motivates them?
16:28 How California law enforcement lost control
19:42 Federal overreach, civil liberties, and states’ rights
26:28 Has California learned anything from past unrest?
30:09 Political theatre: Newsom vs. Trump
46:50 Union power and the David Huerta arrest
55:42 What if large-scale deportations actually happened?
59:34 How to fix California governance