Predictably, those protesting ICE actions to deport illegal immigrant criminals are no longer isolated to Los Angeles. Reporting on the subject indicates 35 cities nationwide that will have similar protests. The magnitude of violence and looting will vary.
The anarchist protestors are using the same playbook that the insurrectionists utilized during the 2020 so-called George Floyd riots. The present protestors are attempting to cause the same damage as they did during those riots. The goal is to disrupt law and order by whatever means necessary to highlight their grievance about the deportation of individuals who entered the country illegally. The assault of law enforcement, traffic stoppages, looting, and the damage to government and private property are all on the table. More important than these issues is the potential for bodily harm and death.
Many have already forgotten the destruction of the 2020 riots, and conservative estimates of the amount of damage caused are over $2 billion. If you have forgotten, you need to be reminded that thugs who were not protesting peacefully caused every financially responsible property owner to pay the bill with increased property insurance premiums. Insurance companies that had to pay individual policyholders raised their prices for homeowners and business owners. The average increase in premiums since 2020 is nearly 30 %. Although some of the rise was due to natural disasters, the insurance industry will not write off $2 billion in losses.
Will we see a repeat of 2020?
Many factors involved in the 2025 civil disturbances do not correspond with what happened in 2020. Nefarious actors enflamed the George Floyd riots to exacerbate the perceived division between black and white citizens. Many people fell for this narrative in an attempt to prove to themselves or the world (virtue signaling) that they were not racists. The false narrative of an irredeemable country was the futile soil for the birth of Black Lives Matter. As time went on, the fraud perpetrated on corporations and low-information citizens proved the organization was a Marxist fraud.
The present civil disobedience is not a black-and-white issue per se. It has nothing to do with race at all. It concerns whether a non-citizen has the “right” to enter a sovereign country without permission. Dissimilar to the 2020 sentiment, most voters approve of the Trump administration’s programs to deport those who entered illegally.
The most significant difference between the two riots is the federal government’s response. The National Guard throughout the states was mobilized early on to keep the peace. Compared to 2020, the damage done to government property was non-existent.
The federal response is not only relegated to defending property and the safety of law enforcement but also includes a willingness to arrest and prosecute those engaged in criminal activity. Already over 200 persons have been arrested in L.A. and other major cities. Some of these will be charged on federal charges, usually more severe than state charges.
Unfortunately, the country will have to endure the present rash of civil disobedience, but for the reasons cited, it will not rise to the level of the previous national riots.
Hopefully, the country will soon be at peace again. That’s what law-abiding citizens want.