A top federal prosecutor in California says most suspects his office has charged in anti-deportation riots are U.S. citizens, calling the trend “bizarre.”
Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli noticed the trend among the more than 50 suspects charged with crimes stemming from violent protests against federal immigration enforcement in California, he told the Daily Caller News Foundation. The Trump appointee said the mob violence that brought national attention since June shines a light on a political culture favoring illegal immigrants under Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
“I find it very fascinating that U.S. citizens are fighting so hard to prevent the deportation of illegal immigrants. It’s quite bizarre, to be honest with you,” Essayli told the DCNF. “And one thing that’s been very shocking to me — whether it’s the defendants or the politicians — I’ve never seen people fight so hard for foreign nationals.”
Newsom and Bass have criticized local Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids as targeting innocent people, with Bass declaring that ICE is waging a “reign of terror” in her city. Newsom’s administration also blamed President Donald Trump for anti-ICE riots in the state, saying he “deliberately sowed chaos” through immigration raids and sending National Guard troops to stop disorder.
Essayli said he expects some of his cases to go to trial and that he will work to prevent potential courtroom bias.
“The government’s entitled to a fair trial just as much as the defendant is, so we will be fighting for that, but at the end of the day, you know, our jury pool here does draw from the community,” Essayli said. “So, we want to make sure that we have a robust voir dire [jury selection] process, and we’ll be screening jurors … making sure they can be fair and impartial, which is what we’re entitled to.”
Essayli said the American public has learned much more about political violence since deadly Black Lives Matter riots erupted in 2020, including how mob violence is sometimes organized and premeditated. The Small Business Administration said in July that the anti-ICE riots caused an estimated $1 billion in damage to Los Angeles.
“That’s what we’re going to be looking into,” Essayli said about any evidence of orchestration. The presence of union leaders or activist groups at recent chaotic protests is another indicator of that trend, he said.
During the June riots, protesters reportedly handed out protective face shields, ear plugs, gas masks and water bottles to one another and shot fireworks at police, painting a picture of coordinated civil unrest. Federal officials have also accused a man of purchasing mortars and fireworks in New Mexico with plans to travel to Los Angeles and kill law enforcement during the June demonstrations. In July, people defending a cannabis farm from an ICE raid in Camarillo, California, allegedly threw a tear gas canister near federal agents’ heads and fired shots at them during a demonstration encouraged by leftist groups.
A federal probe into potential funding behind the violence is “ongoing,” Essayli told the DCNF. Potential charges could include conspiring to assault or impede agents or wire fraud.
The 2020 riots also showed that America “can’t tolerate political violence, and it has to be rooted out and stomped out quickly,” Essayli said.
(Featured Image Media Credit: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Creative Commons/Flickr
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