Los Angeles burned for five days, and Rep. Maxine Waters pointed fingers at President Trump. Riots sparked by an ICE operation at a Home Depot spiraled into chaos, with vandalism and federal troops flooding the city. Yet, Waters, who once called the streets peaceful, now claims Trump lit the match.
Riots erupted after ICE agents targeted a Los Angeles Home Depot, leading to five days of unrest, a city curfew, and 700 Marines deployed alongside National Guard troops, reported the Daily Caller. Waters, a California Democrat, initially denied any violence on June 9, 2025. By June 11, she pivoted, accusing Trump of starting the mayhem.
The trouble began when ICE moved in, prompting outrage in a city Waters proudly calls a sanctuary. Social media captured the chaos early, with videos from June 7 showing an individual, later identified by the FBI as Elpido Reyna, hurling rocks at federal vehicles. The FBI slapped a $50,000 bounty on Reyna’s head, signaling the feds meant business.
Cars were torched, windshields smashed, and streets filled with unrest. By June 10, Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, imposed a curfew to tame the spiraling violence. Social media posts from Hailey Grace Gomez described large crowds and LAPD lining the streets, painting a city on edge.
Waters’ first take on June 9 was that “no violence” had occurred. “There had been no violence where anybody that was protesting hit anybody, shot anybody, threatened anybody,” she told CNN. Burning cars and rock-throwing don’t count in her sanctuary city playbook.
Her denial didn’t age well. Just two days later, Waters flipped the script, blaming Trump for the chaos.
On June 11, Waters told CNN, “The president of the United States should do what he didn’t do when we were invaded in the Capitol.” She claimed Trump “started this” and was egging on violence to flex his power. It’s a bold accusation from someone who saw no violence when cars were burning.
Waters continued, “He should not continue to support violence.” Her logic leaps from Trump’s immigration policies to street riots, conveniently skipping her role in downplaying the unrest. It’s a classic move: deny the problem, then blame the opponent when it explodes.
Other Democrats echoed Waters, demanding ICE halt operations to “restore order.” It’s a curious strategy—stop enforcing the law to calm a city where lawlessness is the issue. Sanctuary city pride seems to trump common sense here.
Trump, unmoved by the criticism, ordered 700 Marines to back federalized National Guard troops on June 9. The deployment aimed to quell the riots, which had already raged for five days. Critics might call it heavy-handed, but with vehicles ablaze, doing nothing wasn’t an option.
The FBI’s identification of Elpido Reyna as a rock-throwing suspect added fuel to the fire. Offering $50,000 for his arrest, the feds signaled zero tolerance for attacks on law enforcement. Social media buzzed with outrage, amplifying calls for accountability.
Waters’ claim that Los Angeles police “don’t have the authority” in a sanctuary city raised eyebrows. It’s a stark admission that local policies tie law enforcement’s hands. When riots erupt, that’s not a selling point—it’s a liability.
The riots exposed the fault lines of sanctuary city policies. Waters and her allies defend them as moral imperatives, but the chaos suggests otherwise. Protecting unauthorized migrants shouldn’t mean letting streets descend into anarchy.
Democrats’ push to pause ICE operations assumes law enforcement is the problem, not the rioters. It’s a head-scratcher: reward lawlessness to restore peace? That’s a tough sell when residents see their city burning.
Waters’ flip-flop from “no violence” to “Trump’s fault” undermines her credibility. Leadership means owning the mess, not pointing fingers when the narrative shifts. Los Angeles deserves better than political sleight of hand.
