It started with the sound of
the Black Hawks. Not one or two, but a low, continuous whir of helicopters hovering over downtown Los Angeles on the night of June 7. Streets were blocked. ICE vans rolled in without badges. Protesters were grabbed off the sidewalks. Phones went dark. There had been no riot. No looting. Just an executive order—quietly issued, aggressively enforced.
And then came the National Guard.
Roughly 2,000 troops were deployed under Title 10 authority, bypassing Governor Gavin Newsom entirely. It was the first time in nearly 60 years that California’s Guard had been federalized against the wishes of the state. The last time, the president was Lyndon Johnson. The mission was to protect civil rights marchers in Selma. This time, it was to put down dissent.
Behind closed doors, federal officials reportedly discussed arresting Governor Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass for "interfering with federal operations." Anonymous sources confirmed that a proposal to bring in U.S. Marines under the Insurrection Act was "not off the table." The rhetoric from the White House made the threat plain: cooperate, or be removed.
You just fucking shot the reporter! a protester screamed as a rubber bullet slammed into an Australian correspondent’s leg.
That wasn’t metaphor. That was live television.
Nine News journalist Lauren Tomasi was covering the demonstration when LAPD fired at the crowd. She had just warned her audience back home that the scene was “rapidly deteriorating” when a rubber round hit her. The camera caught the moment. Tomasi winced, caught her balance, and said calmly, I'm good.
But she wasn’t. No one was.