Democratic California Rep. Nancy Pelosi dismissed the riots in Los Angeles Tuesday, saying the rioters were caught up in “exuberance” during a press conference.
President Donald Trump ordered 700 Marines to back up the deployment of federalized National Guard troops on Monday as the riots continued into their fifth day following Friday raids by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at a Los Angeles-area Home Depot. Pelosi dismissed the destruction of at least two self-driving vehicles while speaking to reporters.
READ: Alan Dershowitz: Gavin Newsom’s National Guard Lawsuit Against Trump Will Go Down In Flames
“There is a gathering, a large gathering of people. The anarchists see it as an opportunity and they move in,” Pelosi claimed. “So [you] always have to be careful, whether you see a burned car, a broken window, whatever it is. It may be the exuberance of the moment, but it may be the anarchist setting in. I heard one of the former police chiefs of Los Angeles speak about this on Sunday.”
“Tonight we had individuals out there shooting commercial-grade fireworks at our officers that can kill you,” Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell told reporters during a Sunday press conference, ABC7.com reported.
Video posted to social media Saturday showed an individual, who the FBI identified as Elpido Reyna in a Monday night post on X, throwing rocks at the windshields of vehicles containing ICE agents with the FBI offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. Pelosi then attacked Trump over the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol building.
READ: MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Says Anti-ICE Riots Are Part Of ‘Joyful And Sustainable’ Resistance To Trump
“On January 6th, with violence against the Constitution, against the Congress and against the United States Capitol, we begged the president of the United States to send in the National Guard. He would not do it,” Pelosi said. “Not only would he not do it. When law enforcement people were being harmed, some later died, he would not send it in when his instigation that he has — an insurrection that he incited was causing damage to those assigned to protect the Capitol and the Constitution that day to accept the results of the Electoral College. That day he didn’t do it. He forgave those people.”
Trump’s policies on immigration have drawn support from 51.5% of Americans according to an average of polls collated by RealClearPolling.com.
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First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
