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LA PodcastAuthor: LA Podcast
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Less-lethal Weapon
Episode 282
Monday, 8 December, 2025
Mike, Rachel, and Oscar check in on six months of still-escalating ICE raids terrorizing Los Angeles County. House Dems held a special Congressional hearing to collect powerful testimony about the state-sponsored kidnappings — and immigration advocates, mutual aid groups, and neighbors continue to fight back. Plus, LA’s City Council gives LAPD permission to use tear gas on protesters and journalists. And welcome to the silly season of our local election cycle.Angelenos spoke publicly about the trauma and due process violations of the immigration raids at a special hearing November 24 hearing in downtown Los Angeles convened by the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee. The event was requested by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and led by Long Beach area Rep. Robert Garcia, who announced the creation of a new oversight dashboard documenting “verified incidents of possible misconduct and abuse” during federal immigration enforcement operationsRep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas, who attended the hearing, referred to it as “living an American nightmare.” The most talked-about testimony of the hearing was that of Andrea Velez, a U.S. citizen who was detained on her way to work and held under harrowing conditionsSix LA newsrooms are collaborating to cover the ICE Raids: LA Public Press, Capital B, CALÓ News, L.A. TACO, Capital & Main, and Q Voice News.L.A. TACO continues to provide standout coverage, documenting the raids on a daily basis. They recently catalogued every person kidnapped by ICE and Border Patrol in LA since AugustLeaders of the local trans community helped lead the recent push to get the County of Los Angeles to declare a state of emergency over the immigration raids.Residents in LA and Chicago are building multiracial solidarity against ICE. Bystanders are beginning to disrupt immigration raids with nothing more than a whistle or a honking car hornFamily members, immigration advocates, and members of Congress are all demanding answers to the question: Where is Vicente Aguilar? Aguilar was taken into custody October 7, suffered a medical emergency, and has not been heard from sinceWith immigration raids making some people afraid to leave their homes, LAUSD enrollment is droppingThe LA County Board of Supervisors is gearing up for a legal fight with the Trump administration, passing a law — which the feds have said they ignore — to ban face coverings for law enforcementInternational Migrants Day is on Wednesday, December 18, and CHIRLA, DSA and other groups are organizing a big event in downtown Los AngelesIn an 8-4 vote, the Los Angeles City Council reauthorized LAPD’s authority to use tear gas and other military grade equipment on protesters. They did so at the vigorous insistence of LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, who claimed that using tear gas on a crowd is a “de-escalation” tacticPrior to June 8, the LAPD had not used tear gas in crowd-control settings in almost 50 years, an LAPD spokesperson told L.A. TACOLos Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia is famous for his prominent use of his adorable corgis in communications. Former State Senator Isadore, who is challenging Mejia, is trying to use that as the basis of a laughable ethics complaintMeanwhile, Raul Claros, a challenger to Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, held a self-described “publicity stunt” claiming that he would move into MacArthur Park if electedSilly season is underway in Santa Monica as well, where councilmembers Caroline Torosis and Jesse Zwick are being attacked for, well, having full-time jobs in public service and public policy. Torosis and Zwick are set to rotate into the posts of mayor and mayor pro tem this weekThis week’s episode was produced by Kristen TorresThe reporting and analysis you hear in the show is put together by our rotating cast of producers and co-hosts every week. All opinions expressed on the show are solely those of co-hosts and may not represent the views of LA ForwardWe’re moving our first subscriber-only event to 2026! Become a paid subscriber to LA Podcast at thinkforward.la and you’ll be the first to know the details
