Karen Bass compares anti-ICE protests to Lakers championship celebrations
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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is backtracking on claims that last year’s anti-ICE protests did not turn into riots, likening the vandalism and clashes between protesters and police to the actions of fans following the Los Angeles Lakers championship.
On the “At Our Table with Jamie Harrison” podcast, Bass talked about the federalization of National Guard troops and the deployment of several hundred Marines to the city amid several days of anti-ICE demonstrations.
While some protesters legally expressed their anger at ICE, others set cars, including law enforcement vehicles, on fire and clashed violently with police; Elected officials maintained that the demonstrations were peaceful.
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Karen Bass downplayed the scale of anti-ICE protests last year, which saw violent clashes with authorities and riots. (Getty Images)
“Nothing was happening. OK, we have some protests,” Bass told Harrison. “I think you’d like to know that protests equal a Lakers championship.”
“You know what happens after the championship, right? A few idiots wander around. They’re drunk, they start damaging everything. There were no riots here.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and the Los Angeles Police Protective Association, the union that represents rank-and-file officers in the Los Angeles Police Department.
The protests were in response to the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration in and around Los Angeles. Suburbs such as Paramount and Compton saw vehicles set on fire, objects thrown at authorities and vandalism.
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A cyclist passes a burning car during protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025. Protests have broken out across Los Angeles in response to federal immigration raids and the Trump administration’s deployment of National Guard troops. (Photo: SAHAB ZARIBAF/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
The violence prompted President Donald Trump to call in the military to restore order and assist local officials and drew rebukes from Bass and several Democratic officials, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Protesters gathered for several days in downtown Los Angeles near the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and the U.S. Courthouse; here local law enforcement used less-lethal rounds, tear gas, and flash grenades to disperse the crowd.
Cars were set on fire during anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles. (Getty)
Protesters responded by blocking a major highway, setting vehicles on fire and throwing rocks, Molotov cocktails and other projectiles at police, authorities said.
Bass noted that the protests took place in an area of approximately 1 square kilometer.
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“Most of the city didn’t even know anything was going on. Does that mean 4,000 soldiers were necessary?” Bas said.
In December, a federal judge ordered Trump to return National Guard troops stationed in Los Angeles to Newsom’s control, ending federalization used for immigration enforcement and protests.
