Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dismissed the ongoing riots in Los Angeles, characterizing the violence as little more than “teens throwing rocks,” while blaming President Donald Trump for provoking the chaos.
Posting Tuesday on BlueSky, a left-wing alternative to X, Ocasio-Cortez wrote that her party should not “answer for every teen who throws a rock” and instead should “hold the Trump admin accountable for intentionally creating chaos and breaking the law to stoke violence.” She added that criticizing the rioters is “100% carrying water” for conservatives.
Ocasio-Cortez’s comments come amid mounting violence in Los Angeles, where anti-ICE protesters have been seen assaulting officers, setting police cars on fire, and damaging public property. The Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday that among those arrested was a previously deported illegal immigrant from Mexico, accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at law enforcement. The suspect is facing attempted murder charges.
In a separate post, Ocasio-Cortez blamed Trump’s immigration policies for triggering the unrest, claiming his decision to send ICE agents into Los Angeles to carry out the deportation of illegal immigrants sparked the violence.
“Everything was fine until Trump decided to unleash violent raids w/o grounds in elementary schools, shopping areas, & peaceful public spaces. ICE then illegally blocked Members of Congress entry into the facilities they are disappearing people into, escalating the situation,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote.
Similar to Ocasio-Cortez’s comments, both Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Governor Gavin Newsom have also criticized Trump for deploying National Guard troops to the city. Trump defended his decision in a post on Truth Social Wednesday morning.
“If our troops didn’t go into Los Angeles, it would be burning to the ground right now, just like so much of their housing burned to the ground,” Trump posted Wednesday morning. “The great people of Los Angeles are very lucky that I made the decision to go in and help!!!”
