Trump Threatens to Hit Protesters, Increase Deportations

WASHINGTON, WEDNESDAY - United States President Donald Trump warned anti-deportation protesters not to provoke issues with the police if they do not want to be arrested. This stance is in stark contrast to when riots broke out in Washington DC in January 2021.

"If you spit on law enforcement officers, they will beat you up. There is no tolerance!" tweeted Trump on Truth Social, Tuesday (10/6/2025) local time or Wednesday (11/5/2025) Indonesia time.

Tensions are still palpable in Los Angeles, California. Residents have been protesting for five days against Trump's decision to deport immigrants. There has been chaos at several points, which has been addressed by the police.

Trump's stance towards these protesters is vastly different from his attitude on January 6, 2021. At that time, he lost the election to Joe Biden. Trump used Twitter to rally his supporters to storm the Capitol, which is the office of the U.S. House of Representatives, in an attempt to overturn the vote count.

At that time, supporters of Trump stormed the Capitol building and wreaked havoc. They also issued death threats to several officials. A total of 1,265 individuals were arrested on charges of violence against law enforcement and vandalism.

As a result of the riots, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey suspended Trump's account on the grounds of inciting violence and hate speech. However, in 2022, Elon Musk purchased Twitter and rebranded it as X. Trump's account was restored.

After Trump was inaugurated for his second term on January 20, 2025, he pardoned 1,000 perpetrators of the Capitol riots. He referred to them as martyrs and heroes.

"It's clear that Trump is only enforcing the law when it benefits his political agenda," said Dartmouth College political scientist Brendan Nyhan.

Trump deployed 2,000 National Guard members to LA without the consent of California Governor Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass, even though the deployment of troops should be at the request of local leaders. In addition, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also sent 700 Marines to LA.

The state of California is suing Trump and Hegseth for violating state law and authority.

In LA, Mayor Bass has imposed a curfew only in the downtown area from 8:00 PM to 6:00 AM. It has been recorded that 20 stores were damaged and looted during the riots.

"I see that the majority of the protests are peaceful. Indeed, there are isolated incidents of violence, but I believe they are not protesters. They are malicious individuals taking advantage of the situation," said Bass.

Both he and Newsom stated that the situation is still under control. The LA police have experience in escorting and managing protests. Protests occurred at several locations, and riots took place at fewer points, thus there is no real need for the National Guard and marines.

A similar opinion was expressed by Alex Padilla, a senator from California. "The tense atmosphere is actually due to the reduction of the National Guard and Marines. The public perceives that the federal government is threatening their freedom of expression," he told CBS.

Protests have spread to other cities. In California, in addition to Los Angeles, protests also occurred in San Francisco and Santa Ana. Both also ended in chaos, prompting the police to fire tear gas.

Protests also took place in Chicago, Illinois and Atlanta, Georgia. In both cities, the protests were peaceful.

Amidst this, the White House issued an order to increase the apprehension of undocumented immigrants. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was initially instructed to apprehend 1,000 immigrants per day. Now, White House Spokesperson Stephen Miller has directed them to apprehend 3,000 immigrants per day.

"You should raid factories and convenience stores. There are many illegal immigrants there," said Miller, as disclosed by an anonymous official.

Julia Gelatt from the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) stated that this order is dangerous. ICE agents randomly arrest individuals whom they believe are not U.S. citizens. Generally, people of color are the primary targets.

"They just pick up people, regardless of whether they have a residence permit to study or work in the US," he said.

The U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Border Affairs, Tom Homan, stated that in the four months since the decision was implemented, the U.S. has deported 200,000 undocumented immigrants. The largest deportations involved individuals suspected of being members of the criminal group Tren de Aragua. They have been sent to prisons in El Salvador.

However, there are also victims of wrongful arrest. For instance, a Hispanic-American citizen was mistakenly identified as an immigrant and sent to a prison in El Salvador. The family and various non-governmental organizations are working to secure his return.

The children of asylum seekers are also being apprehended, even though they are in the process of obtaining U.S. citizenship. They are the children of parents who have been granted asylum in the U.S. Generally, they must wait several years to obtain U.S. citizenship.

In the ICE operation in LA, National Guard troops were deployed to escort ICE agents. Initially, the National Guard was tasked with securing vital objects.

The Washington Post and Politico report that Trump wants to imprison illegal immigrants at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The prison was opened in 2002 to house terrorist prisoners.

Leaks received by both media indicate that there are 9,000 individuals expected to be sent to Guantanamo. They include citizens of the United Kingdom, Poland, Germany, France, Lithuania, and Turkey.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing the U.S. Government over the detention of 70 immigrants at Guantanamo. The conditions of the prison are deplorable and inhumane.

"The government is using a location known to be the worst torture site in U.S. history," the ACLU said.

(AP/Reuters)