Latest news with #CHP
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
California police plead for help amid officer shortage as union boss warns of unprecedented riot ‘onslaught'
As the protests against Los Angeles' immigration raids spread, state law enforcement leaders are sounding the alarm on the dangers facing officers on the front lines of the riots. "I've been around a very long time, and I have seen similar to what we're facing now," Jake Johnson, president of the California Association of Highway Patrolmen (CAHP), told Fox News Digital. "But I've never seen the amount of onslaught." Thousands of protesters descended on Los Angeles in the last two weeks after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers began conducting raids throughout the sanctuary city. The violence included rioters hurling projectiles at law enforcement officers and lighting numerous self-driving electric vehicles on fire. La-area Mayors Plead With Trump Admin To Stop Ice Immigration Arrests In response to the protests, over 640 highway patrol officers have been sent to Los Angeles. Additionally, nearly 400 additional CHP Special Response Team officers have been deployed to aid law enforcement. "There's hundreds of state troopers [and] highway patrolmen that are deployed in both the Bay Area and particularly in Los Angeles," Johnson said. "[They] are working very long hours, anywhere from 16 to 20 hours a day, trying to keep the peace down there. It's been a very dangerous situation." Read On The Fox News App Los Angeles police have made more than 500 arrests related to protest activity, with the most serious charges ranging from assault against police officers to possession of a Molotov cocktail and gun, according to the police department. Nine police officers have been injured in the protests, with the majority being minor injuries. The LAPD and CHP did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. Trump Takes Action Against 'Orchestrated Attack' On Law Enforcement By Deploying Marines To La: Assemblyman Several CHP cars were damaged along the 101 Freeway as officers tried to clear protesters from the road, marking yet another assault on law enforcement operations in the midst of the riots. "I witnessed one of our officers get hit in the head with a rock," Johnson said. "Had he not had his helmet and mask on, [there is] no doubt in my mind he would have been killed. It smacked him right in the face and he was actually pulled to safety by an [officer] I know very well." While on the ground, CHP officers are faced with the task of identifying in real-time who is following the law and who is looking to break it, a situation that Johnson called "very difficult." "The persons that are down there participating in their First Amendment rights are quickly overtaken by these bad actors that are definitely in the crowd," Johnson told Fox News Digital. "There's a significant amount of them in the crowd, and it really takes over the peaceful protests that there are hundreds of people participating in. It really turns these into bad situations where now we have to decide who's a peaceful protester and who is a bad actor." Dozens Of Anti-ice Rioters Arrested In La As Trump Sends In National Guard To Quell Violence Johnson believes the answer to ensuring the safety of both law enforcement and demonstrators who may be acting peacefully is by civilians reporting sightings of violent protesters to police. "It's time to start turning these people in," Johnson said. "It's time to start recording them, getting information for the crimes that you see committed and turning them in to the police." The call for cooperation between peaceful protesters and law enforcement comes as an appeals court blocked a federal judge's decision forcing President Donald Trump to return control over National Guard troops to California last Thursday. Rioters Smash Windows At Lapd Headquarters As Anti-ice Agitators Clash With Authorities Trump has deployed more than 4,000 Guard soldiers to Los Angeles, along with roughly 700 Marines, Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman said. The appeals court declined to rule on the status of the Marines, since they had not taken to the streets yet. In a post on Truth Social, Trump thanked the appeals court for its ruling, writing: "If I didn't send the Military into Los Angeles, that city would be burning to the ground right now." Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom continue to clash in a legal battle over control of the National Guard and the troops' role in the riots. Chuck Devore: Trump Moves Fast To Save La From A 1992 Repeat The Guard has been sent to protect federal property and accompany officials on immigration raids. While the troops do have the ability to temporarily detain people who attack officers, any arrests must be made by law enforcement. "As far as the interaction with [the National Guard], I haven't seen any interaction with them," Johnson said. "For the three or four nights I was out there, I didn't see any National Guard. I saw what [was] on the news. They're guarding federal facilities, but they haven't been integrated with any of us." Johnson leads a union that represents approximately 7,000 patrolmen deployed throughout the state. However, he points to staffing shortages caused by attractive retirement packages, leaving a gaping hole in the department's headcount. "We're almost down one thousand bodies for highway patrolmen in California," Johnson said, adding, "We have a really hard time filling in the positions." As the anti-ICE protests stretch into their second week, law enforcement throughout Los Angeles is bracing for the unknown. "When you're out there and it's a very dangerous situation, you don't think about the politics or your personal politics," Johnson said. "Cops are very good at that. I've been around these guys for decades and they're my brothers and sisters. And I know they're very, very good people. And although they might have their personal views, it doesn't spill over into these situations." The Associated Press contributed to this report. Original article source: California police plead for help amid officer shortage as union boss warns of unprecedented riot 'onslaught'
CBS News
2 days ago
- CBS News
3 hikers in Soda Springs missing in water near Heath Falls, officials say
Crews are searching for three people who went missing in the water near Heath Falls in Soda Springs, officials said Wednesday. The Placer County Sheriff's Office said a group of people was hiking in the area. One of the people in the group called 911 shortly before 3 p.m. to report that three others went into the water and never resurfaced. A California Highway Patrol helicopter and other resources, including sheriff's office dive and search teams, were deployed to the area to assist with the search. The sheriff's office said the location is remote and would take about a three-hour hike to reach.
Arab News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Far-right Erdogan opponent slams opposition graft probes
Umit Ozdag was placed in pre-trial detention on charges of inciting public hatred on Jan. 20A court sentenced him to two years and four months behind barsISTANBUL: A far-right political opponent of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday slammed ongoing graft probes into Turkiye's opposition as unfair, a day after being released from Ozdag, who heads the small anti-immigrant Victory party, was placed in pre-trial detention on charges of inciting public hatred on January 20.A court on Tuesday sentenced him to two years and four months behind bars, but ordered his release on grounds of time already is also being tried on a separate charge of insulting the president — a charge often used to silence Erdogan's critics — with the next hearing on September to Anka news agency on Wednesday, Ozdag said the barrage of legal probes targeting municipalities run by the main opposition CHP was one-sided and 'harmful.''The application of one law for (Erdogan's AKP) ruling party and another for the opposition, is causing an extraordinarily harmful fragmentation within society,' he said.'You cannot convince the public that only CHP municipalities are involved in corruption and that there is no corruption worth prosecuting in AKP municipalities.'Over the past nine months, there has been a surge in legal cases against CHP mayors and municipal officials on graft charges, with observers seeing it as a government move to weaken the party which scored a huge victory against Erdogan's AKP in 2024 local most controversial move was the removal of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, Erdogan's biggest political opponent and the CHP's candidate for the 2028 presidential was arrested on March 19 in connection with a graft probe and allegations of terror ties which critics say was designed to prevent him from arrest sparked protests across the country in the worst street unrest since 2013.
American Military News
2 days ago
- Politics
- American Military News
Protester charged with throwing ‘destructive device' at California Highway Patrol from freeway overpass
Los Angeles County prosecutors announced new charges Tuesday against people suspected of attacking the police during recent protests that rocked downtown L.A., including an incident in which a California Highway Patrol cruiser was set ablaze on the 101 Freeway. District Attorney Nathan Hochman said 39-year-old Adam Palermo was charged with two counts of assault on a peace officer and two counts of using a destructive device in connection with the June 8 incident. As he announced the charges, Hochman stood alongside a TV screen looping a video that allegedly shows Palermo dropping a flaming item onto the CHP vehicle during the first weekend of protests against the Trump administration's immigration raids. That Sunday — the day after President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles over Gov. Gavin Newsom's objections — thousands of protesters took to downtown. A number of CHP vehicles and officers wound up parked underneath an overpass on the 101 after clearing protesters from the freeway late in the afternoon. Palermo also allegedly threw a large rock at one of the CHP vehicles. Hochman displayed social media posts allegedly made by Palermo saying 'of all the protests I've been involved in, which is well over a hundred now, I'm most proud of what I did today,' accompanied by images and videos of the CHP cars being damaged and burned. 'It was not a productive day. It was a day of destruction,' Hochman said. Palermo will also face federal arson charges in relation to the same incident, according to U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli, who joined Hochman for the news conference. Hochman said his office has brought charges against 30 people in relation to the protests since they first erupted 10 days ago. Essayli said he's brought about 20 cases, and both promised more prosecutions going forward. In a separate alleged attack, Hochman said 23-year-old William Rubio threw fireworks at Los Angeles police officers responding to dumpster that had been set on fire near First and Spring Streets on June 8. When Rubio was arrested, police allegedly found eleven M-1000 fireworks in his backpack which Hochman likened to a 'quarter stick of dynamite.' 'These are lethal devices. Had any of these been thrown in a person's direction, they could have killed or maimed that person,' Hochman said. It was not immediately clear whether Rubio or Palermo had defense attorneys. Palermo is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon, according to a district attorney's office spokesman. Records show Rubio will be arraigned downtown on July 1. Charges were also filed against defendants accused of firing a laser pointer at a police helicopter, being in possession of a firearm when they were detained for a curfew violation and breaking into an Apple store downtown that was being overrun by 'looters,' Hochman said. Essayli announced one new case against a defendant who allegedly spit on a National Guard member and federal law enforcement officers during a confrontation outside a federal building. 'As our President said, 'If you spit, we hit,' and we will hit you with a felony,' Essayli said. L.A.'s top federal prosecutor also went into more detail about charges filed last week against Alejandro Orellana, who was charged with conspiracy to commit civil disorder and aiding and abetting civil disorder for handing out protective face shields to protesters. Essayli said the masks were meant to protect 'violent agitators' from law enforcement crowd control munitions, adding that a search of Orellana's home turned up a a bag of rocks, metal BB gun pellets and a notebook of anti-police scribbling including a page that read 'Blue Lives Matter. 187,' the California Penal Code section for murder. Asked why providing defensive materials to demonstrators was a crime, Essayli scoffed at the idea that peaceful demonstrators would need protective equipment. 'He wasn't handing masks out at the beach,' Essayli said. 'He was handing them out in downtown L.A. to people who were dressed similarly to those committing violence. They were dressed in gear from top to bottom, they were covering their face, they were wearing backpacks. We've talked about what's been in the backpacks. You've got fireworks. You've got rocks… There's no legitimate reason why a peaceful protester needs a face shield.' Orellana faces at least five years in federal prison if convicted. Essayli also reiterated his promise to go after 'organizers and funders' of what he termed 'violence' at protests. He hinted that the person who paid for the masks Orellana distributed could also face criminal charges. Although some of the recent protest cases brought by Essayli's office have involved severe instances of violence against police — including cases where defendants are accused of hurling molotov cocktails or concrete blocks at deputies and officers — others have left legal experts wondering if the devout Trump appointee is straining to criminalize protest against the administration's policies. Essayli maintained Tuesday that his office is only going after those responsible for causing unrest in recent days. 'These weren't peaceful protesters,' he said of the people who received masks from Orellana. 'They weren't holding up signs expressing a political message. They were agitators.' ___ © 2025 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Protester charged with throwing ‘destructive device' at CHP from freeway overpass
Los Angeles County prosecutors announced new charges Tuesday against people suspected of attacking the police during recent protests that rocked downtown L.A., including an incident in which a California Highway Patrol cruiser was set ablaze on the 101 Freeway. Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said 39-year-old Adam Palermo was charged with two counts of assault on a peace officer and two counts of using a destructive device in connection with the June 8 incident. As he announced the charges, Hochman stood alongside a TV screen looping a video that allegedly shows Palermo dropping a flaming item onto the CHP vehicle during the first weekend of protests against the Trump administration's immigration raids. That Sunday — the day after President Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles over Gov. Gavin Newsom's objections — thousands of protesters took to downtown. A number of CHP vehicles and officers wound up parked underneath an overpass on the 101 after clearing protesters from the freeway late in the afternoon. Palermo also allegedly threw a large rock at one of the CHP vehicles. Hochman displayed social media posts allegedly made by Palermo saying 'of all the protests I've been involved in, which is well over a hundred now, I'm most proud of what I did today,' accompanied by images and videos of the CHP cars being damaged and burned. 'It was not a productive day. It was a day of destruction,' Hochman said. Palermo will also face federal arson charges in relation to the same incident, according to U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli, who joined Hochman for the news conference. Hochman said his office has brought charges against 30 people in relation to the protests since they first erupted 10 days ago. Essayli said he's brought about 20 cases, and both promised more prosecutions going forward. In a separate alleged attack, Hochman said 23-year-old William Rubio threw fireworks at Los Angeles police officers responding to dumpster that had been set on fire near First and Spring Streets on June 8. When Rubio was arrested, police allegedly found eleven M-1000 fireworks in his backpack which Hochman likened to a 'quarter stick of dynamite.' 'These are lethal devices. Had any of these been thrown in a person's direction, they could have killed or maimed that person,' Hochman said. It was not immediately clear whether Rubio or Palermo had defense attorneys. Palermo is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon, according to a district attorney's office spokesman. Records show Rubio will be arraigned downtown on July 1. Charges were also filed against defendants accused of firing a laser pointer at a police helicopter, being in possession of a firearm when they were detained for a curfew violation and breaking into an Apple store downtown that was being overrun by 'looters,' Hochman said. Essayli announced one new case against a defendant who allegedly spit on a National Guard member and federal law enforcement officers during a confrontation outside a federal building. 'As our President said, 'If you spit, we hit,' and we will hit you with a felony,' Essayli said. L.A.'s top federal prosecutor also went into more detail about charges filed last week against Alejandro Orellana, who was charged with conspiracy to commit civil disorder and aiding and abetting civil disorder for handing out protective face shields to protesters. Essayli said the masks were meant to protect 'violent agitators' from law enforcement crowd control munitions, adding that a search of Orellana's home turned up a a bag of rocks, metal BB gun pellets and a notebook of anti-police scribbling including a page that read 'Blue Lives Matter. 187,' the California Penal Code section for murder. Asked why providing defensive materials to demonstrators was a crime, Essayli scoffed at the idea that peaceful demonstrators would need protective equipment. 'He wasn't handing masks out at the beach,' Essayli said. 'He was handing them out in downtown L.A. to people who were dressed similarly to those committing violence. They were dressed in gear from top to bottom, they were covering their face, they were wearing backpacks. We've talked about what's been in the backpacks. You've got fireworks. You've got rocks… There's no legitimate reason why a peaceful protester needs a face shield.' Orellana faces at least five years in federal prison if convicted. Essayli also reiterated his promise to go after 'organizers and funders' of what he termed 'violence' at protests. He hinted that the person who paid for the masks Orellana distributed could also face criminal charges. Although some of the recent protest cases brought by Essayli's office have involved severe instances of violence against police — including cases where defendants are accused of hurling molotov cocktails or concrete blocks at deputies and officers — others have left legal experts wondering if the devout Trump appointee is straining to criminalize protest against the administration's policies. Essayli maintained Tuesday that his office is only going after those responsible for causing unrest in recent days. 'These weren't peaceful protesters,' he said of the people who received masks from Orellana. 'They weren't holding up signs expressing a political message. They were agitators.'
