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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Florida attorney general wants lawmaker deported over criticism of Trump military parade
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier called for Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) to be deported for criticizing last weekend's military parade in Washington, D.C. Uthmeier wrote 'Denaturalize and Deport' in a repost on social platform X featuring an interview with Omar from the left-leaning outlet Democracy Now! In the clip, Omar says the U.S. 'is turning into one of the worst countries on earth.' 'I grew up in a dictatorship, and I don't even remember witnessing anything like that,' said Omar, who was born in Somalia, referring to the parade. 'To have a democracy, a beacon of hope for the world to now be turned into one of the worst countries where the military are in our streets without any regard for people's constitutional rights,' she continued. 'While our president is spending millions of dollars propping himself up like a failed dictator with a military parade. It is really shocking,' she said. In the interview, Omar noted the deployment of U.S. troops to minimize protests in Los Angeles took place in the same week that the administration held the parade in Washington, which celebrated the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. The event happened to fall on President Trump's birthday and Flag Day. Uthmeier has taken a staunch conservative stance on immigration as state attorney general. On Tuesday, a federal judge found him to be in civil contempt over her ruling that put a hold on a new Florida law that would label it a misdemeanor for those residing in the country illegally to enter the state. 'If being held in contempt is what it costs to defend the rule of law and stand firmly behind President Trump's agenda on illegal immigration, so be it,' Uthmeier said in a post on X following the ruling Tuesday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The long history behind Los Angeles protestors' Mexican flags
President Donald Trump and his most loyal allies have seized on images of Mexican flags being waved at the protests in Los Angeles against his mass deportation regime. 'Insurrectionists carrying foreign flags are attacking immigration enforcement officers,' Vice President JD Vance posted Saturday on X. 'Foreign flags flying in American cities to defend the invasion and defy federal law,' White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller tweeted that very same day. Displaying flags from Mexico, Central America or other Latin American countries is nothing new at these demonstrations. As Los Angeles Times columnist Gustavo Arellano said in a recent video, those of us who have covered immigration issues for years frequently run into this 'undue obsession with a piece of cloth.' Once again, immigration enforcement is being reduced to a culture war spectacle, pitting Americans against Americans over who and what gets to define what it means to be American. This is not a new tactic for Trump and his ilk — but Los Angeles is not just another city facing this fight. 'We have to resist this, because in Los Angeles, we clearly understand what's happening,' high school history teacher and Unión del Barrio community organizer Ron Gochez told Democracy Now! over the weekend. 'The Trump administration is trying to make an example of Los Angeles. Los Angeles is the heart of the Mexican and Central American community here in the United States. And so, they think that if they can break us, they can break anyone in the country.' In a region that is nearly 50% Latino, Los Angeles has long been a stage for what happens when marginalized communities push back. That resistance has often come with a price, from the Zoot Suit Riots in 1943, when young Mexican American men were beaten and arrested by servicemen and police, to the 1970 Chicano Moratorium, when the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department killed three individuals, including journalist Rubén Salazar, during a protest against the Vietnam War. In 1994, the city was the center of the fight against Proposition 187, California's attempt to deny public services to undocumented immigrants. Those in power condemned each of those movements at the time, but all of them have since become part of a broader American story of civil rights. The Trump administration and its supporters haven't read that story though. 'This is a calculated and strategic decision by the Trump administration to turn LA into a test case for quashing political dissent,' journalist Tina Vásquez wrote earlier this week. It is easier to attack a symbol like a flag, which is ironically woven into U.S. history through the land-grabbing legacy of the Mexican-American War, than to confront what it represents in the hands of someone born here, raised here and determined to stay. Americans also forget how, during the time of the Mexican Revolution in the early 20th century, the United States intervened militarily multiple times, occupying border towns and launching cross-border raids. The line between what is 'American' and what is 'Mexican' has never been clear-cut, no matter how much political leaders insist it is. Still, the images of the Mexican flag align with a narrative Trump and his allies have been promoting for years, a way to reduce a protest about policy and due process to a spectacle about patriotism and identity. Instead of discussing due process violations, courthouse arrests or policy abuses, they want to pivot the conversation to patriotism and symbols. They want a debate over whether people have the right to wave any flag at all, not why they're waving it in the first place. 'These idiots waving Mexican flags during the LA riots just gave Donald Trump the greatest political gift,' Republican strategist Matt Wylie told Newsweek. 'It will be 'Exhibit A' as proof of an invasion. Those images have done more in the last few days to strengthen his ability to crackdown on illegal immigration than weeks of messaging ever could.' But as Vásquez wrote, 'like many audacious, power-hungry leaders before him, Trump has vastly underestimated his adversaries.' That's what is missing from much of the current political spin. Yes, Trump and his allies are trying to paint Los Angeles as an anti-American symbol of insurrection, but the MAGA crowd overlooks that previous protests, such as the Prop 187 ones or the massive immigration rallies of 2006, were about the same issues we are all witnessing now. Angelenos have seen it all before: vilification, fearmongering and false claims about un-American activities. All this anti-immigrant strategy has accomplished is to mobilize states like California to produce new leaders and justice movements that place immigrants first. A CBS News poll released just before the demonstrations found that Americans only support deportations if they believe ICE is targeting 'dangerous criminals.' That support drops fast if they believe people are being denied hearings or due process. While 55% support the president's deportation 'goals,' that flips to 56% opposing his 'approach' to deportations. And a YouGov survey taken amid the demonstrations finds just 39% approve of Trump's handling of deportations, while 50% disapprove. Trump's bet on making foreign flags the story follows a predictable script. The difference is that those waving the flags know the ending. They have lived it before and they're still here, protesting with pride in where they come from and ensuring that their voices will not be erased. They sense that they are on the right side of American history. And they understand that these protests are not about loyalty to another country, but about claiming space in this one. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ryan Coogler Confused by Media Frenzy Around His ‘Sinners' Rights Deal: ‘Nothing About This Is a New Thing'
Ryan Coogler said his multifaceted deal with Warner Bros., that gives him complete ownership over his hit action-horror film 'Sinners,' is not a new concept in Hollywood, nor is he the first filmmaker to make such a request. The conversation came about while Coogler was chatting with Democracy Now journalist Amy Goodman on Friday. At the time, Goodman inquired about the terms of his arrangement with Warner Bros., which includes the studio offering $90 million for Coogler to make the film, and their agreement to give him first-dollar gross — a cut of the ticket sales — as well as handing over ownership of the film to Coogler after 25 years. Other filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Eli Roth, Christopher Nolan and more have received first-dollar and/or ownership deals for their movies. After mentioning the reporting that some 'rival film companies were horrified that Warner Bros. would give a film away even after a period of time,' Coogler shared his thoughts. 'I'll maybe add some context that maybe those articles didn't add: I'm not the first filmmaker to get any of these deals. And Warner Bros. is not the first studio to provide these deals to a filmmaker,' Coogler explained. 'I think that a lot has been made of my deal in particular, I'm not totally sure why. I have my guesses, but I've been in the industry long enough to know what deals are possible and nothing about this deal is new thing.' When Goodman asked, 'What's your guesses, Ryan?' The director responded with a gentle laugh, 'I would rather not say.' He continued: 'But the attention on what's happening with this project outside of it as a piece of art and as a piece of commerce has been very interesting. But for me, this film was very important to me.' He went on to explain that in the time that he has been a feature film director, he has earned Hollywood more than a billion dollars with his films, including the 'Black Panther' and 'Creed' franchises. In addition, Coogler noted that 'Sinners' is a much more personal cinematic work that he wanted to advocate for. 'As a writer-director, I've made over $2 billion at the global box office; I'm not yet 40 years old. It's taken a lot of time, commitment, energy and I've missed out on a lot things in my life making films that will always be owned by other people,' Coogler said. 'For this one, because it was so personal, and because I had the ability to negotiate, I asked for a few things that are very important to me for this project. For what it was about and what it meant to me and my family. And thankfully, I was able to get those things I was asking for from Warner Bros.' 'Sinners,' which stars Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O'Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Omar Benson Miller and more, is now in theaters. You can watch the full 'Democracy Now!' clip in the video above. The post Ryan Coogler Confused by Media Frenzy Around His 'Sinners' Rights Deal: 'Nothing About This Is a New Thing' | Video appeared first on TheWrap.
