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Opinion

Opinion: How To Stay Legally Trucha with Your Protest Lucha

Risks right now are high. Intervening in the arrest or detention of a loved one—however tragic or emotional the moment—carries serious legal consequences. In these tense encounters with federal agents, your options are limited, and one wrong move can escalate quickly.

8:00 AM PDT on June 24, 2025

A protestor shouts holding an upside down U.S. flag behind him

A “No Kings Day” protestor yells while holding an upside-down American flag. Photo by Kemal Cilengir for L.A. TACO.

When someone tells you who they are, believe them the first time. If you ignore the warning, don’t act surprised when they live up to it. That’s not betrayal—it’s your failure for not listening.

Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, and the entire MAGA machine have made their worldview unmistakably clear. They see Los Angeles—not as a city—but as enemy Brown territory. 

Trump speaks of “liberating” L.A. from a so-called “migrant invasion.” Kristi Noem calls us a “city of criminals.” Stephen Miller brands undocumented immigrants as “invaders” and anyone who protests as an “insurrectionist.” This isn’t random rhetoric- It’s designed with the specific intent to prepare the public for a future in which dissent is treated as terrorism.