The Los Angeles City Council is considering a motion that would give millions of public dollars to private security firms to protect religious institutions in Los Angeles.
The original motion called for $1 million to be allocated to private security firms in the wake of a heated protest outside of a Jewish synagogue in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood in June. Magen Am, a private security firm primarily made up of retired Israeli and U.S. Military members, was named the recipient of $350,000. Later, the motion was amended, and now no private security organizations are listed in the motion, which calls for $2 million to be spent.
The Intercept reported that L.A. activists still worry that Magen Am will receive a share of those funds. Additionally, they have concerns about the private security firm's director of its veterans program, Leinel Mangel, who served in the IDF's counterterrorism unit during the 2014 Gaza war and flew to Israel shortly after the October 7 attack.
Additional concerns surround Magen's firearms trainer, former U.S. Navy Seal Jason Pike, who once posted a video on social media showing him waterboarding his son and has shared transphobic memes.
