Highland Park Anti-ICE Sirens: A Further Descent Into Anarchy For Los Angeles

My Latest Column For The California Post Looks At A Bizarre New Effort In Los Angeles To Sound Air-Raid Style Sirens When Federal Immigration Agents Are Nearby.

Our afternoon content on this site is typically either behind the paywall for our paid subscribers or has bonus content under the paywall. After you read this post and the column I wrote on the California Post to which it is linked, scroll down for my full-on video rant on this topic. It’s worth the price of admission (which isn’t much) if you’re not already a paid subscriber! You can listen to this post (and my California Post column) on our podcast feed: So, Does It Matter? SPOKEN. It’s on your favorite podcasting app, or you can find it here.

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When The Sirens Go Off

I have a new opinion piece up in the California Post about a strange and revealing development unfolding in Los Angeles.

In the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, activists have begun installing bright red air-raid style sirens across the community. But these are not intended to warn residents about earthquakes, wildfires, or any other public safety emergency.

They are meant to alert people when federal immigration agents are nearby.

According to organizers, the idea is to create a neighborhood warning system so that when Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows up to conduct enforcement operations, residents will hear the sirens and have time to clear the streets and avoid contact with agents.

The effort is being organized by a group calling itself the “Community Self-Defense Coalition,” which openly promotes the project as a way for people to evade immigration enforcement.

Think about that for a moment.

An organized network designed to warn people about the presence of federal law enforcement officers — not because those officers are doing anything illegal, but because activists oppose the enforcement of federal law itself.

And yet in parts of Los Angeles, this isn’t being treated as radical. It’s being framed as community activism.

That’s where my California Post column comes in.

In the piece, I walk through how this siren system is supposed to work, who is organizing it, and why the entire episode raises troubling questions about the growing willingness in parts of California to normalize efforts that undermine basic law enforcement. I also point out the irony at the center of the story — one that reveals just how upside-down some of our political debates have become.

You can read the full column at the California Post HERE.

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Below the paywall, I recorded a video commentary to go with this column. Check it out! OK, I GO OFF. There’s a free trial of our paid subscription — it lasts a week. When you see all of the extra content you get, you’ll let it ride!