Chad Wolf, the former acting secretary of Homeland Security, told Newsmax that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was wrong to blame ICE agents for rioting in the city and "should resign."
Wolf told Newsmax's "National Report" on Tuesday that Bass went over the top with that comment. "She's basically saying if ICE just would have ignored their mission, ignored the fact that we have criminal, illegal aliens in the city of Los Angeles, then everything would be all right," he said. "That is a disgrace. She should resign from saying just that, that law enforcement should abdicate their responsibility and just go on to another city. It's disgraceful."
California Gov. Gavin Newsom accused President Donald Trump of trying to start a civil war by sending federal troops to Los Angeles to stop the violence. But Wolf said Newsom had things turned around. "The majority of Americans know that Donald Trump is a peacemaker. He is trying to end wars overseas. He doesn't want this to occur."
Wolf said Trump has been forced into action since California leaders have failed. "He's not going to let the city of Los Angeles just simply burn and let graffiti go on on all these buildings and let all this violent activity occur. He is going to side with law enforcement each and every time."
According to Wolf, "The only way to bring this to a close is you send in overwhelming force so that those agitators can't get to those buildings, can't burn those cars." Wolf said it's a basic law enforcement formula. "They get frustrated and eventually disperse. The president knows this. This is why he's deploying the assets to Los Angeles."
He also defended ICE agents whose lives and the safety of their families have been put at risk by having their identities published. "Their information has been put out there. They are at risk.
"They put on a badge every single day. They go out there trying to do the right thing, arrest violent individuals, not knowing if they're going to come home to their family or not."
So when the Mayor of Los Angeles tries to circumvent ICE security operations, said Wolf, people should mull that over. "And you've got the mayor of Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States saying, Well, if the immigration enforcement operations wouldn't have happened, then nothing would have occurred." He added, "Just think about that for a moment."
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Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
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