Smoke in Little Tokyo

What happens when an insane person with power keeps doing insane things?

Hi,

Late yesterday afternoon — after leaving the Metropolitan Detention Centre with puffy eyes and a scratchy throat — I’d wandered to Little Tokyo to get a cold drink.

It tasted awesome.

Tonight at around 9pm I went back there to find a very different scene. Little Tokyo was closed and the LAPD was circling. Well, circling in cars — and swarming in person.

Talking to those around me, it seemed the entire afternoon and evening had been the police just moving to various spots in downtown LA to disperse any crowds deemed too big. Nearby, the cops had set up shop — their SUVs and cruisers lined up in a show of force as their chopper flew overhead.

There was no National Guard in sight — they’ve largely been confined to guarding federal buildings. Another 2000 have been ordered in — despite California suing the Trump administration for sending them in the first place — along with 700 Marines as a cheery on top.

So Little Tokyo was just cops, all the way down.

As the night wore on, more and more vehicles started circling on the roads that were open, revving engines and yelling out windows. There were a lot of face coverings, people aware of the pepper spray and tear gas awaiting them — and probably seeking a certain level of anonymity.

Police helicopters were circling constantly — seeming to take great pleasure in flashing and half blinding anyone gawping up at them. I thought of something I’d read in the LA Times yesterday:

As protesters and law enforcement officers clashed in downtown Los Angeles, an L.A. Police Department helicopter flew over a crowd on 1st Street, announcing, “I have all of you on camera. I’m going to come to your house.”

With that sort of shit on display, I understand the anger of those tagging DEAD COPS.

The police stood there mostly gormless, zip ties, batons and guns at the ready. People came up and screamed to their faces, wanting to remind them they they are “fucking cowards” for being here. To me, it all felt like a video game — a bunch of NPCs standing around, quietly swaying. Part of me wanted to walk up to them and run my hand down their face.

I didn’t — but I took some photos because this shit is happening right in front of me.

At some point, this woman talked to me about nine-year-old Martir Garcia Lara, arrested and detained by ICE while trying to do their schoolwork.

A lot of this shit has been happening over the last few months, and it all came to a head late last week with cases like Martir’s, and the arrests at Home Depot that you heard about in yesterday’s Webworm podcast.

By 10.20pm, there was a certain degree of chaos in the air that wasn’t around yesterday. Someone set off some fireworks, and the cops started popping off their various weapons. People started running and screaming as cars did burnouts and blasted horns. There were various bangs and pop-pop-pops.

Relocated, and watching on a block back, this perfect dog wondered what the fuck was going on. People emerged from the smoke, splashing water in their eyes. Someone offered me a bottle — I was fine, and told them as much. There was chaos, but there was also a stranger offering another stranger some water.

And with that particular crowd dispersed, the LAPD did what they’ve been doing all afternoon and evening — they moved onto the next spot.

I thought the guy next to me was watching Netflix on his iPad, but he was flying a drone. He’d been here all day, tracking movements from the air.

I looked on — now seeing a perfectly framed bird’s eye view — and I got hit by that it’s just a videogame feeling again, and the knowledge that this game will just keep going on all night and into the morning. Except it’s not a game, it’s just the bizarre place we’ve landed when a bunch of confused, spiralling Americans voted Donald Trump back for a second term.

The question is: What does he do next? What happens when an insane person with power keeps doing insane things?

And how does a population react to that insanity?

It’s 12.51am. I am going to go get some sleep.

David.