Fetterman says Democrats lose 'moral high ground' by not condemning LA protests over ICE actions

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Fetterman again lashed out at his own party this week, urging Democrats to vocally condemn protests that have turned violent in response to the Trump administration's aggressive actions on immigration.

Fetterman, D-Pa., who earlier this year criticized Democratic lawmakers' nonviolent anti-Trump protests on Capitol Hill as "unhinged petulance," shared a screenshot of burning vehicles in the wake of protests that have prompted President Donald Trump to deploy the National Guard and U.S. Marines against California leaders' wishes.

"I unapologetically stand for free speech, peaceful demonstrations, and immigration — but this is not that," he posted on X. "This is anarchy and true chaos."

The senator, who has disputed criticism in recent weeks over claims of absenteeism and concerns about his health among ex-staffers, went on to say the Democratic Party "loses the moral high ground when we refuse to condemn setting cars on fire, destroying buildings and assaulting law enforcement."

Many California residents and officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, say Trump's militarized response has only fanned the flames of unrest. Newsom has said he would sue the administration for its "illegal" takeover of the state's National Guard.

Fetterman's fellow Democrats in Washington, meanwhile, challenged his assertion that they condone violence.

"We can do two things at one time," Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., a leading progressive critic of Trump, told reporters Tuesday. "We can condemn protests that get out of control, and we can acknowledge that Donald Trump has no interest in standing up to violent protesters."

Murphy pointed out that the president pardoned "every single violent protester that tried to attack our Capitol (on Jan. 6, 2021) and destroy our democracy."

"The fact of the matter is, Donald Trump is not looking to create peace," he added. "He's not looking to calm the situation. He's looking for a fight."

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., turned a question about Fetterman's remarks on its head, making the case that the Trump administration's actions amounted to violence that deserved the spotlight.

"I think we should absolutely condemn the violence of ripping apart families, of (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) breaking the law, of them going into elementary schools and churches and raiding workplaces," she told CNN's Manu Raju. "And the fact that they are also rounding up U.S. citizens and also documented people who are here legally, with no regard for the court system and judicial injunctions."

Fetterman reiterated to CNN Tuesday that what he's seen of the Los Angeles protests was "destructive and just unacceptable."

For months, arrests by unidentified masked agents of student immigrants and pro-Palestinian protesters in communities across the country have ignited widespread condemnation from immigration and free speech advocates, and Democratic lawmakers in Pennsylvania and beyond — but not Fetterman. In some instances, local politicians, union representatives and journalists have been arrested as well.

"Protesting Trump's authoritarianism is a constitutional right," Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, said this week after the arrest of California labor leader David Huerta. "We won't back down while he swipes our neighbors off the streets and ignores due process."

Fetterman's condemnation of violence in Los Angeles earned praise from several Republicans.

"Even Sen. Fetterman said very strongly that this is horrible what they're doing, and that the Democrats are making a big mistake by not talking about it, and I agree with that," Trump told reporters Tuesday.

"Once again, my friend John Fetterman is simply telling the truth," responded Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., who received support earlier this year from Fetterman on the immigration and crime policy bill, the Laken Riley Act.

Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., who has had a strong relationship with Fetterman since taking office in January, posted on X over the weekend that Democratic so-called "sanctuary cities" have refused to enforce immigration laws for years.

"Now, we're seeing violence and vandalism in response to border patrol agents trying to do their jobs," he said.

Trump echoed those remarks on Monday, saying "radical left lunatics are taking to the streets of Los Angeles — attacking law enforcement, hurling projectiles at police cruisers, burning vehicles and shutting down freeways — because the Trump administration is removing violent criminal illegal immigrants from their communities."

After five days of protests over ICE actions and nearly two dozen businesses being looted, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared a local emergency.

She ordered an 8 p.m. curfew over a square-mile area where protests have centered in the roughly 500-square-mile city, the Associated Press reported.

The National Guard was on the scene late Tuesday night but not participating in arrests, according to the AP.

Newsom, who along with Bass says Trump has exaggerated the violence, described the president's actions as an "assault" on democracy. He argued Democratic and Republican states alike should be wary of allowing such military engagement.

"This is a manufactured crisis to allow him to take over a state militia, damaging the very foundation of our republic," Newsom said. "Every governor, red or blue, should reject this outrageous overreach."

Murphy suggested the president was using the situation in California — with demonstrations also rising in cities such as Dallas, Austin, Chicago and New York City — as a smokescreen while trying to get a major bill passed in the Senate that includes substantial cuts to Medicare and federal food assistance to help pay for tax breaks beneficial to the wealthy.

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said while it's "important that anyone who attacks police officers or sets fire to vehicles or carries out vandalism" be "interrupted and arrested," local and state officials in California have said they've "got this under control."

"Our warfighters are not political tools to patrol the streets of our cities or to suppress the political views of their fellow Americans," he said in a statement. "They put on the uniform to defend Americans and American values. Today, they're being called on to police American citizens on American soil."

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