Demonstrations, Protests and Riots

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    Italian Americans, for and Against Mamdani, Square Off in New York

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    Feelings ran high at a colorful protest outside the Assembly district office of Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic mayoral nominee.For a political protest, especially in the dead of July in New York City, the colorful demonstration on Monday outside of Zohran Mamdani’s Assembly district office in Queens had it all.On one side, some members of an Italian American affinity group — which had taken offense at a recently resurfaced social media photo from 2020 showing Mr. Mamdani giving the middle finger to a Columbus statue — spoke of their umbrage, often in colorful terms.They vowed to fight Mr. Mamdani’s bid to become mayor. Some pledged their allegiance to Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate in November’s general election. One held a sign that was less committal, but just as dismissive. “Anyone but Communist Mamdani,” it said.Across the street, counterprotesters, many also Italian Americans, amassed. Some wore pins from Mr. Mamdani’s successful Democratic primary campaign (one woman wore a “Hot Italians for Zohran” shirt), and held up signs like “Fast + Free Buses for Nonna!”, “Paisans for Zohran!” and “You Eat Jar Sauce!”The two groups steadily held their ground, about a dozen cops between them, until the arrival of an infamous interloper — a performance artist known as Crackhead Barney — seemed to reignite the fury of the anti-Mamdani group.Yet for all of the event’s circuslike pageantry, it made no direct impression on Mr. Mamdani. He was more than 7,000 miles away, taking a vacation from the campaign trail in Uganda, where he was born.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Small Protests Against the U.S. Attack in Iran Sprouted Up Over the Weekend

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      The last-minute demonstrations drew hundreds of people in some cities, fewer in others. Many expressed displeasure with the Iranian leadership but were against any more U.S. involvement in another war.Protesters in more than a dozen U.S. cities demonstrated on Sunday against the Trump administration’s airstrikes on Iran.Some rallies attracted hundreds, while others drew dozens. The overall turnout was far less than last weekend’s “No Kings” protests against the president that were held in all 50 states. Many of Sunday’s demonstrations, held in cities including New York, Boston, Chicago, Washington and Los Angeles, were arranged late Saturday and had been described by organizers as “emergency mobilizations.”Demonstrators at several locations carried Iranian flags, and some held signs and placed banners across fences and buildings that read “No War in Iran!”U.S. Marines stand guard as a demonstrator protests in Los Angeles.David Swanson/ReutersOutside the gates of the White House in Washington, at least 200 demonstrators condemned the president, including some veterans. “He’s trying to become a king,” said Ron Carmichael, 78, who flew helicopters in the Vietnam War.In Chicago, more than 200 people attended a rally downtown. Ali Tarokh, a resident who said he immigrated from Iran 12 years ago after being imprisoned for political activities for two years, described the news of the airstrikes as “the worst thing that could have happened.”Although he opposes the Iranian leadership, Mr. Takokh said slow change was the only way to reform the government. “Regime change is kind of impossible over there,” he said, adding that President Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel have only impeded any transition to a democratic society.Some protesters said that the escalating conflict with Iran would further the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza.In Los Angeles, Noor Abdel-Haq, a 26-year-old nurse, said she came out because of her personal ties to the tensions in the Middle East. Most of her family lives in Gaza or the West Bank, she said. “We don’t want more murder and destruction.”Ms. Abdel-Haq was among the scores of people who assembled in the Westwood neighborhood in a peaceful demonstration. Nearby, a small contingent of Marines and federal agents stood wearing tactical gear and carrying rifles.In 98-degree heat in Richmond, Va., Violeta Vega, 23, an in-home care worker and a leader of the Party for Socialism and Liberation in Richmond, led protesters at Abner Clay Park in chants that included “Money for jobs and education, not for war and occupation.”The crowd numbered in the dozens. After the rally, her voice raspy, Ms. Vega said the gathering was necessary.“I felt empowered knowing that this was a day of action around the country,” she said.Robert Chiarito More

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      How the ICE Raids Are Warping Latino Life in Los Angeles

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      On Friday, June 6, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers raided a Downtown Los Angeles warehouse and a Home Depot parking lot. As news of the raids spread, protesters tried to block the arrests, clashing with police officers in the streets.Within a few days, rage bubbled into all-out demonstrations. The National Guard was called in miles from my home, and soon my news feeds were filled with images of protesters and law enforcement personnel squaring off on the 101 Freeway.The police mobilize against protestors in downtown Los Angeles.But only a few miles away, the neighborhoods where many undocumented Angelenos live were experiencing these raids differently.In Boyle Heights, a predominantly Latino neighborhood in East Los Angeles, the streets were unusually quiet. In the early afternoon, a time when the neighborhood is typically bustling with activity, the sidewalks and stores were empty.I met Ceasar Sanchez, standing at the entrance of a barbershop on Cesar Chavez Avenue, one of the area’s main thoroughfares. Inside, every chair sat empty.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Mahmoud Khalil Returns to New York After Months in Detention

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      The Trump administration remains committed to deporting Mr. Khalil, a Columbia graduate and leading figure in the pro-Palestinian protest movement.Mahmoud Khalil walked through a nondescript door into a Newark airport lobby on Saturday, his wife to his left, a congresswoman to his right and a stroller in front of him. His fist was raised and he could not stop smiling.Mr. Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and legal permanent resident, had spent more than three months detained by the Trump administration, which said he had enabled the spread of antisemitism and had sought to deport him.But his lawyers had denied the accusations of antisemitism and had protested his detention as unconstitutional retaliation for free speech. On Friday, a judge ordered him released on bail.After spending the evening driving from Jena, La., to a Houston airport, Mr. Khalil returned to the East Coast, his plane landing shortly before 1 p.m. on Saturday at Newark Liberty International Airport. He was expected to head to his home in New York City.When Mr. Khalil emerged at the Newark airport with his wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, he was quickly surrounded by roughly 50 supporters, reporters, lawyers and relatives.Mr. Khalil briefly addressed the crowd, saying he would immediately resume his outspoken work on behalf of Palestinian rights, speech he said that should be celebrated rather than punished. Asked about a message for the Trump administration, he said “just the fact that I am here sends a message.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Hwang Sok-Yong: In South Korea, Young People Are Resisting Authoritarianism

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      In South Korea, the collective memory of a pro-democracy uprising inspires a new generation to resist authoritarianism.This personal reflection is part of a series called The Big Ideas, in which writers respond to a single question: What is history? You can read more by visiting The Big Ideas series page.Modernity is born from the struggle between remembering and forgetting, and South Koreans on all sides of the political spectrum have learned from our shared history.That history includes the Gwangju uprising, a 10-day mass protest that occurred shortly after the 1979 assassination of President Park Chung-hee, who ruled South Korea for 18 years as a military dictator.Taking advantage of the power vacuum, Chun Doo-hwan, an army general, staged a coup and quickly began laying the groundwork for a new dictatorship. In May 1980, he declared martial law, and the citizens of Gwangju rose up in opposition to this continuation of military rule.The military responded with lethal force, indiscriminately killing citizens regardless of their involvement in the protest. Despite this, Gwangju became a watershed moment in the fight for Korean democracy.“We know that we cannot defeat such a powerful army. But to end the resistance now would render meaningless all the blood shed by our fellow citizens. We must defend the provincial office to our deaths. That’s the only way for us to be remembered by future generations and for the resistance to be complete.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      1 Killed in Shooting at ‘No Kings’ Protest in Salt Lake City

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      A bystander was fatally shot after security members at the demonstration confronted a man who was running toward the crowd with an AR-15-style rifle, the police said.At the No Kings protest in Salt Lake City on Saturday, two armed security members spotted a man dressed all in black move away from demonstrators and to a secluded area behind a wall, the police said.At that point, according to the police, the man started handling an AR-15-style rifle that he removed from his backpack. The security members drew their guns and confronted the man, who began running toward the crowd, holding his weapon in “a firing position,” the police said.One of the security members fired three times, wounding the gunman and also striking a bystander, who was killed, the Salt Lake City Police Department said.The police took the man with the rifle, who was identified as Arturo Gamboa, 24, into custody and charged him with murder, Chief Brian Redd of the Salt Lake City Police Department said at a news conference on Sunday.The bystander, who was identified by the police as Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, 39, of Utah, died at a hospital.Chief Redd called the shooting “sudden and alarming.”“No one should fear coming to a peaceful and lawful demonstration in our city,” Chief Redd said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      An American Fight With Mexico Won’t Go Well

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      Amid days of unrest in Los Angeles, with police officers firing beanbag rounds, protesters waving Mexican flags and the Trump administration sending in thousands of soldiers in what it called a mission to secure the streets, influencers on the Trumpist right started to lay the blame south of the Rio Grande.The loudest voice was that of the activist and author Charlie Kirk, who posted a misleading video for his millions of followers on social media under the headline “Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is a bigger threat to America than Vladimir Putin.” As he put it, “This woman, the president of Mexico, is talking about leading an uprising in the interior of America.”People say a lot of crazy things online, but the argument appeared to get the attention of Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, who echoed it on Tuesday at the White House. “Claudia Sheinbaum came out and encouraged more protests in L.A., and I condemn her for that,” Ms. Noem told reporters. “She should not be encouraging violent protests that are going on.”In fact, the opposite is true. Ms. Sheinbaum, the 62-year-old Mexican president, was quick to speak out against any violence in Los Angeles. “The burning of patrol cars seems more an act of provocation than of resistance,” she said on Monday. “We should be clear: We condemn violence wherever it comes from.”Ms. Sheinbaum has been a reliable partner to Washington since she took power last Oct. 1, putting pressure on drug cartels and their human smuggling networks and giving President Trump one of his few clear wins by helping reduce the flow of undocumented migrants and fentanyl heading north. She has helped ease bilateral tensions over trade and tariffs while, unlike other world leaders, managing to avoid personal confrontations with Mr. Trump.The argument that Ms. Noem and Mr. Kirk are making is not only wrong, it’s also dangerous. It encourages the hawks in Washington who want to unleash unilateral military strikes against cartels in Mexican territory. Deploying drone strikes and Special Forces operations south of the border might appeal to Mr. Trump’s supporters but it would not defeat the cartels, which are sprawling criminal networks with many thousands of affiliates, including some in the United States. It could torpedo the relationship with Mexico, which is proud of its sovereignty, rendering it politically impossible for Ms. Sheinbaum to continue to cooperate with Washington. A fully combative relationship with Mexico, as commentators like Mr. Kirk are gunning for, would almost certainly worsen problems over trade and cartels and inflame additional protests in the United States, as well as in Mexico.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Police Clash With Protesters After Anti-Trump Rally in Downtown Los Angeles

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      With the downtown facing an 8 p.m. curfew, the Los Angeles police began using tear gas and crowd-control munitions to break up protests after issuing a dispersal order.Blacki Migliozzi/The New York TimesTensions flared between protesters and police in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday as a major demonstration against the Trump administration gave way to yet another night of smaller but raucous protests against recent immigration raids.With the city’s downtown area facing an 8 p.m. curfew, the Los Angeles police began using tear gas and crowd-control munitions to break up protests after issuing a 4 p.m. dispersal order. Officers on horseback forced hundreds of people away from a federal building downtown, where a crowd had gathered, chanting at a line of National Guard troops guarding the structure as helicopters circled overhead.“Shame on you! Shame on you!” the demonstrators shouted, as the troops stood at attention. In several posts on X, the Los Angeles Police Department accused protesters of throwing rocks, bottles and fireworks at officers. Law enforcement also said that “outside agitators” had blocked a portion of a street with fencing and other materials.After a series of militarized immigration raids ignited protests in downtown Los Angeles and several other nearby suburbs, President Trump commandeered 2,000 members of the National Guard over the governor’s objections and sent them to Los Angeles. After California officials pushed back, the president deployed another 2,000 National Guard troops along with 700 U.S. Marines.Richard Fausset/The New York TimesLocal authorities said they had the situation handled and needed no backup, but the president said that the city was out of control and that the military was needed to safeguard federal property and agents. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles have accused Mr. Trump of staging the immigration raids in an intentional attempt to inflame Californians and manufacture a crisis in a state that he regards as a hotbed of opposition and a place that allows illegal immigration.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Photos and Maps: ‘No Kings’ Day Protests Across the United States

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      Large crowds across the country have gathered to protest the Trump administration — in major cities like Philadelphia, Atlanta, New York and Chicago and in smaller, rural communities as well. The “No Kings” rallies, as the demonstrations were known, were planned for the same day as a military parade in Washington, D.C., that President Trump scheduled for the Army’s 250th anniversary, which also coincides with his 79th birthday.In Minnesota, where a gunman shot and killed a state lawmaker and her husband, and wounded a state senator and his wife overnight on Saturday, demonstrators came out to protest even though the events were officially canceled. Several protesters noted that it was important to show courage on a frightening day.The demonstrations follow more than a week of large-scale protests in Los Angeles against Mr. Trump’s immigration crackdown and his decision to deploy the military there. More