In September, Donald Trump posted an AI-generated picture of himself on the shores of Lake Michigan in Chicago, depicted as Lt. Col. Kilgore, the gung-ho warmonger memorably performed by Robert Duvall in Francis Ford Coppola’s messy masterpiece, “Apocalypse Now” — besides the graphic bore the title “Chipocalypse Now.”
Trump despatched out the message as his scorched-earth immigration enforcement marketing campaign descended on the Windy City after doing its cruelty calisthenics in Southern California over the summer time. Two months later, the marketing campaign — nicknamed “Operation Midway Blitz” — reveals no signal of slowing down.
La migra has been so uncontrolled {that a} federal decide issued an injunction in opposition to their use of pressure, saying what they’ve achieved “shocks the conscience.” Among different outrages, brokers shot and killed an immigrant attempting to drive away from them, ran right into a daycare facility and dragged out a trainer and tear-gassed a avenue that was about to host a Halloween kiddie parade.
I had an opportunity to witness the mayhem it has brought about final week — and the way Chicagoans have fought again.
The University of Chicago introduced me to do talks with college students and the neighborhood for a few days, together with with members of the Maroon, the college’s newspaper. Earlier within the week, Fox News put them on blast as a result of that they had created a database of locations round campus the place la migra had been noticed.
Good job, younger scribes!
In Little Village, pocket Patton meets his match
After my speech on the University of Chicago’s Divinity School, I seen somebody had hung whistles across the neck of a bronze bust. Whistles have turn into the unlikely software of resistance within the metropolis, I wrote in a columna — one thing that I argued Latinos nationwide had additionally employed metaphorically with their election night time clapback at Republicans.
When I awoke Thursday morning at my tony lodge, the Chicago Tribune’s entrance web page screamed “Use of Force Under Fire” and centered on the actions of commander-at-large Gregory Bovino. You bear in mind him, Angelenos: he’s the pocket Patton who oversaw the pointless invasion of MacArthur Park in July and appeared to spend as a lot time in entrance of cameras as doing his precise job.
Bovino has continued the buffoonery in Chicago, the place he admitted beneath oath to mendacity about why he had tossed a tear fuel canister at residents in Little Village, town’s most well-known Mexican American neighborhood, in October (Bovino initially mentioned somebody hit him with a rock).
I Ubered to Little Village to fulfill with neighborhood activist Baltazar Enriquez so we may eat at one in every of his neighborhood’s well-known Mexican eating places and discuss what has occurred.
I as an alternative walked proper right into a cacophony of whistles, honks and screams: Bovino and his goons had been cruising round Little Village and surrounding neighborhoods that morning only for the hell of it.
From L.A. to the remainder of the nation, and again
“Every time Trump or la migra lose in one thing, they pull one thing like this,” a enterprise proprietor informed me as she appeared out on twenty sixth Street, Little Village’s fundamental thoroughfare. Customers had been hiding inside her retailer. Over 4 hours, I adopted Enriquez as he and different activists drove by way of Little Village’s streets to warn their neighbors what was occurring.
The scene performed out once more in Little Village on Saturday shortly after I filed my columna, with Bovino holding a tear fuel canister in his hand and threatening to toss it at residents, brazenly mocking the federal decide’s injunction prohibiting him from such reckless terrorizing (Monday, the Department of Homeland Security claimed brokers had weathered gun photographs, bricks, paint cans and rammed autos). And to prime it off, he had his officers pose in entrance of Chicago’s notorious stainless-steel bean for a photograph, similar to they did in entrance of the Hollywood signal (Block Club Chicago reported the funboys shouted “Little Village” for giggles).
Given ICE simply acquired billions of {dollars} in funds to rent extra brokers and assemble detention camps throughout the nation, anticipate extra scenes like this to proceed in Chicago, boomerang again to Southern California and reduce by way of the center of Latino USA within the weeks, months and years to return. But I nonetheless left Chicagoland with hope — and a whistle.
Time for us to start out carrying them, Los Angeles.
Today’s prime tales
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) at the moment faces the bottom approval scores of any nationwide chief in Washington.
(Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press)
The authorities shutdown
- Senators authorized a deal that might finish the shutdown on a 60-40 vote, a day after Senate Republicans reached a deal with eight senators who caucus with Democrats.
- Democrats within the House vowed to maintain preventing for insurance coverage subsidies.
- Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is dealing with strain to step down as Senate Democratic chief after failing to forestall members of his caucus from breaking ranks.
- States are caught in Trump’s authorized battle to revoke SNAP advantages after a federal decide ordered full funding.
A quick bout of summer time climate
Courts defend LGBTQ+ rights
More large tales
Commentary and opinions
- California columnist Anita Chabria argues that Democrats crumbled like cookies within the shutdown struggle.
- Gov. Gavin Newsom remains to be writing his path to the presidency. Columnist George Skelton factors to Zohran Mamdani for inspiration.
- President Trump’s effort to rename Veterans Day flopped — and for good cause, argues visitor contributor Joanna Davidson.
This morning’s should reads
Other nice reads
For your downtime
(Andrew Rae / For The Times)
Going out
Staying in
Question of the day: What’s one particular dish your loved ones makes for Thanksgiving?
Judi Farkas mentioned: “An previous Russian recipe that has descended by way of 5 generations of our household, Carrot Tzimmis was historically served as a part of the Passover meal. It’s good with a Thanksgiving turkey. Tzimmis is good, as are so most of the Thanksgiving dishes, so I pair it with a Jalapeño Cornbread dressing and a sturdy salad French dressing in order that nobody will get overwhelmed. It connects me to my household’s heritage, however repurposed for the vacations we rejoice now.”
Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com, and your response may seem within the publication this week.
And lastly … the photograph of the day
An individual surfs at Salt Creek Beach on Sunday in Dana Point.
(Juliana Yamada/Los Angeles Times)
Today’s nice photograph is from Juliana Yamada of a surfer at Salt Creek Beach in Dana Point.
Have a terrific day, from the Essential California group
Jim Rainey, employees reporter
Hugo Martin, assistant editor
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
June Hsu, editorial fellow
Andrew Campa, weekend reporter
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
How can we make this text extra helpful? Send feedback to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.
