Politics
NEW: Local LA News Host Loses Patience, Explodes On City’s Weak Riot Response: ‘Outrageous’
A Los Angeles newscaster has lost patience with his city’s response to the riots, exploding on Mayor Karen Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom for allowing vandals to tear apart businesses and private property while officers stand by.
Elex Michaelson, a nighttime anchor for Fox L.A., couldn’t contain his anger after watching looters set fire to cars and hurl cinderblocks at officers during riots that have entered their fifth day. Michaelson has previously been close to Newsom, offering him exclusive interviews and favorable coverage about his ability to beat back a recall effort.
“This is outrageous. Thugs are currently setting fires & collecting rocks in Downtown L.A. as law enforcement stands by nearby,” the reporter wrote on X. “For the moment, they are letting this all happen.”
“How is it that I’m ticketed if I miss paying my parking meter by 2 minutes but this is allowed?” he added.
Viewers chimed in to share additional footage of the violence, including rioters unleashing massive fireworks on federal officers from a makeshift barricade.
“Yes, we were showing this picture live as I posted this,” Michaelson responded.
Others called out the evening anchor for not forcefully condemning Newsom and Bass’s opposition to the Trump administration deploying thousands of National Guard and Marine soldiers to quell the unrest.
“Perhaps if you more readily used your platform to support political candidates running against the norm, we might be in a different situation,” one angry viewer replied to Michaelson, who responded, “It’s not my job to support political candidates regardless of their views.”
To his credit, Michaelson said the station has asked city officials when they plan to move in and arrest the rioters, now in their fifth day of opposing an operation by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement to apprehend upward of 150 suspected illegal immigrants over the weekend.
But it’s unclear whether Fox L.A. will investigate the supposed financial backers of the riots, including some with links to the Chinese Communist Party.
Financial records obtained by the NY Post indicate that the Coalition of Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), which has staged rallies in response to the immigration raid, obtained grant funding from the Biden administration.
“The radical group also received around $450,000 in grants for ‘citizenship education and training’ between October 2021 and September 2024 from the DHS — the very agency the group was protesting last week. The federal agency cut ties with the group and terminated any further funding in March, including clawing back nearly $101,000 that had yet to be paid out,” the New York Post reported.
A spokesman for CHIRLA said their organization hasn’t had anything to do with the violent riots. Their claim of innocence was made in a statement published by The Washington Post.
As the war of words between Newsom and Trump has escalated, Michaelson has been ready and willing to interview the Democratic governor about his opposition to Trump’s decision to federalize 4,000 members of the California National Guard.
“Donald Trump is reckless, he’s immoral,” Newsom told Michaelson on Monday. “He’s acting unlawfully. He’s putting people’s lives at risk. And it’s my job to clean up Donald Trump’s mess, because he’s making it by the hour.”
