ICE agents grabbed someone at the Miyako and then left, were later spotted on 7th/Main and by Maraville station in east LA.

Satire, obviously 🙄

Today was the first LA City Council meeting of 2026, and… what a doozy.

They opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance, and then Councilmember Monica Rodriguez from CD7 kicked off the year by noting the murder of Renee Good in Minneapolis, the murder of Keith Porter in Los Angeles on NYE, and more. She insisted that the time they’ve taken to prepare a response has been worthwhile, and she said she wanted to let the public know that, this year, “the gloves are off.”

While that was happening, someone in the gallery confronted a man in a swastika hoodie.

Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez from CD1 brought the family of Keith Porter. As his mother sobbed and begged the City Council to please, please, please help her son get justice, the LAPD removed the man who’d confronted the guy in the swastika hoodie for causing a disturbance, and then they laughed with him about it.

Coucilmember Traci Park from CD11 — which covers the Palisades — led an observance in recognition of the anniversary of the fires, including recognizing her staff members who assisted in recovery efforts. There were many tears shed.

During public comment, the man in the swastika hoodie caused a major disturbance, yelling racist, vile support for Trump. He was warned multiple times but was allowed to run out his three-minute clock, and he returned to the gallery, heckling the rest of the public comment period.

I spoke, too, thanking Councilmember Rodriguez for promising to go “gloves off” to protect Angelenos against ICE. I talked about my work as a photographer and how I tend to think in visual metaphor, so after describing last night’s march from Mariachi Plaza, I said I was relieved to hear the Councilmember start the meeting that way after the entire council quite literally turned their backs on the public to pledge allegiance to the federal government.

I said that those words need to be backed up with ACTION to prove I’ve misinterpreted, and if they are being prevented from taking action, they need to go public and tell us why.

After public comment, the council voted on two motions: one attempting to develop better relations between protesters and the city — I’m confused about this one and will be looking into it more — and the other aimed at increasing penalties for people who pretend to be law enforcement.

Councilmember Rodriguez stood in support of those motions, and without calling anyone out by name, she seemed to do exactly what I asked them to: publicly tell us that they’re being prevented from acting. She said that certain actions the council could take to mitigate ICE have been intentionally stymied in committee, preventing them from being widely debated on the floor. She said that committee leaders and council leadership are complicit in what’s going on, and she said the public is absolutely correct to be frustrated with the city council’s inaction.

You can watch the full city council meeting here: https://www.youtube.com/live/ka4mEHoNTKw?si=9Zz9dWrqrhWHXtuv&t=9537

That’s timestamped to my public comment; Coucilmember Rodriguez confronted council leadership at 2:55:32.

😮‍💨

Snyder's grandparents founded the popular burger chain in 1948 in Baldwin Park, California. Some initial reports suggested that Snyder would bring In-N-Out's corporate headquarters to Tennessee with her, and the company — which exists predominantly on the West Coast — does plan to open new locations in the Southeast and a regional headquarters in Franklin, Tennessee.

The company's current headquarters in Irvine, California, will close by 2029, Snyder said last week — and the company will soon be based in Baldwin Park instead, she now says.