A Show of Force at MacArthur Park
And the damage it left behind
On a bright summer morning in Los Angeles, children played soccer in MacArthur Park. Families sat on benches, elders chatted by the fountain, and vendors set up carts under the palms.
Then came the sound of engines.
A convoy of more than a dozen military‑style vehicles, including Humvees, tactical trucks, and ambulances, rumbled onto the grass. Around 90 uniformed National Guard soldiers, alongside U.S. Marines in full gear, fanned out across the park, rifles at the ready.
They advanced toward a small group of people near the soccer field. The children froze. Parents pulled their little ones closer. Neighbors stood in stunned silence, watching soldiers and agents march into their community.
There were even mounted officers on horseback, clopping across the lawn in formation.
Within the hour, it was over.
No one was arrested. No explanation was given. Mayor Karen Bass and the LAPD arrived, confronted the federal personnel, and shortly after, the troops withdrew.
But the fear remained.
For the children who watched the men in uniform descend on their park, it didn’t matter that no one they knew was taken away. What mattered was how close it came and how easily it could happen again.
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The Unsettling Questions
Why?
Why did nearly a hundred armed federal personnel with armored vehicles, horses, and Marines in full battle gear march across a public park?
There are streets all around MacArthur Park. Roads that would have easily accommodated their Humvees and tactical trucks. And yet, they chose to disembark, form up in lines, and move deliberately, on foot, across the soccer fields and playgrounds.
It makes no tactical sense. This was not a battlefield. There was no enemy entrenchment requiring a flanking maneuver through a meadow.
If the goal was to quietly and efficiently apprehend a target, why march across a park in full view of everyone — children, families, press — instead of driving up the street and making an arrest?
The answer seems to lie not in tactics but in optics.
This was not about what needed to be done. It was about how it looked while they did it.
It was a deliberate show of force meant to impress supporters, intimidate the community, and reinforce the idea that the federal government can project power anywhere it pleases.
But what it also reinforced was fear, mistrust, trauma, and the unsettling sense that, in this park, the line between the law and violence had blurred beyond recognition.
We’ve reported extensively on the ongoing immigration policy and ICE raids, their architect Stephen Miller, and what happens after the arrests. See some of that reporting here:
The Pattern: Fear as Policy
This scene at MacArthur Park is shocking, but it is not unprecedented.
Marching troops across a public square, deploying masked agents in unmarked vehicles, and conducting highly visible operations in the middle of civilian life are not tactics of necessity. They are tactics of psychology.
We have seen this playbook before abroad and at home.
In Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. forces staged heavily armed patrols through marketplaces and neighborhoods to remind the population who controlled the streets.
In Vietnam, “search and clear” missions in villages often accomplished little militarily but left families terrified and resentful.
In the Jim Crow South and during the Civil Rights Movement, police and the National Guard were deployed in city centers and college campuses to intimidate protesters and Black communities into submission.
And in immigrant neighborhoods across the U.S. for decades, ICE and Border Patrol have conducted high‑profile raids in workplaces, churches, and schools, often catching no serious criminals but traumatizing entire communities.
These actions are rarely about apprehending one person. They are about showing everyone else what can happen. They aim to chill resistance, sow fear, and break solidarity by making people feel helpless and watched.
In military doctrine, this is referred to as a show of force. In practice, it often creates exactly what it claims to prevent — alienation, distrust, and even radicalization.
And in MacArthur Park this week, the children who watched those soldiers and horses advance across their soccer field were not witnessing law and order. They were witnessing the state’s power made indistinguishable from menace.
They will not soon forget it.
The Legacy of Trauma & Radicalization
The children at MacArthur Park may not fully understand the politics, legalities, or policies behind what they saw, but they will remember how it felt.
They will remember the sound of boots on grass and hooves on pavement. They will remember their parents’ faces, tight with fear, eyes darting to the soldiers’ rifles. They will remember the neighbor who was led away and never came back. They will remember that the men in uniform came to their park and that everyone was powerless to stop them.
That memory doesn’t fade just because no one in their family was taken.
We have seen, in country after country, what happens to young people who grow up in the shadow of armed patrols and arbitrary raids.
In Northern Ireland, a generation was radicalized by the presence of British soldiers on their streets.
In Gaza and the West Bank, children know only the language of occupation.
In Baghdad, Kabul, and Saigon, there are places where the sound of foreign boots came to mean humiliation and fear.
They were told it was for their own good, for the sake of order and safety, but to them, it was simply terror.
And here, on U.S. soil, we have done the same for generations to African American communities: over‑policing, profiling, brutality, leaving behind trauma that has shaped family after family.
When the state treats communities as enemies, it should not be surprised when those communities begin to see the state the same way.
We refer to it as radicalization when it occurs abroad. Here, we call it resistance, or unrest, or “criminality,” but it is the predictable result of fear, humiliation, and a loss of faith in the promise of justice.
What happened at MacArthur Park may not have sparked violence, but it planted something — fear, mistrust, and a deep memory of the day the park became a battlefield.
What Should Have Happened
The tragedy of MacArthur Park is not just that it happened but that it didn’t have to.
So much of what unfolded that morning could have been avoided if the agencies involved had simply followed their own protocols, the Constitution, and basic human decency.
There is nothing radical about expecting the government to behave lawfully, transparently, and with respect for the communities it claims to protect.
Here is what should have happened:
Identify themselves clearly
Agents and troops should have immediately and unambiguously identified themselves verbally, visibly, and in writing as members of specific federal agencies.
Present paperwork without being asked
Any arrest, detention, or search should be supported by proper, lawful documentation, which should be proactively presented at the outset rather than being hidden or only produced if demanded.
Ensure due process
Those detained should have been allowed to notify family and legal counsel. No one should have simply disappeared, leaving loved ones to scramble for information.
Recognize the danger of imposters
With criminals impersonating ICE and police to rob and assault people, real agents have an obligation to behave in ways that clearly distinguish themselves from lawless actors.
Uphold their own standards
The norms of the badge exist for a reason: to make the state’s power legitimate, not arbitrary. When officers abandon those norms, they blur the line between protector and predator, and everyone loses.
The erosion of these basic practices is not just regrettable. It is dangerous. Once the state decides it no longer needs to distinguish itself from the criminals it claims to fight, it loses its moral authority.
The Constitution Is Clear
What happened at MacArthur Park isn’t just morally questionable. It raises serious constitutional concerns:
Fourth Amendment: Protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.
— Masked agents detaining people without showing warrants, using racial profiling, and forcibly removing people from public spaces violates the requirement for specific, articulable suspicion and probable cause.
— United States v. Brignoni‑Ponce (1975): The Supreme Court ruled that “Mexican appearance” alone does not justify stopping or detaining someone.
Fifth Amendment & Fourteenth Amendment: Guarantee due process of law.
— Detaining people without informing them of the charges, denying access to counsel, or holding them in unknown locations undermines fundamental procedural protections.
Sixth Amendment (in criminal contexts): The right to counsel.
— Even though immigration proceedings are technically “civil,” removing people without allowing legal representation crosses ethical and, arguably, constitutional lines.
The Constitution demands that the government justify its power, not assume it. What we saw in MacArthur Park looked far more like arbitrary coercion than lawful enforcement.
Turning Outrage Into Action
It’s not enough to feel anger, sadness, or despair about what happened in MacArthur Park.
If we want to prevent this from becoming the norm and reclaim the dignity and safety of our communities, we must act.
Here are three ways you can make a difference today:
Call Your Members of Congress
Demand accountability for the militarized tactics used against immigrant communities.
Insist on oversight of ICE, DHS, and the use of military assets in domestic operations.
Capitol switchboard: (202) 224‑3121
Sample Script:
“Hi, my name is [Your Name] and I’m a constituent from [City/ZIP]. I’m calling about the recent military‑style raid in MacArthur Park. I urge you to speak out against these tactics, support hearings into their legality, and work to restore due process and transparency in immigration enforcement. Communities should not live in fear of masked, unaccountable agents. Please take a stand for justice and the Constitution. Thank you.”
Support the Organizations Doing the Work
Donate to or volunteer with groups already defending those targeted and holding institutions accountable:
— ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project — aclu.org
— National Immigration Law Center (NILC) — nilc.org
— United We Dream — unitedwedream.org
— RAICES — raicestexas.org
— Or find a local immigrant‑justice group in your area.
Show Up Peacefully
Attend protests, vigils, or city council meetings. Show solidarity. Remind officials that their actions are being watched and will be remembered.
Fear thrives in silence. Power thrives when we believe ourselves powerless.
By raising your voice, supporting those on the front lines, and refusing to look away, you help bend the arc of justice back toward dignity, fairness, and humanity.
Every voice matters, including yours.
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Bibliography:
American Civil Liberties Union. Immigrants’ Rights Project. Accessed July 7, 2025.
“Troops and Federal Agents Briefly Descend on Park in LA Neighborhood with Large Immigrant Population.” AP News, July 7, 2025.
Brignoni-Ponce, United States v., 422 U.S. 873 (1975).
RAICES. Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services. Accessed July 7, 2025.
United States Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General. “Concerns about ICE Detainee Treatment and Care at Four Detention Facilities.” OIG-18-32, December 11, 2017.
United We Dream. Home Page. Accessed July 7, 2025.
“California Mayor Calls Trump’s Immigration Raids a ‘Campaign of Domestic Terror.’” The Guardian, July 1, 2025.
Weber, Christopher. “Mayor Bass Confronts Federal Agents at MacArthur Park, Troops Withdraw after Brief Show of Force.” Obrag.org, July 7, 2025.
We are living in Nazi America. It is the same shit, different assholes! I am going to say something that will piss a lot of folks off, but it's the truth we all need to hear: this is white people's fault! We did this to ourselves! We came here, and look at what we European colonizers have done to the indigenous people, the blacks we enslaved and unalived, the Mexican natives, the Chinese, the Japanese we interned. This country has not been great, not for everyone, in fact when has it ever been "great"? Our flag doesn't represent freedom for all, but oppression, for many. I love my country and home, but hate what we have done to eachother. We white wash and sanitize history because it's too uncomfortable, or inconvenient, or doesn't fit our narratives. That has to stop-- we have to face the racism, hate, ignorance, and religious cancers plague baked in our cake, if we truly want to be great or survive. We did this to ourselves, it's up to us to right the wrongs.
Instilling fear of the Trump Administration is the goal of the President and the Project 2025 playbook in their quest to end democracy and take over America under the control of a deranged dictator. Mayor Bass took courageous action against the thugs. We all need to be inspired by those who stand up against the lawless oppression of the Trump Administration. We must join and support our brave defenders of democracy and the USA!