Five years ago, the Black Lives Matter protests became the broadest and most sustained social movement in recent U.S. history by multiple measures. Coinciding with the fifth anniversary of the 2020 protests is another large-scale crusade against law enforcement — specifically, against immigration authorities.
At the peak of the 2020 protests, crowd-counters estimated as many as 26 million people poured out into the streets, with pop-up BLM marches even spreading to small-town America.
In comparison, the latest wave of uprisings targeting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), though expanding across the country, will likely not have the same staying power due to a handful of fundamental differences in both the movements driving them and the outside circumstances shaping them.
Police response
The law enforcement response to the anti-ICE riots, depending on jurisdiction, is mostly swifter and fiercer than before, perhaps in hopes of preventing a repeat of 2020.
In an interview with the Washington Examiner, retired Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith, spokeswoman for the National Police Association, noted that elected officials have more of a mandate this time to protect federal officers from the onslaught of chaos.
In 2020, President Donald Trump authorized the deployment of federal forces to defend federal property, particularly the U.S. courthouse then under nightly attack in riot-torn Portland.
Now, immigration enforcement agents are the direct target of the mass mobilizations meant to “get ICE out of LA,” Seattle, Chicago, and so on. The Department of Homeland Security has since seen a 413% increase in assaults on ICE officers.
In response, federal officials started rapidly filing charges, following an internal Justice Department directive sent to all U.S. attorneys ordering prosecutors to prioritize cases against rioters accused of vandalism and assaulting officers.
AFTERSHOCKS OF 2020: TRUMP DOJ RAMPS UP PROSECUTIONS IN PROTEST CRACKDOWN
“The fact that we’re seeing federal prosecutors step in and assist with charging rioters, not just physically dealing with the riots in the streets, is really heartening,” Smith told the Washington Examiner.
In 2020, soft-on-crime progressive prosecutors at the local level frequently let leftist extremists off scot-free, much to the dismay of boots-on-the-ground police officers who worked tirelessly to round up rioters.
Smith, a seasoned police trainer, stressed the importance of prosecuting rioters, especially militants such as far-left Antifa agitators, to deter further criminal activity. At least four known antifa affiliates are federally charged over their alleged involvement in the anti-ICE violence.
Of the lessons learned between past and present protests, Smith said that Democratic-led cities experienced the consequences of catch-and-release policies and “defund the police” initiatives brought about by Black Lives Matter.
LA SPENT YEARS DEFUNDING POLICE BEFORE ANTI-ICE RIOTS
Smith said people also pay close attention to the strain placed on police resources when riots break out. “People who depend on cops, especially in higher crime neighborhoods, don’t get the police service that they want or deserve [during mass rioting],” she explained.
According to the Portland Police Bureau, at the time of an unlawful assembly in August 2020, dozens of 911 calls went unanswered while police officers dealt with the rampant rioting, which ended up spanning over 170 consecutive days.
Smith suspects that the ICE riots won’t last as long. Regardless, she believes the resolve of law enforcement officers, policing in the face of post-traumatic stress from the 2020 anti-police vitriol, will triumph over lawlessness.
Pandemic-induced psychosis
The psychosocial effects of the COVID-19 shutdowns, further exacerbated by heightened political tensions in an election year, provided the perfect storm for civil unrest in 2020.
With a nation on edge, George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers marked a tipping point for pent-up frustrations boiling over from months of isolation and stir-craziness induced under strict stay-at-home quarantine orders.
Studies show that anxiety and depressive disorders in U.S. adults skyrocketed more than fourfold from April 2020 to August 2021 compared to a pre-pandemic period. But the BLM protests noticeably helped reduce symptoms of distress among young participants, one mental health study observed.
Other research suggests that the protests offered a cathartic outlet for many who lost jobs and income due to the pandemic.
According to two summer 2020 surveys conducted by a Wellesley College political science professor, respondents who reported that they suffered some form of financial loss (52%) stemming from the public health crisis were substantially more likely to protest in solidarity with BLM.
Each explanation respondents cited for how they had been financially harmed by the pandemic predicted about a 7% increase in their likelihood of attending a protest, the surveys found.
SHUTDOWNS BLAMED FOR OUTBREAK OF PROTESTS AND RIOTS
In response to an open-ended question on what motivated them to protest in support of BLM, around 22% of the Americans surveyed, almost all of whom had claimed economic hardship, gave answers indicating a general feeling of injustice and discontent with the federal government.
Pandemic-related grievances potentially galvanized turnout among protesters who may not have shown up otherwise. Indeed, nearly 4 out of 5 of these respondents reported that they had never attended a BLM protest beforehand.
Ample free time also fueled the fire. Respondents who said they had more time on their hands during the lockdowns were 14 points more likely to have participated in a protest.
Mixed messaging and a missing martyr
The lack of a sympathetic face for the anti-ICE movement could also affect people’s willingness to take to the streets.
Activists tried to make the “mistakenly deported” Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an accused MS-13 member and alleged domestic abuser, a poster child for the anti-ICE movement. After outcry on the Left and a series of court proceedings brought him back to the United States, Abrego Garcia currently faces federal human smuggling charges for allegedly transporting hordes of illegal aliens within the interior of the U.S.
Abrego Garcia was portrayed in the media as a father from Maryland wrongly plucked away from his family. “As more information continued to come out, people realized he’s a bad guy who had no business being in this country,” Smith said.
Abrego Garcia’s case opened people’s eyes, Smith said, to the fact that there are thousands of others like him living illegally in America, some who are involved in high-level crime.
“People want to see their politicians fight for them, not for illegal alien gangbangers who beat their wives in traffic,” Smith said. “He was the wrong choice for the Left.”
The anti-ICE movement’s messaging may also be muddied by the inclusion of other causes, such as pro-Palestinian activism, under the same banner.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE STUDENTS BEING DETAINED BY ICE OVER ANTI-ISRAEL ACTIVISM
“Intersectionality is one of the hallmark features of the modern activist Left. Seemingly disparate issues such as immigration, abortion, support for the Palestinians, etc. are all lumped together as part of one overarching movement,” said Robert Stilson, a senior research analyst at the Capital Research Center. “Perhaps the activists see this as a coherent approach, but I doubt the average American does.”
For the most dedicated members in the activist Left’s ranks, protesting “is the ends, not the means,” Stilson told the Washington Examiner. “In that respect, the specific cause(s) is of secondary importance.”
Public support is scant overall. According to a YouGov poll from June 9, only 36% of Americans approve of the anti-ICE protests. More recently, a Harvard/Harris poll has found that an overwhelming majority (80%) supports Trump’s plan to deport criminally convicted illegal immigrants while two-thirds of the country backs “Closing the border with added security and policies that discourage illegal crossings.”
Smith said taxpayers are witnessing firsthand the cost of illegal immigration in America. “More reasonable people are thinking: Is this really a good hill to die on?” she said.
Imagery of protesters proudly waving the Mexican flag on American streets does not seem to be helping the cause either, and it may have dissuaded more moderate followers from joining.
The novelty of a Trump presidency has begun to wear off as well.
On whether there will be burnout in the foreseeable future, Stilson said the activist Left will never tire of raging against Trump. Stilson noted that numerous organizations launched entire fundraising campaigns centered around their opposition to the president and his administration. However, given that this is Trump’s second term, he speculated that his 2024 election win took “some of the bite out” of the resistance.
Smith said she, too, does not see the left-wing fervor among ardent activists letting up any time soon, but the general public has grown weary of their relentless antics.
“What average Americans see is these are just people who have to have something to protest,” Smith said. “It’s like, ‘Two months ago, I was dealing with the pro-Palestinian protesters. Now I’m dealing with the anti-ICE riots, and then I’m dealing with No Kings Day.’ It just brings fatigue upon everyday Americans who just want to be able to live their lives.”
A week into the ICE riots, footage captured Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass cleaning up graffiti left by rioters in downtown LA.
Stilson said riots and property damage are bad optics all around, for city leadership in particular, and that they alienate ordinary Americans who might have sympathized with some of the movement’s aims.
“That said, I don’t think the hardcore activist Left sees things this way,” Stilson added. “Radical politics generally does not accompany moderate self-awareness.”
In Minneapolis, the epicenter of the George Floyd uprisings, racial justice rioters inflicted an estimated $500 million in damages to more than 1,500 properties. Hundreds of small businesses bore the brunt of rebuilding costs, while others never reopened.
Funding flow
From a funding perspective, Stilson said a unique aspect about the 2020 protests was the financial windfall it produced for the nonprofits publicly tied to the movement, chiefly the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLM GNF).
“What’s more, much of this money apparently came from ordinary Americans making small-dollar donations,” Stilson said of the Floyd-era largesse. “That is the opposite of what we often see on the activist Left, where much of the money tends to come from giant private foundations and other nonprofit grantmakers.”
Stilson added that he does not envision the institutional funding stream ever ceasing, even if money is shifted around.
The various groups orchestrating the nationwide anti-ICE uprisings are part of a well-funded and far-reaching NGO network. At the forefront of the resistance against ICE is the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), a radical-left political party bankrolled by a shadowy millionaire.
WHO IS FUNDING THE ANTI-ICE ACTIVISTS IN LA?
The Network Contagion Research Institute, a watchdog monitoring geopolitical influence, extensively documented PSL’s connections to the Chinese Communist Party by way of its benefactor: Shanghai-based tech tycoon Neville Roy Singham, a Maoist megadonor known for generously funding CCP-praising nonprofits and media entities that echo pro-Beijing propaganda.
Meanwhile, it appears Black Lives Matter’s well is running dry. Although activist organizers fundraised off of the 2020 racial justice revolution with resounding success, BLM GNF’s coffers depleted significantly following infighting over funds.
BLM GNF, which has acted as a clearinghouse for the movement’s cash contributions, obtained a bulk of Black Lives Matter’s vast fortune, nearly $80 million, in 2020. But by June 2023, that windfall dwindled to $29 million, according to BLM GNF’s latest publicly available tax return.