we hope you're having a great morning despite the light drizzle outside. Yeah we've got some
showers and currently in the mid 60s we'll get up to a high near 80 this afternoon maybe
some thunderstorms on the way later on today. Time to welcome in our guest from Los Angeles,
California live on the phone right now we have Tiffany Hobbs from KFI AM in LA. Good morning,
Tiffany. Good morning, John and Gordy and what an interesting forecast you are looking forward to
today. It sounds similar to LA minus the rain but happy summer. Yes, well you don't have a smog out
there anymore right? I mean it's just overcast. Yeah there's no smog in LA what's the
word? That's what I heard. Yeah. I'm your sky. So your talk show hosted KFI in LA. I am. I am. We are one
of the biggest talk stations in the country. Definitely the biggest in LA and we're carried by
I heart media and live on the radio as well. Well that's fantastic. You've been covering the LA
protests out there and you know it just seems to me that there's a difficult time now for a lot of
people to figure out what's really going on in these protests. Now you've had actual people out
there who are participants or at least walking along with a lot of the protesters. I can't remember
is it Chris Alter who reports with you as well? Chris Atlas is an independent journalist but we've
had our own reporter Michael Monks out there, our news reporter. I know a number of people who have
participated and or covers the protests and they're still ongoing. They're you know they're kind
of indefinite at this point but a lot of real-time information I've been in the middle of the
protest as an observer as media as well so seeing it from all angles. Well you know the the
difference I think this time around is that now the megas don't want people to protest at all.
In the old days we were allowed to protest but nowadays they don't want anybody to protest and
I'm trying to figure this out because you know we see the peaceful protests and then all of a sudden
the police are there and they're pushing them back and I don't know why they're pushing them back.
I mean they're very few protesters to begin with at most of these protests and then they push
them off to the side and then they they arrest them and I'm not quite sure why all of this is
happening. Do you have an explanation? I know a lot of this stuff takes place in the afternoon
after the peaceful protest but suddenly the police come in and they start pushing people around.
Is it because of the of the curfew or what is it that makes them want to be aggressive toward
these peaceful protesters in the first place? Well there's quite a lot going on at once or
simultaneously so this all started a little over a week ago up two third days ago now where the
ICE immigration raids were happening here in L.A. seemingly spawns amously. Others may have had
you know an idea that this was coming but for the general public it was practically out of nowhere
and people began responding to those immigration raids that Thursday evening Friday afternoon,
Friday morning and then into that weekend. We immediately saw an increased police presence
in that zone and those of you around the country outside of L.A. may be wondering what that zone
actually consists of. It's really practically a little over one square mile in our downtown district.
Every big city has a downtown that's bustling with its cultural events, with its sporting events,
with its housing, whatever it may be and we certainly have one as well and within that downtown
district are also our federal buildings, our law enforcement headquarters and so everything
happened right there in front of our main federal building where it was reported that some of these
detainees by ICE were being held and so people went down there, exercised their Constitutional
right with their bull horns, with their signs, with their marching and they were doing so peacefully
but that increased law enforcement presence with LAPD with our Sheriff's Department really did
inflame an otherwise peaceful situation and the lines kind of those skirmish lines appeared
and the increased police presence already is intimidating, the optics of police in more
militarized gear definitely is off-putting for the most peaceful protesters because people were
saying we don't need you here, why are you here and as police became more aggressive in their
enforcement you did have people of course continuing to exercise their right and demanding that
they were to stay where they were but police became physically agitating and started to
you know actually physically push people back, the mounted police came out, you had the flash
thing, you had the tear gas deployed, this was all before the curfew ever took effect, this is
within the first couple of days where I was actually situated, I don't live far from this area
and I was able to access it easily and so while watching what was initially peaceful turn into
something a lot more volatile it could really be pinpointed the the the center of it or at least
the origin of it could be pinpointed as these flash fangs as the deployment of this tear gas
because then you have crowds running, so people stamp heating, you have people trying to get over
each other and running into things and yes all of that completely inflamed the situation, yes
there are agitators on the protest side who are not at all affiliated with the protesters,
let me just speak clear, we've seen this in previous in previous situations back to
Trayvon Martin in the early 2010s all the way up till now, these alternative fringe groups that come
out and that do want to rattle rouse, they use these opportunities, these protests that are peaceful
to you know exercise the right to their own cause but their display becomes a lot more violent,
that's where you see on the news I'm sure covered right there in Madison as well, people throwing
things over the freeway overpass at police walk cars below, people graffitying the buildings,
people throwing things at the skirmish line, so those are not the original protesters who are
angry and insist about these ice immigration raids, these are people who use the opportunity
to continue to inflame situations to their own benefit and then when they leave the peaceful
protesters are essentially left to pick up the pieces and those pieces that they're picking up
resulted in this curfew being implemented by our mayor Karen Bass who is doing so to protect
the businesses down there because of course there has been there has been destruction, there has
been vandalism by these fringe groups as well and that curfew is in place indefinitely as of this
morning it is 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. so it's about to wind down at about 15 minutes our time but it
is being said to be in place according to our mayor Karen Bass indefinitely. Talking with Tiffany
talking with Tiffany Hobbs from KFI AM radio in Los Angeles California so let's talk a little bit
more about the curfews and review for us again how this works, what time are the protesters
supposed to be out of that area? 8 p.m. 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Pacific Standard time however as 8 p.m.
starts to approach and we're still in you know twilight around 8 p.m. it's dusk it's still you
know pretty lit up which is opposite of twilight it's a little bit brighter but for all of our
science people out there but around 7 p.m. is when you start to see the police presence increase even
as early as maybe 6 p.m. they're there stationed downtown law enforcement now also you have the
Marines that have been circulating you do have you know this increased military rise force here
they're circulating anyway but around 6 p.m. 7 p.m. they really start to ramp up their
presence so even though the curfew goes into effect in 8 p.m. it is highly encouraged that people
start to disperse and leave the area well before that now there are hundreds of thousands of
residents that live in this downtown area I would say tens of thousands who are directly
impacted by the curfew zone including businesses the Disney concert hall is there we have the
Grammy Museum there there are so the place where the Lakers play crypto.com that's right there as
well right on the outside of the zone and again all of these businesses all of these residents are
impacted they have to show proof of residency if they are to come out after the curfew again
highly discouraged because there are residents who are saying that they are being jostled they're
being questioned and intimidated by law enforcement because they're out walking their dog and you
know it's it's being suggested that they don't after 8 p.m. people who are patrons at these
restaurants many of which have closed because they cannot pivot to different hours or it's just
too much to maintain their workforce if they have not already furloughed their workforce or have
closed completely then they have adjusted their times and people have to show proof of receipt
to law enforcement and be out before 8 p.m. so there's a lot of moving parts for all of it really
translates could just it's really disruptive and it for people who are in this
zone people who can access it like I can right on the outside I'm less than a mile away
this really does feel like and you know a really heavy-handed response yes that is unnecessary
LAPD could have handled this on their own yeah but do you think they're doing a good job it seems
like you mentioned a few times that they're rather aggressive and I thought maybe a mayor bass
you know would have at least you know tempered you know the reaction that they have as opposed
to being as aggressive as they as they have seemed to be at this point yeah you know I definitely
want to give accolades to LAPD because many of them are sympathizers they're right there
from the community as well and they're not the ones who are are inflaming the situation in most
cases okay okay so it's the law enforcement that's been placed in downtown LA to mitigate the
no crowds to to provide this crowd control or to assist with ice as they do these immigration
raids LAPD has been what they do what they always do they're just doing their jobs and they have
a very difficult one I don't want to vilify them in any way they're just doing with ass of them
and mayor bass absolutely has spoken to what was initially a very heavy-handed response excellent
Tiffany can you stay with us for a couple more minutes questions answer on this okay all right
all right we will continue talking with Tiffany Hobbs from KFI AM in Los Angeles about the situation
out there we're going to talk to her about the National Guard troops and also the Marines and see
if they've been involved in anything there as well over the weekend coming back with more of
John and Gordy in the morning in just a moment right here on WMDS
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WMVX 92.7 John and Gordy in the morning it's what's happening that's right 752 we have rain showers
this morning thunderstorms on the way this afternoon this portion of John and Gordy
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grove road in Madison continuing our conversation here with Tiffany Hobbs from KFIM in Los Angeles
that's right I want to get to one thing you know there a lot of protesters out there you know
just to the fewer 20 but some of these people are very confrontational you know and they keep
challenging the police or the National Guard or some of them you know the Marines that are wandering
around in LA and I was just wondering I have a cut here of one individual and then a protestor
trying to control this individual let's cut 141 let's play that for it okay here we go
what we're doing is working all we have to do is stay caught in there they want you to get out of
the body okay I'm good they they want you to I'm good they want to reaction because what we're
doing is working but that's fair money they want to excuse to get violent because we're working
so there you go this guy is trying to calm one of these people just challenging the police
you know shoot me go on shoot me yeah I just I don't know why they react like that that is just
ridiculous but then here is that same activist who's trying to control the crowd this is cut 140
let's play him this is just a very short 30 second cut the National Guard has been set back on
the National Guard has been set back on we're going is working what we're doing is working
the National Guard has been set back on you see this this is why the police are in front now
there you go so there are a few of those protest activists out there that are actually trying to
control the crowd and I think sometimes you know I didn't think about it but these individuals
really do the hard work and that is they need a spokesperson in front of these crowds sometimes
who can get their voice out there and and give people direction in some way she performed because
there it is a little chaotic out in the streets you know John and Gordy there are many people
like those or that gentleman you played who are there to do crowd control who are there to
offer directives and to keep people calm but of course the media of which I am also a part but
try not to you know imitate in this way show what gets the most click show what gets the most
views and peace is not profitable unfortunately what is profitable what what does draw attention is
the chaos and there are pockets of chaos John and Gordy yeah there are not there's not an
influx by any means and anyone living in this city will tell you not only do they feel safe
to to go anywhere in this city regardless of these protests and demonstrations but
again the places in which there are these pockets of chaos are a tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny portion
of a much larger city the city is massive and there are people who have been out there for days
or weeks now at this point and as these things go as we've seen with Ryan the past historically
from Rodney hang up until now as I mentioned in the first segment the agitators use these
opportunities to advance their own interest and their interest is often to be chaotic that's not
the whole by any means and a lot of people find it off putting when they see these flash bombs and
and in the and in the tear gas they see this they think oh there's complete chaos and the cities
are being burned down to the ground no and and you know the the the the cars I forgot the name of
the the taxes the way the way most now you know I heard that they cut they they were burning
though simply because they have 360 cameras in them so it's an easy way to surveil the crowd
with those vehicles have you heard something like that yeah I haven't heard that that's not
completely um you know nonsensical they do these these cars which are everywhere in LA started
in San Francisco and and became a program here running about six months ago regularly I've written
and won their strange uh but you know they do have these 360 camera views and sure if you're trying
to obscure your identity you don't want to be surveilled there's cameras everywhere downtown however
so I wonder if that actually was the case or was just again you know a victim of of this high
emotion and of these agitators but I drove right past the way modes as they were burning uh yeah
sure waymo has suspended service in downtown LA makes sense businesses are closing waymo's a
business um so that's not completely unheard of um well Tiffany we have to leave it there but we
appreciate you uh reporting live from Los Angeles from KFI yeah you're really clarified uh you know
iatly star impressions of what's going on out there we appreciate that can we uh stay in touch
with you in the future absolutely i'll be i'll be your LA correspondent you can call me anytime
we would love that yeah well thank you so much for uh spending some time with us this morning Tiffany
yeah thank you and if anyone would like to listen to my program i'm with Saturdays and you can
hear me via the iHeartRadio app unless you're in LA of then which you can hear me live but iHeart
radio app kf i am 640 and my show is called Saturdays with Tiffany from five p.m. which is
uh seven p.m. your time to nine p.m. your time i'd love to hear you thank you Tiffany we appreciate
that we'll talk to you again soon yep that's Tiffany Hobbs from KFI in Los Angeles
that's it for us coming up tomorrow we'll talk to Jesse Christensen he's from cannabis uh the
therapeutics
