U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi likened Los Angeles to a “Third World country” as she warned anti-ICE protesters that they could face a range of federal charges.
On Monday, which marked the fourth day of consecutive protests across Los Angeles county, Bondi told Fox News anchor Sean Hannity that the Trump administration is “going to enforce the law” regardless of what California officials do.
“Look at it out there,” Bondi stated, “it looks like a Third World country, and it’s not. It’s the United States of America.”
The Justice Department’s leader went on to say that the administration will also protect the Los Angeles Police Department, which includes federally prosecuting anyone that assaults an officer, citing 18 U.S. Code Section 231. She revealed the administration has nine open cases on assaulting federal officers with “more to come.”
Bondi added that, while an administration does not “typically” charge for looting, she will under the Hobbs Act, “which prohibits actual or attempted robbery or extortion affecting interstate or foreign commerce.”
“We are charging robbery. You loot a business in California, you are looking at a maximum of 20 years in prison,” she continued. “You spit on a federal law enforcement officer—no more. As President Trump said ‘you spit, we hit.’ Get ready.”
The attorney general continued to say that protesters who spit on federal law enforcement officers, which includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, will receive up to five years in federal prison.
Also on Monday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, alleging it unlawfully deployed 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles on Sunday without Gov. Gavin Newsom’s consent. Newsom condemned the move as “a serious breach of state sovereignty.”
Originally published on Latin Times
