What's Going On In Westlake?

If you are aware of the rioting that is being wildly underreported by Los Angeles media, that commonly takes great pains to avoid showing illegal aliens misbehaving, you may be wondering what's going on.  After all, what we know about the incident that is the subject matter of the unrest seems pretty straight forward.  A Guatemalan day laborer, who was well known in his neighborhood for getting drunk and acting up in public, was shot dead when he lunged at police with a knife he had refused to drop after being ordered to do so, in English and Spanish. Apparently, one of the people he had been threatening on a street corner referred to the trio of officers who responded to the disturbance as "angels."

Nonetheless, the complaints issued from various corners of the "community" around Macarthur Park center  on anger over the presence of police.  Why? Isn't police presence in a gritty neighborhood a good thing? Why the fuss?

Well, it's simple.  Los Angeles is a sanctuary city for illegal aliens and that neighborhood is chock full of them.  In a sanctuary city, people here unlawfully aren't held to the same standards as they would in locations where laws aren't just for citizens.  They're not going to be questioned about their immigration status unless they commit other crimes.  They won't be required to carry ID that legal non-citizen immigrants must have on them, as a matter of federal law. They're not going to have to apply for and acquire bothersome permits to sell food and other items on the street.  Further, if they get picked up for driving without licenses, they won't be arrested.  And even if they do something that results in arrest, the chances of having their backgrounds checked for legal residency in the U.S. are pretty slim.

Illegal aliens are not criminals here.  Hell, our mayor told them so just a few years ago, in response to enthusiastic cheers. Not only that, but the new Chief of Police would never have gotten his promotion signed off on by Mayor Villaraigosa if he had given any indication that he had much interest in making life unpleasant for the millions who live here in violation of immigration laws. Everyone knows this, including the "immigrant community" where this shooting took place.

Therefore, the locals don't want or expect cops to do much law enforcement at all.  After all, Mr. Jamines had been drunk and loud plenty of times.  What's the big deal now?  I mean, it was only a knife with a little blood on it and it's not as though he'd hurt anyone previously on the occasions he made an inebriated spectacle of himself, right?

It's a culture, folks.  Criminals don't want police around, period.  If you're not going to enforce these other laws, hell, why should we have to answer to anyone in a blue uniform?

This is a situation in which Villaraigosa and Police Chief Beck should happily marinate.  They have no one to blame other than themselves ... unless you want to count the City Council and other race-baiting local politicians who have made endless excuses for the undocumented and allowed this situation to fester for years.