An ABC7 Los Angeles news anchor, Jory Rand, and correspondent, Tim Caputo, faced widespread criticism for their live coverage of anti-ICE protests in downtown LA. Despite vehicles burning and objects being thrown, they characterized the demonstrations as 'just a bunch of people having fun watching cars burn' and 'relatively peaceful,' cautioning against police intervention. Their comments, shared widely on social media, sparked debate over media portrayal of civil unrest.
LA news anchor claims people are having 'fun' watching cars burn, riots 'relatively peaceful'
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AI Summary
TL;DR: Key points with love ❤️An ABC7 Los Angeles news anchor, Jory Rand, and correspondent, Tim Caputo, faced widespread criticism for their live coverage of anti-ICE protests in downtown LA. Despite vehicles burning and objects being thrown, they characterized the demonstrations as 'just a bunch of people having fun watching cars burn' and 'relatively peaceful,' cautioning against police intervention. Their comments, shared widely on social media, sparked debate over media portrayal of civil unrest.
Trending- 1 Friday night (prior to June 9, 2025): Violence erupted in downtown Los Angeles in response to ICE raids.
- 2 Friday (prior to June 9, 2025): President Donald Trump sent 2,000 National Guard troops to the area.
- 3 Sunday (prior to June 9, 2025): ABC7 Los Angeles aired live coverage with controversial comments by Jory Rand and Tim Caputo.
- 4 Subsequently: Social media accounts like LibsofTikTok shared clips, leading to criticism.
- The news coverage drew widespread criticism on social media.
- It highlighted differing perspectives on protest severity and police response.
- It contributed to public debate on media portrayal of civil unrest.
What: ABC7 Los Angeles news anchor Jory Rand and correspondent Tim Caputo characterized violent anti-ICE protests in downtown LA, which included burning cars and throwing objects at police, as 'just a bunch of people having fun' and 'relatively peaceful' during live coverage, drawing significant social media criticism.
When: Sunday (prior to June 9, 2025) for the news coverage. Violence erupted Friday night (prior to June 9, 2025).
Where: Downtown Los Angeles, California, United States.
Why: The news coverage aimed to caution law enforcement against escalating tensions by interfering with the protests, suggesting police presence, flashbangs, and tear gas were provoking the crowd. The protests themselves were in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids.
How: Jory Rand and Tim Caputo made the controversial statements during a live broadcast, which were later shared and criticized on social media by accounts like LibsofTikTok.