LAPD releases after-action report on summer ICE protests, citing costs and arrests

A newly released LAPD after-action report examines the department's handling of summer protests against immigration policies, highlighting 435 arrests and $12.14 million in overtime costs within a two-week span. The analysis blames poor planning and coordination for many challenges but asserts that officers performed well amid “unprecedented” disorder that sometimes turned violent. The document records that protesters employed improvised weapons such as oven mitts and leaf blowers, and that officers were targeted with rocks, bottles, fireworks and Molotov cocktails, resulting in nearly 50 officer injuries.

Critics argue the report fails to address the use of less-lethal weapons that injured hundreds, the targeting of journalists, and the lack of accountability for misconduct. Police officials maintain that the level of violence required the measures taken, including two instances of tear-gas deployment, the first use since the 1970s.