By Steve Shaheed
A Quiet Observer From South LA Reads The Front Page
I don’t have a TV. I wasn’t going to be in the area. I sure wasn’t going to downtown Los Angeles on Saturday with tens of thousands of people marching toward a federal detention center. I have survived too long in this city to walk into something like that. But I read the newspapers. The LA Times. The photographs on the front page. And the images tell many stories.
LA Connexion is not writing this article from a protest sign. This is being written from the same blocks in South LA where ICE agents are already a reality, not a rally topic. This is the perspective of a man who watches. Observes. Reads the paper. Turns the page. And asks the questions that nobody at Gloria Molina Grand Park was asking on Saturday afternoon.
What The Newspapers Showed Me
On Saturday, March 28, 2026, thousands of people gathered at Gloria Molina Grand Park across from City Hall for the No Kings Protest. It was the third round of these demonstrations since June 2025. Organizers called it the largest single-day nonviolent protest in modern American history, with over 3,100 events registered across all 50 states and more than a dozen countries.
The rally began at 2 PM. There were speakers. There were signs. There was a giant inflatable depicting the president as a baby in a diaper. There were taco trucks and salsa bands and children dancing in 90-degree heat. There was a woman dressed as the Statue of Liberty. For a few hours, it was peaceful. It was constitutional. It was what this country is supposed to allow.
Then it wasn’t.
What Happened After The March Ended
The event was supposed to end at 5 PM. By 5:30, a dispersal order was issued. A smaller group had moved to the Metropolitan Detention Center on Alameda Street, the same federal facility that has been a flashpoint between protesters and federal agents since the immigration crackdown began. Protesters attempted to tear down a chain-link fence. Concrete blocks, bottles, and rocks were thrown at federal officers. Some in the crowd came prepared, wearing respirators, shields, and gas masks. When tear gas canisters were fired into the crowd, some picked them up and threw them back.
By the end of the night, 75 people were arrested. 66 adults for failure to disperse. 8 juveniles. One person was found carrying a weapon described as a dagger. The woman dressed as the Statue of Liberty was led away in handcuffs, smiling. LAPD declared a Tactical Alert for the city. Alameda Street was shut down between Temple and Aliso. By 9 PM, it was over.
A Navy veteran and independent journalist named Andre Andrews Jr. walked the entire route and captured video. He said the peaceful protest was good for the cause. But about the agitators, he was clear. They were bad actors causing problems.
The Masses And The Provocateurs
Here is what I know from reading newspapers for most of my life. The masses should be allowed to peacefully protest. That is the First Amendment. That is the foundation. Every person who showed up on Saturday with a sign and a water bottle and their family had every right to be there. The veteran who served four years in the Army had every right to say his piece about the constitution being overwritten. The man who said he felt the country was on a path to fascism had every right to say it out loud in front of City Hall.
But there are also provocateurs who have a different agenda. The ones who came with gas masks and shields. The ones who smashed concrete barriers into smaller pieces to throw at officers. The ones who tried to pull down a fence at a federal detention center knowing exactly what that would trigger. Those are not protesters. Those are actors, and not the kind at Tombstone’s OK Corral. They turn a front page photograph from a picture of democracy into a picture of chaos. And when that happens, the message is lost. The cause gets buried under the tear gas.
Who benefits when a peaceful protest turns violent? Not the people who marched. Not the families. Not the veterans. The provocateurs benefit because they came for destruction. And the administration benefits because now the headline isn’t about democracy. It’s about arrests and dispersal orders and concrete blocks.
Why I Stayed Home
I am a Black man in South LA. I know what a crowd becomes when it turns. I have seen it on these blocks my entire life. I don’t need to be in a crowd of thousands to know what I believe. I don’t need a bullhorn. I don’t need an inflatable. I read the newspaper. I observe. I write.
I wasn’t at the No Kings Protest because I am an isolationist by practice. Not by ideology. By survival. A man who wants to be left alone. A man who has his own battles on 65th Street and Slauson Avenue that don’t require a march to City Hall. The ICE agents that the protesters are marching against? They’ve already been in my neighborhood. The sweeps are already here. The raids are already here. I don’t need to walk downtown to know what they look like.
I respect every person who showed up peacefully. I question every person who showed up with a gas mask and a concrete block. And I tell both of them the same thing:
Save that energy for the voting polls.
That is where it changes. Not on Alameda Street. Not behind a chain-link fence at a detention center. At the ballot box. In the primary. In the midterm. In every local election that nobody shows up for. That is where kings are made and unmade. Not in the streets.
What South LA Should Know
The No Kings Protest happened two miles from Hyde Park. But nobody in Hyde Park organized it. The movement was coordinated nationally by a coalition led by Indivisible, a structured progressive advocacy organization, and 50501 (50 protests, 50 states, 1 movement), a decentralized grassroots movement that started on Reddit in early 2025 and has no central leadership. The LA rally was organized locally by 50501 SoCal. The rally was at Gloria Molina Grand Park, across from City Hall. The California Highway Patrol requested that Caltrans install permanent security gates on the 101 Freeway on-ramps and off-ramps at Los Angeles Street the day before, after demonstrators walked onto the freeway during previous protests.
Mayor Karen Bass supported the protests on social media. U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli authorized immediate arrests for anyone assaulting law enforcement, warning on social media that they would face federal felony charges.
This is the third round of No Kings protests. The first in June 2025 drew over 5 million people. The second in October drew 7 million. Organizers estimate at least 8 million showed up on Saturday across the country. Bruce Springsteen headlined the event in St. Paul, Minnesota, the same state where the ICE killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti happened in January, the same Minnesota.
📊 No Kings Protest Community Impact 📊
✊ Nationwide Turnout: Over 3,100 events registered across all 50 states and more than a dozen countries. Organizers estimate at least 8 million participants showed up on Saturday, March 28, 2026.
📍 Downtown LA Rally: Tens of thousands gathered at Gloria Molina Grand Park across from City Hall at 2 PM. The rally and march were peaceful for several hours before chaos erupted at the Metropolitan Detention Center.
🚨 Arrests and Response: 75 people arrested, 66 adults for failure to disperse, 8 juveniles, and 1 for possession of a weapon. LAPD declared a Tactical Alert. Federal agents deployed tear gas, bean bags, and pepper spray.
⚠️ Provocateurs vs. Protesters: Some agitators came prepared with respirators, shields, and gas masks. Concrete blocks, bottles, and rocks were thrown at federal officers. Two officers received medical treatment after being struck. Navy veteran Andre Andrews Jr. documented the entire march and distinguished between the peaceful majority and the bad actors.
🗳️ The Real Power Move: Save that energy for the voting polls. The ballot box is where policy changes, not behind a chain-link fence at a federal detention center. Every local, state, and federal election matters more than any single day of protest.
📋 Action Resources 📋
🗳️ Register to Vote: Visit vote.gov to register or check your registration status. California residents can also register at registertovote.ca.gov.
📋 Know Your Rights: The ACLU provides a free guide on protester rights at aclu.org/know-your-rights/protesters-rights.
📞 211 LA: Social services, legal aid, community resources. Call 211. Available 24/7.
📰 Stay Informed: Read your local newspaper. The LA Times, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal. The front page photographs tell the stories that social media distorts.
🌐 WIN University Online: Community advocacy, civic engagement, and digital resources. Visit win.university.
📞 Community Contacts 📞
🗳️ LA County Registrar-Recorder: Voter registration and election information. Call (800) 815-2666. Visit lavote.gov.
📰 LA Connexion: Community journalism for South LA. Visit lacxn.com.
📞 211 LA: Social services, housing, legal aid. Call 211. Available 24/7.
🌐 WIN University Online: Community advocacy and digital resources. Visit win.university.
LA Connexion | www.lacxn.com | LaConnexions23@gmail.com | (424) 229-2217