Vice President JD Vance was in California on Friday, where he was set to meet face to face with troops deployed in response to protesters.
The visit is the highest level acknowledgment so far from the Trump Administration to a city that has become an epicenter of resistance to its immigration policies.
During a press conference on Friday, Vance accused local Democratic leadership of encouraging pushback against federal law enforcement.
“[California Governor] Gavin Newsom and [Los Angeles Mayor] Karen Bass, by treating the city as a sanctuary city, have basically said that this is open season on federal law enforcement,” Vance said.
“What happened here was a tragedy,” Vance said. “You had people who were doing the simple job of enforcing the law and they had rioters egged on by the governor and the mayor, making it harder for them to do their job. That is disgraceful. And it is why the president has responded so forcefully.”
“I was hoping Jose Padilla would be here to ask a question," Vance said, apparently incorrectly referring to Sen. Alex Padilla from California. “I guess he decided not to show up because there wasn’t a theater. And that’s all it is."
Sen. Padilla was forcibly removed from a briefing by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Jun. 12 in California.
Video of the incident shows Padilla interrupting Noem’s press conference, identifying himself, and saying he had questions for the secretary. A group of at least five people then moved to push Padilla out of the room. He was removed before he could finish his comments.
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom did not receive advance warning of the visit from Vance, his office said on Friday.
The vice president's visit comes amid protests over deportation raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and over the federal response to those protests, which saw President Trump deploy the National Guard and U.S. Marines.
A federal appeals court on Friday allowed President Donald Trump to retain control of those National Guard troops, halting a ruling from a lower court judge who found President Trump acted illegally by activating the soldiers and who had issued a temporary restraining order.
The deployment was the first by a president of a state National Guard without the governor’s permission since 1965. President Trump argued the troops were necessary to restore order, but Gov. Gavin Newsom said the move inflamed tensions and usurped local authority.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer has now asked for briefings from both parties in the case over whether deployment of the National Guard violates the Posse Comitiatus Act.
Meanwhile, tensions remain high in parts of Los Angeles.
On Thursday, agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were turned away after they tried to enter the Los Angeles Dodgers' stadium grounds, the team said in a social media post.
Images published Thursday showed ICE personnel congregating in a parking lot just outside the Dodgers' property. Local media reported ICE was staging in the area as it conducted immigration raids nearby.
On Tuesday Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass lifted a curfew that was imposed on portions of the city's downtown earlier this month.
