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  • L.A. congressional Democrats demand answers on Border Patrol force outside Newsom event

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    Two weeks ago, scores of masked, gun-toting federal immigration agents assembled in front of the Japanese American National Museum in downtown Los Angeles.

    Inside the museum, Gov. Gavin Newsom was surrounded by nearly every powerful Democrat in California, preparing to announce that he would take on President Trump’s redistricting plans with a special election campaign. Outside, Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino was flanked by dozens of agents who looked ready for battle.

    Now, a number of Southern California members of Congress are demanding answers about the enforcement action outside Newsom’s news conference — and the decision-making process behind it — in a letter sent Tuesday to Department of Homeland Security leaders.

    “We just wanted to get some questions answered,” said Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Glendale), who spearheaded the letter. “I was at Newsom’s press conference. It was really shocking to have as many as a hundred federal officers in tactical gear just appear.”

    The letter was sent to Bovino, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons and White House border advisor Tom Homan. It was signed by at least 12 other congressional Democrats, including Sen. Alex Padilla and Reps. Judy Chu (Monterey Park), Gil Cisneros (Covina), Robert Garcia (Long Beach), Luz Rivas (North Hollywood), Ted Lieu (Torrance), Nanette Diaz Barragán (San Pedro) and Brad Sherman (Sherman Oaks).

    The letter requests that answers to a number of questions be provided in writing by Sept. 4.

    The group asked who originally made the request to deploy agents outside the Japanese American National Museum on Aug. 14; whether the subject matter of Newsom’s news conference was a consideration in the decision to deploy federal agents; and whether the size of the force was standard; and what operational criteria were used to determine the size and composition of the force deployed.

    As the agents massed outside the building, Newsom was announcing a plan to counter a Republican-led redistricting push by redrawing California’s own congressional districts to favor Democrats. Last week, the California Legislature approved a November special election where voters will decide the fate of the measure.

    The letter also asks for details about the two arrests made during the Little Tokyo operation and whether Homeland Security knew those individuals would be present when it decided to conduct its immigration enforcement action. One of the individuals arrested happened to be delivering strawberries as the agents convened at the museum. He now faces deportation to Mexico.

    “It was outrageous that Trump and his supporters called ICE on us as we were conducting our redistricting press conference,” Chu said. “It was clearly an attempt to intimidate us and to send a political message that he would use his law enforcement capabilities to make us feel afraid.”

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    Julia Wick

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  • Monterey Park hero and Tyre Nichols’ family invited to attend State of the Union address | CNN Politics

    Monterey Park hero and Tyre Nichols’ family invited to attend State of the Union address | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Lawmakers have invited the parents of Tyre Nichols and the man who disarmed a gunman in a Southern California mass shooting to attend President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on February 7.

    Nichols’ death days after being beaten by police in Memphis on January 7 and the mass shooting at a Lunar New Year celebration in Monterey Park on January 21 that killed 11 has outraged many Americans and brought renewed calls for sweeping gun and policing reform ahead of Biden’s address.

    Congressional Black Caucus executive director Vincent Evans tweeted on Sunday that the caucus chairman, Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford of Nevada, invited Nichols’ parents to Washington as guests of the caucus, and that they have accepted the invitation.

    CNN has reached out to Nichols’ family for comment.

    Brandon Tsay, who disarmed the Monterey Park gunman as he attempted to attack a second dance studio near Los Angeles, was invited to the speech by Democratic Rep. Judy Chu of California.

    Chu said Tsay’s story “was so amazing” that she called him to be her guest at the president’s address. But just one hour after Chu spoke with him, Biden called Tsay to personally offer his own invite, Chu said. The White House declined to comment on Sunday.

    Tsay, 26, was awarded a medal of courage from the Alhambra Police Department during a ceremony Sunday. Biden called him last week to thank him for his act of bravery, CNN previously reported.

    “I wanted to call to see how you’re doing and thank you for taking such incredible action in the face of danger,” Biden told Tsay. “I don’t think you understand just how much you’ve done for so many people who are never going to even know you. But I want them to know more about you.”

    In an interview on MSNBC on Sunday, Horsford said he called Nichols’ family to extend the invitation.

    “Earlier today, I spoke to the family of Tyre Nichols on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus to first extend our condolences to them, to let them know that we stand with them, to ask them what they want from us in this moment, to honor the legacy of their son, and to extend an invitation to them to be our guest at the State of the Union on February 7 so that we can make sure that this issue of police culture, culture of policing, which, unfortunately in this country has now contributed to countless deaths,” he said.

    Protesters took to the streets over the weekend to decry police brutality after the release of video depicting the violent police beating.

    Nichols, 29, could be heard yelling for his mother in the video, which begins with a traffic stop and goes on to show officers repeatedly beating him with batons, punching him and kicking him – including at one point while his hands were restrained behind his back.

    He was left slumped to the ground in handcuffs, and 23 minutes went by before a stretcher arrived at the scene. Nichols was eventually hospitalized and died three days later.

    Biden said in a statement he was “outraged and deeply pained” after seeing the video. “It is yet another painful reminder of the profound fear and trauma, the pain, and the exhaustion that Black and Brown Americans experience every single day.”

    The CBC is requesting a meeting with Biden this week to push for negotiations on police reform, Horsford said in a statement Sunday.

    “We are calling on our colleagues in the House and Senate to jumpstart negotiations now and work with us to address the public health epidemic of police violence that disproportionately affects many of our communities,” he wrote. “The brutal beating of Tyre Nichols was murder and is a grim reminder that we still have a long way to go in solving systemic police violence in America.”

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  • Brandon Tsay, the hero who disarmed the Monterey Park shooting suspect, honored with medal of courage | CNN

    Brandon Tsay, the hero who disarmed the Monterey Park shooting suspect, honored with medal of courage | CNN

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    Alhambra
    CNN
     — 

    The City of Alhambra honored the man who has been hailed a hero for disarming the Monterey Park shooting suspect at a second dance studio during Lunar New Year celebrations last weekend.

    Brandon Tsay, 26, was awarded a medal of courage from the Alhambra Police Department during a ceremony Sunday.

    Tsay can be seen in surveillance video wrestling a firearm from the shooting suspect, Huu Can Tran, at a dance studio in Alhambra. Authorities say Tran had opened fire earlier at a Lunar New Year celebration at another dance studio in nearby Monterey Park, killing 11 people and injuring 10 others.

    “The carnage would have been so much worse had it not been for Brandon Tsay,” California Representative Judy Chu said during the award ceremony. There was a visible law enforcement presence at Sunday’s event, held during the city’s own Lunar New Year Festival.

    Tsay was surrounded by police officers when he came on stage to accept his award, where he was joined by his family. He received a standing ovation and some attendees had posters and signs bearing his name. One sign at the community event read: “Brandon Tsay is our hero.”

    Tsay was working the ticket office at the Alhambra dance studio when the armed man entered and pointed a firearm at him, Tsay told CNN last week. He lunged at Tran and struggled with him for about 40 seconds, he said. Tran hit him several times on the face, the back of his head and on his back and hands, Tsay said, before he was able to wrench the gun away from Tran.

    During the struggle, Tsay said he thought to himself, “If I let go of this gun, what would happen to me, the people around me, my friends, my family?”

    Chu, who presented Tsay with a certificate of congressional recognition, said Tsay’s story “was so amazing” that she called him to be her guest at President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on February 7. But just one hour after Chu spoke with him, Biden called Tsay to personally invite him to be his guest, Chu said.

    Biden called Tsay last week to thank him for his act of bravery.

    “I wanted to call to see how you’re doing and thank you for taking such incredible action in the face of danger,” Biden told Tsay. “I don’t think you understand just how much you’ve done for so many people who are never going to even know you. But I want them to know more about you.

    “You have my respect,” the President said. “You are America, pal. You are who we are – no, no, you are who we are. America’s never backed down, we’ve always stepped up, because of people like you.”

    Chu called the President’s invitation a tremendous honor. “All the eyes of the nation will be on that address,” Chu said.

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