Kash Patel dragged for ‘hit a cop, you’re going to jail’ threat to LA anti-ICE protesters: ‘Unless it’s for Trump’
Social media users were quick to point out the different stance taken by the administration in relation to the January 6 rioters – hundreds of whom were pardoned by President Trump
FBI Director Kash Patel was mocked online after responding to anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles, telling demonstrators, “If you hit a police officer, you’re in jail.”
On Saturday, Patel wrote on his X account, “It doesn’t matter where you’re from, how you got here, or what movement you represent. If your local police force doesn’t support our men and women on the thin blue line, we at the FBI will.”
Social media users were quick to point out the administration’s different approach to the January 6 rioters, hundreds of whom were pardoned by President Donald Trump.
During the violent 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, more than 140 police officers were injured. One, Brian Sikkink, died the next day, and several others committed suicide in the days and weeks following the attack. Rioters were urged to march on the Capitol and “fight like hell, or you won’t have a country anymore” on the day he was declared president after his defeat by Joe Biden. Trump was criminally prosecuted for his actions, although the charges were dropped when he ran for reelection in 2024.
Patel’s tweet, posted Saturday night, prompted some social media users to point out the irony of the situation. One user responded to Patel’s comment by saying, “Unless you’re doing it for Trump,” and another added, “Unless you’re trying to overturn the election.”
Another user retorted, “But if you did it dressed as Trump during the Capitol riot, you would have been pardoned, right, Cash?” Other users flocked to the post, sharing photos and videos of the clashes between police and protesters on January 6.
“Interesting,” one user commented under the image.
On his first day in office, Trump pardoned approximately 1,500 people accused or convicted of their role in the attack, including those convicted of violent attacks on police officers.
The Trump administration now plans to pay millions of dollars in compensation to the family of Ashli Babbitt, a pro-Trump rioter shot and killed at the Capitol.
During his confirmation hearing for FBI director, Patel distanced himself from pardons, telling the Senate Judiciary Committee, “I have always opposed any violence against law enforcement, and I was part of the panel that specifically addressed the issue of any violence against law enforcement on January 6th.”
“I do not agree with commuting the sentences of anyone who has committed violence against law enforcement.” »
Apparently, the FBI director wasn’t the only Trump administration official who failed to see the irony of Saturday’s remarks.
The violent mob attacks against ICE and federal law enforcement are aimed at preventing the deportation of criminal illegal immigrants from our country. “A dangerous invasion facilitated by criminal gangs (also known as foreign terrorist organizations) poses a grave threat to national security,” wrote Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
“Under President Trump, violence and destruction against federal agents and facilities will not be tolerated. That much is clear.”
However, more and more users expressed concern over Mr. Hegseth’s threat that active-duty U.S. Marines stationed at nearby Camp Pendleton could be mobilized if necessary. “They are on high alert,” he wrote.
The incidents follow tense clashes between police and protesters in Los Angeles on Friday, in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, who arrested at least 44 people for immigration violations before resuming operations Saturday at a Home Depot store in the Paramount neighborhood.
