A routine ICE operation in South Los Angeles erupted into violence this week when federal officers say a man boxed in by agents rammed their vehicles, prompting defensive gunfire that wounded the suspect and injured a deputy U.S. marshal. The shooting has set off predictable waves of protest in the city, but what should alarm every parent and taxpayer is how quickly left-wing activists pivoted from protest to praise for resistance.
The man shot has been identified as Carlitos Ricardo Parias, a local TikTok personality known as Richard LA, who allegedly struck federal vehicles and was hit in the elbow; a marshal suffered a non-life-threatening ricochet injury to his hand. Videos and eyewitness accounts show a chaotic scene, and authorities are treating the ramping of law enforcement vehicles as a life-or-death moment that justified officers’ response.
Instead of calming the situation, a Los Angeles public school teacher and Unión del Barrio spokesperson, Ron Gochez, used a press conference to openly egg on community resistance, telling a crowd that ICE agents “are not the only ones with guns” and that people have “every right to defend themselves” against masked federal officers. That a man entrusted with shaping young minds would publicly flirt with the language of armed confrontation is not merely reckless — it is an abdication of the basic civic duties of an educator.
The Department of Homeland Security told reporters it would refer Gochez’s remarks to the Department of Justice, warning that rhetoric like his puts officers’ lives at risk and “looks criminal.” If DHS and DOJ follow through, this should lead not only to an investigation but to real consequences from his school district; hollow denunciations won’t suffice when lives are on the line.
Let’s be clear: defending communities is one thing, but inciting armed resistance against federal agents is quite another. Conservative Americans believe in the rule of law, in due process, and in protecting teachers who actually educate rather than radicalize. LAUSD must act swiftly to suspend and, if warranted, fire any employee who crosses that line while wielding the authority of a public school paycheck.
This episode also exposes the predictable dangers of sanctuary-city cheerleading and performative activism that applauds “self-defense” while ignoring the real victims — law-abiding citizens and the men and women who enforce our borders and laws. Washington officials have pointed to a sharp rise in assaults on immigration officers and the broader problem of agencies being delegitimized on the street; when political leaders and organizers condone resistance, violence follows.
Americans who love their country should demand accountability: Los Angeles families deserve schools that teach civic virtue, not agitprop; federal agents deserve to do their jobs without being hunted; and communities deserve real safety, not political theater. If our institutions won’t police their own, voters and parents must — starting with calls for immediate investigative action, removal from the classroom, and, if charges warrant, prosecution.
