National Guardsmen stop vehicles entering a business park they were using as a staging area in Paramount.
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Thomas R. Cordova
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Long Beach Post
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Topline:
Three days after violent clashes tore across the boulevard in Paramount — a small, predominantly Latino city that borders Long Beach — the city has become a ground zero for a national political fight.
The backstory: Protests began Saturday morning outside Paramount Business Center, an office park at the 6400 block of Alondra Boulevard, which houses a Department of Homeland Security office that served as a staging point for federal forces. Protesters kicked and threw objects at agents, while officers used flashbang grenades and shot tear gas and rubber bullets.
Trump responds: As tensions escalated and confrontations played out between the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and demonstrators along several intersections, President Trump ordered thousands of National Guard members to Los Angeles to protect federal officers conducting immigration operations. Trump on Monday ordered an additional 2,000 troops and also tapped 700 Marines, which he said were needed to help quell the unrest that included burned-out cars, fireworks and reports of looting in limited portions of downtown Los Angeles.
Read on... for how Paramount businesses are saying.
At a gas station on Alondra Boulevard, a quiet reminder of the local protest that became a pivotal national moment can be found in the hot food aisle.
On the roller, there are no hot dogs broiling. The heated box is emptied of chicken sandwiches, empanadas, and a single urn has fresh coffee, no decaf.
Ricky, the store manager, said he knew not to prepare anything Monday morning because none of his regulars — gardeners, construction workers and laborers, some without papers — would show.
“We usually get big trucks and crews who all buy food, … nothing today,” he said, standing outside the store.
Three days after violent clashes tore across the boulevard in Paramount — a small, predominantly Latino city that borders Long Beach — the city became ground zero for a national political fight that’s played out in screaming headlines, chaotic social media videos, and dire warnings from Republicans and Democrats alike.
As local officials lobby and state officials sue to try to remove troops President Donald Trump ordered in, residents are dealing with the aftermath with no indication of when they’ll leave.
“I’m not happy that they came to town,” Paramount Mayor Peggy Lemons said. “I don’t think it was necessary.”
In recent days, protesters had risen up against sudden, sweeping immigration raids in L.A. County, but the resistance escalated Saturday when hundreds of demonstrators assembled along Alondra Boulevard. Rumors had spread that agents intended to raid a nearby Home Depot.
Jose “Bear” Gallegos, a former high school Spanish and literature teacher, said he caught wind of the protest through social media from his former students.
“They f—ed around and found out,” Gallegos said of the authorities. “They woke up the young people, and we can’t control the young people. It just started. (And) they picked the wrong place.”
Protests began that morning outside Paramount Business Center, an office park at the 6400 block of Alondra Boulevard, which houses a Department of Homeland Security office that served as a staging point for federal forces. Protesters kicked and threw objects at agents, while officers used flashbang grenades, tear gas, and rubber bullets.
Federal authorities reported 29 arrests on Saturday and at least three fires in the Paramount-Compton area that included a car burned in the middle of an intersection across the L.A. River from the business park.
Confrontations unfolded up and down the boulevard. They continued west into Compton and splintered off into nearby streets, including the ExtraMile gas station at Hunsaker Avenue and Alondra Boulevard.
Protesters hide behind a dumpster near a set fire as LA County Sheriff deputies shoot projectiles to keep demonstrators from advancing after ICE raids at a nearby Home Depot and the Garment District brought out resistance from Los Angeles residents on June 7, 2025 in Compton, California.
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Gina Ferazzi
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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
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Ricky, who did not provide a last name, said the gas station took a hit in sales, as the police cordoned off most of the building from public access until 4 a.m. Sunday.
They normally sell 4,000 gallons of gasoline a day, but sold about 700 gallons.
“It was sad,” Ricky said of the protests over the weekend. “The whole situation just made me sad. We had to lock our doors no matter who the customer was.”
As tensions escalated and confrontations played out between the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and demonstrators along several intersections, President Trump ordered thousands of National Guard members to Los Angeles to protect federal officers conducting immigration operations.
Trump on Monday ordered an additional 2,000 troops and also tapped 700 Marines from Camp Pendleton, which he said were needed to help quell the unrest that included burned-out cars, fireworks and reports of looting in limited portions of downtown Los Angeles.
The president said in a social media post he intends to “liberate Los Angeles from the Migrant Invasion, and put an end to these Migrant riots. Order will be restored, the Illegals will be expelled, and Los Angeles will be set free.”
Trump’s order is expected to last 60 days, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said Monday.
The decision overrode objections from California Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, who have both condemned the order as muscle-flexing that will only provoke more violence.
“This is a manufactured crisis to allow him to take over a state militia, damaging the very foundation of our republic,” Newsom said in a statement.
It’s a battle of political giants, from Washington to Sacramento, that dwarfs the political muster of Paramount: a city with a size of 5 square miles, a population of roughly 51,000 and an annual budget of $45 million.
Mayor Lemons said Monday the decision to send troops was a “huge waste of resources” and undermines a situation she said “was already under control.”
The chaos “was all done and over with before the National Guard even came to town,” she said. “So I really don’t know why they’re here.”
National Guard troops stands at the entrance of a business park, which they use as a staging area in Paramount on Monday, June 9, 2025.
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Thomas R. Cordova
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Long Beach Post
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While she’s certain that residents are infuriated by their presence, Lemons said there is nothing the city can do to remove them.
“It is the federal government,” she said. “It’s not like we have the authority to say, ‘please leave.’ I mean, the mayor of L.A. has not been able to do that, nor has the governor. I doubt the lowly city of Paramount has any authority to do that.”
According to Paramount City Manager John Moreno, camouflaged National Guard troops arrived in the city by early Sunday morning.
For now, the building inside the office park will remain a staging area for them and federal agents. Guardsmen stood sentry inside the fenceline, flanked by armored vehicles and checking with those who drove through the gate. Foot patrols walk the perimeter, while the majority of Humvees and other vehicles remain parked at the front.
And this has already begun to affect business, said Jose Torres, who runs a print shop inside the office park. Apart from losing customers Saturday, he said they’re experiencing delays in customers picking up their orders.
“A lot of our clientele are Latinos,” Torres said. “A lot of them are immigrants… that are even afraid or concerned to come through to pick up their orders. So obviously, I’m not thrilled about that, and so we’re trying to kind of figure that out. This is not something we’ve ever been through.”
For years, Torres said, the 30 or so businesses inside the park coexisted with the nearby Department of Homeland Security office without issue. Federal agents have operated out of the building since 2007, according to the city manager.
“They go about their business, we go about our business every day,” Torres said. “No big deal. But now that it’s been made public … I don’t know how it’s gonna affect us.”
Torres acknowledges he’s conflicted in what to make of the protests. He and his wife are first-generation Americans. They’re uneasy about the National Guard’s presence, but also were quick to accept them as a deterrent against vandals and looters who they felt took advantage of the mayhem over the weekend.
“We do feel grateful that, you know, their presence is here, because nothing will come through the front gates,” Torres said.
Federal activity has since picked up across the region in South L.A., including Huntington Park and in Long Beach at Fourth Street and Elm Avenue on Saturday morning, according to local officials.
It’s unclear how long agents were in Long Beach or why. The Long Beach Police Department deferred questions about that operation to ICE, which did not immediately respond to inquiries.
Lemons said she has not heard of any Paramount resident being detained by federal agents. She assured residents that the city will not assist in immigration operations.
When asked, Lemons said the weekend has brought the worst kind of attention to Paramount.
By Adriana Gallardo, A Martínez, Lilly Quiroz | NPR
Published February 8, 2026 6:12 AM
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Topline:
Bad Bunny is headlining today's Superbowl halftime show — a historic moment for some, a controversial choice for others.
The backstory: Bad Bunny, made history at the 2026 Grammy Awards when he became the first artist to win album of the year for a Spanish-language album. The artist has been vocal in his opposition to federal ICE raids.
Why now: But this Sunday, Bad Bunny will meet a larger and potentially more politically divided audience at the Super Bowl. Since late September when the NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced their invitation to Bad Bunny, many took to social media to voice their indignation at the choice to platform an artist who has only released music in Spanish.
Puerto Rican superstar, Bad Bunny, made history at the 2026 Grammy Awards when he became the first artist to win album of the year for a Spanish-language project, with him winning for his album Debí Tirar Más Fotos. In addition to the top prize, Bad Bunny, whose given name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, took home the award for the best música urbana album and best global music performance for his song "EoO".
In his acceptance remarks, and not unlike other moments throughout his career, the artist used the spotlight to express his political views.
"Before I say thanks to God, I'm going to say ICE out," Bad Bunny said during his acceptance speech for best música urbana album. "We're not savages, we're not animals, we're not aliens — we're humans and we are Americans," he added in response to the ongoing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids across the country.
The crowd in Los Angeles, largely met his statements with applause and ovation.
But this Sunday, Bad Bunny will meet a larger and potentially more politically divided audience at the Super Bowl, where he is set to headline this year's halftime show. Since late September when the NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced their invitation to Bad Bunny, many took to social media to voice their indignation at the choice to platform an artist who has only released music in Spanish.
To learn more about Bad Bunny's political history and what we might expect at the Super Bowl, Morning Edition host A Martinez spoke with Petra R. Rivera-Rideau, who chairs the American Studies Department at Wellesley College and the co-author, alongside Vanessa Díaz, of the new book, P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance. The two academics are also behind the Bad Bunny Syllabus, an online teaching resource based on Puerto Rican history and Bad Bunny's meteoric rise since 2016.
Below are three takeaways from the conversation.
Students come for Bad Bunny and stay for the history
Rivera-Rideau teaches "Bad Bunny: Race, Gender, and Empire in Reggaetón" at Wellesley and said the course uses Bad Bunny's work as a hook to get students into the seminar.
"But we really actually spend most of our time talking about Puerto Rican history and Puerto Rican history is part of U.S. history," she said. "And Bad Bunny music has consistently made references to this history."
Rivera-Rideau pointed to an example from 2018 when Bad Bunny debuted on a U.S. mainstream English language television show, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The artist opened with a critique of the Trump administration's handling of Hurricane Maria, which had devastated his island in 2017.
"After one year of the hurricane, there's still people without electricity in their homes. More than 3,000 people died and Trump is still in denial," Martínez Ocasio said.
Latinos remain "perpetually foreign" to some
Puerto Ricans are born U.S. citizens — but this has not always protected them from being caught in recent ICE operations.
"I think part of that has to do with the kind of racialization of Spanish and the racialization of Latino communities of which Puerto Ricans are a part," she said. "And I think what it indicates is that, to me, Latinos in the United States, many of whom have been here for generations, are often understood to be perpetually foreign as a group of people that just does not belong."
The Party is the Protest
Rivera-Rideau said if Apple Music's trailer for the Super Bowl halftime show — which features Bad Bunny dancing with a group representing a smattering of ages, faces and abilities — is any indication of what audiences can expect on Sunday's stage, the theme might be joy in the face of a difficult moment for immigrants and Latinos in the U.S.
"One of the things we talk about in our book is that Bad Bunny is part of resistance, he does engage in protests but it's often through joy," she said. "We have a chapter in our book called 'The Party is the Protest' and I actually feel like that's what I expect at the Superbowl, a party and a protest.
Suzanne Levy
is a senior editor on the Explore LA team, where she oversees food, LA Explained and other feature stories.
Published February 8, 2026 5:00 AM
Can Bad Bunny outshine Kendrick?
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Timothy A. Clary
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Topline:
For LAist Senior Editor Suzanne Levy, who grew up in the U.K., the Super Bowl is a fascinating experience. Yes, there's the football — but for her that's the least interesting thing about it.
Why it matters: Want to know how the Super Bowl looks to much of the rest of the world? Read on.
Why now: It's Super Bowl Sunday... let the commercials and the half-time show begin!
The Super Bowl, to someone who a) grew up in the UK, and b) doesn’t really get football, is a strange experience.
Of course, I’m talking American football, not English football, by the way. If England gets into the World Cup quarter final you might find me at 7 a.m. in a pub in Santa Monica drinking a nice cup of tea and cheering the TV.
The Super Bowl is a national cultural event, and there’s so much excitement running up to it, yet when it happens, the thing that everyone is fixated on is the thing you’re least interested in. As in, the football — the men with padded shoulders who pile into a heap. I mean, I get the ones in the middle are doing something, but the ones at the edges are just for show, right?
All the running and the throwing and the tackling … well that just gets in the way of all the entertainment.
OK, OK, I’m kidding. I do get excited when a halfback grabs the ball and starts up the field, elbowing people out of the way, but even that can get a bit wearing when it happens over and over again. Just let the guy get to where he wants to go already!
And that’s where the Super Bowl is ideal. It comes with ready prepared breaks in the action, so there’s no chance to get bored. There’s the commercials. Over the years, some of them have been so great, like that one with the kid and the Force, and that Eminem Detroit one.
Some, not so much. That’s where I do my armchair critiquing. “Well I hoped they paid him a whole boatload of money for that one, his credibility’s down the toilet,” or, “Oh come on, ad agency, for a million dollars per millisecond, that’s all you can come up with?”
But it’s the hope, the desire, that this moment you’ll be blown out of your chair. Wait, that sounds a lot like watching football. Hmm.
Then there’s the half time show, which I always watch. “Call me when it starts!” I yell at my family as I walk out to do some very important laundry folding. As the music begins, I rush back in. Lady Gaga, Beyonce and now … Bad Bunny. As I watch pure perfection, I keep telling myself, they’re doing it live, in front of a billion people. They are not missing a damn note. Or step. Except that left shark. Hell, even the Weeknd won me over eventually.
And then there’s the last quarter. I make sure I watch that. It’s the psychodrama of it all. The looks on the coach’s faces as they chew their gum, serious, determined. The fans, holding their breath. The commentators asking Tom Brady what it was like when he was doing it. And then.. the whistle blows. And one half of the stadium is ecstatic, giddy with delight, while the other half stares into the abyss. It's a Shakespearean tragedy come to life. For all the commercials and the music, this really is the can’t miss part, which brings me back year after year. Go Patriots! Go Seahawks! Let the game begin.
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Fiona Ng
is LAist's deputy managing editor and leads a team of reporters who explore food, culture, history, events and more.
Published February 8, 2026 5:00 AM
Bad Bunny is introduced during the Super Bowl LX Pregame & Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Press Conference at Moscone Center West on February 05, 2026 in San Francisco, California.
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Getty Images North America
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Topline:
On Sunday, fans are gathering at bars and house parties to pay witness to Bad Bunny's historic performance at Benito Bowls viewing parties all across the Southland.
Why it matters: Superbowl halftime shows are always a big deal. But to many in Los Angeles and beyond, Bad Bunny's performance marks a particularly important cultural — and political — moment.
Why now: "We're going through a lot of heaviness here in our community with ICE [and] people disappearing. It's sad, we're angry," said Bianca Ramirez, LAist's director of operations and a longtime fan of Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican superstar whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio.
Superbowl halftime shows are always a big deal. But to many in Los Angeles and beyond, Bad Bunny's performance marks a particularly important cultural — and political — moment.
On Sunday, fans are gathering at bars and house parties to pay witness at so-called Benito Bowls viewing parties all across the Southland.
"We're going through a lot of heaviness here in our community with ICE [and] people disappearing. It's sad, we're angry," said Bianca Ramirez, LAist's director of operations and a longtime fan of the Puerto Rican superstar.
In the face of continual crackdown, she said, resistance shall take the form of pride and joy on Sunday. It'd be the first time the halftime show will be performed entirely in Spanish by a headliner.
" This is definitely unprecedented," Ramirez said.
Just a week before taking the Superbowl stage, Bad Bunny notched another first, winning album of the year at the Grammy's for the Spanish-language DeBí Tirar Más Fotos.
LAist's Bianca Ramirez with her Bad Bunny plushie.
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"[It] was such a proud moment for our Latino community, not here in Los Angeles, but around the world," Ramirez said, characterizing the album as one of the artist's most political to date. "He dives into gentrification and making sure that we protect Puerto Rico and its roots. He does criticize the Trump administration a lot in that album."
DeBí Tirar Más Fotos also won Best Música Urban album.
"Before I say thanks to God, I'm going to say ICE out," the artist, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, said as he accepted that award.
Later today, Ramirez is heading to a Benito Bowl — one of many gatherings held by Bad Bunny fans across the Southland. In her case, it's a backyard hang with childhood friends to celebrate a history-making concert "where these two other football teams so happen to be playing at the same time."
Ramirez has her fingers crossed that the performance includes the song that first got her hooked.
"Hopefully he surprises us with Cardi B [and] he plays I like it," she said. "Bring it full circle for me as a fan."
No matter what, it's an iconic day.
"It's just gonna be a moment for us to hang out and celebrate Latinidad and just [the] proudness that Bad Bunny brings to our communities and beyond," she said.
A general view of the Olympic flame in the Olympic cauldron designed by Marco Balich next to the Arco della Pace monument in Milan.
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Topline:
The 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics kicked off in Milan on Friday evening, local time. Athletes representing over 90 countries march into the San Siro stadium filled with thousands of spectators during the opening ceremony in Milan.
Read on ... to see photos from the 2026 Winter Olympics opening ceremony.
The 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics kicked off in Milan on Friday evening, local time. Athletes representing over 90 countries march into the San Siro stadium filled with thousands of spectators during the opening ceremony in Milan.
The performance paid homage to Italian music, art and culture with tributes to composers, visual artists and films in a colorful spectacle. Performers included Italian actress Matilda De Angelis, American singer Mariah Carey, Italian singer Andrea Bocelli, Italian rapper Ghali and Italian ballet dancers Antonella Albano and Claudio Coviello, among dozens of other dancers.
Here is a selection of images from the opening ceremony:
Italian ballet dancers Antonella Albano and Claudio Coviello perform during the opening ceremony.
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Colorful dancers perform under large tubes of paint suspended above them during the opening ceremony.
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Italian actress Matilda De Angelis (center) performs with dancers dressed as the three great masters of Italian opera: Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini and Gioachino Rossini.
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Mariah Carey sings during the opening ceremony.
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Performers dressed in the colors of the Italian flag line up during the opening ceremony.
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Members of The Corazzieri, the Italian Corps of Cuirassiers, raise the Italian flag during the opening ceremony.
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Two performers are suspended between two large rings.
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Piero Cruciatti
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The Olympic Rings are revealed above dancers during the opening ceremony.
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An aerial view of the athletes parading into the San Siro stadium.
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Stoats Milo and Tina, the Paralympics and Olympics mascots, dance before the Olympic opening ceremony.
