The Brief

When Francisco Castañon saw an unmarked, tinted black car in Pasadena last week, he suspected it might belong to a federal agent conducting immigration operations in the area. So he decided to snap a photo of the license plate.

To his surprise, Castañon said, the driver of the vehicle, wearing a black “police” vest over a plain T-shirt, jumped out and pointed a gun at him. Cellphone video recorded by a bystander, and shared by KTLA, appears to show at least part of the incident as it unfolded.

“ I thought it was going to be my last day on Earth,” he told LAist. “ I really thought that was going to be my last moments.”

Several stories like Castañon’s have been reported across the country as federal authorities conduct immigration sweeps, sparking protests in response. Adding to the confusion, some local and state leaders say, are instances in which it’s not clear whether a person is law enforcement or someone who might be taking the law into their own hands.

A new California bill — called the “No Vigilantes Act,” announced Monday by state Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez (D-Pasadena) — aims to address the issue.

If it becomes law, it would require law enforcement working in California to clearly display identification information, including either name or badge number, and ban bounty hunters from engaging in any form of immigration enforcement.

Pérez said that when federal immigration officers don’t identify themselves, it opens up opportunities for others to take advantage of the situation.

“ We are supposed to assume they are federal agents from Homeland Security or ICE, but the truth is, unless these individuals provide proper identification, we don't know,” she said at a news conference outside Pasadena City Hall.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has condemned impersonators, posting on social media in March that “it’s dangerous, illegal and will be prosecuted.”

What we know — and what we don’t — about the incidents

Castañon, who spoke at the news conference, said he saw the unmarked car with tinted windows and bars in the backseat — like those found in police vehicles — around  Orange Grove Plaza Center last Wednesday.

He said he was on the way to his family’s businesses to make sure they got home safely. Because he had seen videos and reports of people being detained in immigration actions in the area, the car stood out as suspicious to him and other community members who had gathered at the plaza.

He said he ran toward the intersection of Los Robles Avenue and Orange Grove Boulevard to snap a photo of the license plate with his cellphone.

Castañon said the driver jumped out of the vehicle and ordered him to move away from it. The man had the gun in his hand, Castañon said, but offered no badge, no name and no explanation.

“ At that moment, I was terrified,” Castañon said Monday. “ I keep thinking to myself, what if I hadn't run?  What if I had froze up or simply said the wrong thing at that moment? How far would have that man gone?”

It’s still unclear if the man was a federal agent or an armed vigilante, according to Castañon and Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo, who also spoke at the news conference.

While it is uncertain whether the man who pointed the gun at Castañon was actually law enforcement or whether he was impersonating a federal agent, there have been recent reports of people doing the latter.

One example was in South Carolina in January, where a man was charged with kidnapping after allegedly detaining a group of Latino men. And in North Carolina, also in January, a man was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a woman and threatening to deport her if she didn’t comply.

Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, or CHIRLA, said members of her organization have witnessed and received reports of people believed to be federal agents drawing weapons on bystanders in the Los Angeles area.

She told LAist that the organization hasn't been able to find some of the people who’ve been picked up in apparent immigration actions.

“Family members don't know where they are. All they know is that a neighbor told them that some unmarked car picked them up,” Salas said. “So did they get picked up by ICE or did they get picked up by somebody else?”

About the bill

Pérez said in a statement that legislation like the “No Vigilantes Act” would have been unnecessary and unheard of under other circumstances, but these are “extraordinary” and “unprecedented” times.

She said there is a need for stronger, more consistent standards for law enforcement identification.

The bill would work alongside another state bill that would prevent police at all levels from covering their faces while working.

If passed, the “No Vigilantes Act” would go into effect at the beginning of next year.

Tropical Storm Rachel brought dangerous surf to Long Beach’s oceanfront but little of the rain forecasters had warned about, as conditions are expected to gradually improve through Tuesday. While relieved, city officials reiterate that the Peninsula is far from in the clear, with major cleanup and emergency repairs underway as several seaside homes are still too dangerous to reenter.

The Peninsula was inundated with mud, sand and plenty of cameras, as onlookers and national news outlets clustered in tight side streets to get a good angle at the wave-damaged homes, as well as the splintered timber bulkhead and boardwalk. With waves and tides high but not quite at levels seen Saturday, crews pumped out excess water in the streets and shoveled sand and debris out of the storm drains.

Kristan Lund, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said Rachel moved through Southern California faster than anticipated, limiting the amount of time Long Beach and nearby cities were exposed to its rainfall.

The center of the storm moved onshore in northern Baja California on Saturday night, according to the National Hurricane Center. Forecast tracks shifted south in recent days, but the storm then veered north-northeast toward Las Vegas, widening the gap between Long Beach and its reach.

Expected to get up to half an inch of rain starting as early as Saturday, Lund said the city shouldn’t expect more than a tenth of an inch through Monday, though a weather pattern Sunday evening may bring drizzles through the night.

The worst-case scenario also failed to materialize. Lund said peak swell, high tide and wind direction never lined up. “The high surf, you know, we were expecting it to come up on the backside of the high tides,” she said. “And thankfully, it ended up being a little too late.”

Several homes were red-tagged as waves continue to slam the bulkhead along the Peninsula in Long Beach, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026.

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Thomas R. Cordova

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Long Beach Post

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Monday morning tides are expected near 7 to 7.5 feet, with surf of 4 to 6 feet. Water levels were still 1 to 1.8 feet above predicted tides, driven by El Niño-related thermal expansion, a Kelvin wave and elevated astronomical tides. Lund said a lingering southerly swell may shift westerly, putting west-facing beaches at some risk of coastal flooding.

The NWS said a coastal flood warning for Los Angeles and Catalina Island areas — which include Long Beach — was scheduled to drop to an advisory at 3 p.m. Sunday. Minor to moderate flooding is still possible through Tuesday afternoon, though it’s expected to be less severe than on Friday and Saturday.

Even so, the damage along the Peninsula’s Seaside Walk is extensive. Waves topped the boardwalk’s protective bulkhead and sent water into homes and streets. Inspectors have red-tagged nine buildings across 13 addresses, a designation meaning they are unsafe to enter. One building has a yellow tag, which restricts use.

A kayaker watches waves hit a walkway in front of homes in Long Beach, Calif., Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, as Tropical Storm Rachel approaches.

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William Liang

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A mandatory evacuation order covering homes between 64th and 66th places runs through noon Tuesday, and 39 more residences are under an evacuation warning.

Residents are not being allowed back inside. Assistant Fire Chief Jake Heflin said many have asked to retrieve belongings. “That’s the emotional side of it,” he said, but firefighters cannot send anyone into a building that could be on the verge of collapse.

At a control post they set up in the Claremont parking lot, firefighters gathered in front of a screen reviewing drone footage from the day that looked at the cracking and shifting homes.

A Long Beach search and rescue team fills sandbags at the Claremont lot for Long Beach residents on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026.

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Thomas R. Cordova

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Long Beach Post

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Several of them pointed while others took note, looking for signs to suggest which building is closest to collapse and comparing their worsening conditions over the past couple of days.

If one falls, Heflin said, responders have bullhorns to sound off, then seal the area and conduct searches.

Crews are reinforcing the bulkhead and boardwalk with lumber beams and plan to place about 30 heavy-duty sandbags, each about 3,000 pounds, with a crane on 65th Place. City Spokesman Laath Martin said life safety remains the city’s top priority.

In response to the storm, the city has spent more than $1 million on one-time costs from its Tidelands emergency reserves, which are set aside for only coastal uses. Long Beach has also fast-tracked a multimillion-dollar plan to rebuild the Peninsula’s beach.

Large sandbags are placed at the base of the seawall to absorb some of the force of the waves as ocean water slams into the wooden bulkhead along the Peninsula’s boardwalk in Long Beach, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026.

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Thomas R. Cordova

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Long Beach Post

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Over this week and the next, city officials say, they hope to start trucking in 50,000 to 100,000 cubic yards of sand, followed by a $11.4 million dredging project that could add another 415,000 cubic yards of sand — the most moved in decades.

Officials are pursuing outside funding aggressively and are in talks with the governor’s Office of Emergency Services for reimbursement to public projects, sand restoration, coastal work and emergency bulkhead repairs.

“We will be working with the state closely to identify any kind of reimbursement,” Martin said.

For private homes, the city is urging owners to contact their insurers right away. Long-term demolition and cleanup are the property owners’ responsibility, they say.

Native Americans celebrate their centuries-long history of resilience with ceremonies, dances and speeches.

Former President Joe Biden officially commemorated Indigenous Peoples Day in 2021. An increasing number of states and cities have also recognized it — pivoting from a day long rooted in the celebration of explorer Christopher Columbus to one focused on the people whose lives and culture were forever changed by colonialism.

Here is a look at why it’s called Indigenous Peoples Day and how people celebrate.

Why is it called Indigenous Peoples Day?

Indigenous Peoples Day has been recognized for decades in different forms and under a variety of names to celebrate Native Americans’ history and culture and to recognize the challenges they continue to face.

Biden had said in a statement that the day is meant to “honor America’s first inhabitants and the Tribal Nations that continue to thrive today.”

It is typically observed on the second Monday in October, the same day as Columbus Day, a federal holiday established decades ago to recognize Columbus’ sighting in 1492 of what came to be known as the Americas.

The day is often marked by protests against memorials to Christopher Columbus, for environmental justice, for the return of Indigenous lands and in honor of missing and murdered Indigenous women.

President Donald Trump has said he will not follow his predecessor’s practice of recognizing Indigenous Peoples Day alongside Columbus Day in October.

Is Indigenous Peoples Day a federal holiday?

Although it is not a federal holiday, some states, as well as Washington, D.C., have holidays honoring Native Americans, some of which are on the second Monday in October. Indigenous Peoples Day is typically paired with Columbus Day or replaces the federal holiday altogether. A number of cities and school systems observe Indigenous Peoples Day as well.

Native Americans have campaigned for years for recognition

“For generations, federal policies systematically sought to assimilate and displace Native people and eradicate Native cultures,” Biden wrote in the Indigenous Peoples’ Day proclamation.

“Today, we recognize Indigenous peoples’ resilience and strength as well as the immeasurable positive impact that they have made on every aspect of American society.”

In a separate proclamation on Columbus Day, Biden praised the role of Italian Americans in U.S. society, but also referenced the violence and harm Columbus and other explorers of the age brought about on the Americas.

Landing in what is now the Bahamas on Oct. 12, 1492, Columbus, an Italian, was the first of a wave of European explorers in the Americas pursuing quests for gold and other wealth, including people to enslave. In the course of that quest, Native populations were decimated.

“Today, we also acknowledge the painful history of wrongs and atrocities that many European explorers inflicted on Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities,” Biden wrote. “It is a measure of our greatness as a Nation that we do not seek to bury these shameful episodes of our past — that we face them honestly, we bring them to the light, and we do all we can to address them.”

A highlight of L.A.’s World Cup summer was the free watch parties: city-sponsored events where more than 45,000 Angelenos watched soccer matches on big screens in their local parks.

City officials want to bring those local gatherings back for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and they're beginning to map out how they’ll look and feel.

At a city council committee meeting on the Olympics earlier this month, city staff laid out a plan to host at least one site in each council district. They also said L.A. will need dedicated staff, security and as many as 2,000 volunteers to put them on.

Paul Krekorian, head of the city’s major events office and former council president, told the council the city would also need to invest in shade structures to keep people cool in the summer heat.

“In many of our parks, there isn't a lot of shade to begin with,” Krekorian said, reflecting on the World Cup watch parties. “[In] many of our parks, these screens were sited on asphalt or other places where it was exceptionally hot.”

At the council’s direction, city staff has identified potential watch-party locations in the 15 city council districts.

Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson indicated that the council would likely want even more.

“ The size of our districts are too big, and the topography — and even demographics — are too different to just have one in most districts,” he said.

The big outstanding question is the price tag. So far, no city funds have been allocated to the watch parties. Each one will need screens, portable toilets, lighting and other amenities.

“ It will be a very expensive program; there's no doubt about it,” said John Wickham of the Chief Legislative Analyst’s office, who presented on the plans at a city council committee meeting on the Olympics earlier this month.

Wickham suggested sponsorships could help reduce the price tag of the events for the city — but a city report notes that private organizing committee LA28 has the right to sponsorship deals around the 2028 Games.

According to that report, compiled by the city’s chief budget adviser and legislative analyst, the city’s Olympic watch parties will require substantial funding in L.A.’s next two budget cycles.