The Brief

On a tranquil morning in January, Victor Correa had a vision for the day: Breakfast burritos from La Azteca Tortillería, and, later, a wedding he’d attend with his wife and their 2-year-old daughter.

The sky was bright blue when he set out for breakfast from his home in the city of Downey.

But Correa didn’t get far — just down the block, he witnessed a scene that’s played out more and more across the country this past year: masked men hopping out of unmarked cars to haul away Latino workers.

Correa grabbed his phone and started recording from his car. In videos he shared with LAist, men with dark sunglasses — one with a Border Patrol uniform and one in plainclothes — questioned two gardeners while other masked men stood watch from black SUVs nearby.

One of the men pointed what appeared to be a pepper gun at Correa and commanded him to move his car.

Just three days before, Correa knew, an ICE agent in Minneapolis shot and killed Renee Good, a legal observer and mother of three, in her car.

“Don’t fuckin’ shoot me!” he shouted at the federal agent. “I’m not fuckin’ doin’ nothin’!”

Correa honked and hurried to park. “ICE! ICE is here!” he yelled. By the time he made it back to the scene, one of the gardeners had already been taken inside a black Chevy Tahoe.

With urgency in his voice, Correa asked the remaining worker for his name in Spanish.

“José Solorio,” the man managed to say as an agent grappled him.

Soon, other neighbors emerged. They too began to record. One called out for a number to contact Solorio’s family: “¡Número de teléfono, jefe! ¡Número de teléfono!”

A woman in a floral bathrobe walked up and began scolding the agents. Amid the fray, the gardener inside the SUV appeared to let himself out. Then, the agents drove off.

“Get the fuck out of here!” Correa shouted after them.

Footage from one of the videos captured by Victor Correa on Jan. 10, 2026.

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Correa had been watching videos of immigration raids on social media for months, with a combined sense of fury and heartbreak. He’d also read up on how to be an effective bystander and what his rights are when filming federal agents in public spaces.

“I told myself that if I ever saw something like that, that I would be ready,” he told LAist. “And so, when my moment came, I was ready. And I let out all my rage.”

“I apologize to all the abuelas out there for all the cursing,” he said.

'What I hope everybody would do'

After the agents left, Correa said, he, the gardeners and neighbors unwound. According to Correa, the man who exited the SUV after being detained talked about trying to show proof that he’s in the U.S. legally to one of the agents, “but they wouldn’t listen."

The man also tried to show it to Correa, who shook his head and waved him away, he said.

“You don't have to show me anything," Correa recalled saying.

He said he "just did what I hope everybody would do."

Born and raised in Downey, Victor Correa created a community watch program after witnessing an attempted immigration raid on his block.

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The experience left Correa wanting to do more to protect his community from further raids. He teamed up with City Councilman Mario Trujillo to found Downey ICE Watch. For their first meeting in January, they invited Unión del Barrio, an organization with decades of experience in community patrol, to teach attendees how to spot immigration agents. The group also distributed whistles, a tool that’s become symbolic of community resistance to federal immigration agents. That Tuesday night, Correa said proudly, over 100 people showed up.

Keeping bystanders safe — or as safe as possible — was and continues to be top of mind, he added. Days before Downey ICE Watch’s first meeting, federal agents shot and killed another bystander, Alex Pretti, in Minneapolis.

Looking back on his encounter with federal agents, Correa said that, in hindsight, he would strive to be “a little less aggressive.”

“I would still go out there and record and blow whistles,” he added, “but I would not [get] as close, because I have a family, I have a daughter. And these guys seem to be getting away with murder.”

Meeting neighbors, forming community

In February, Correa held a second meeting for his group at Downey Christian Memorial Church. Last summer, when the Trump administration began its militarized deportation effort in Southern California, armed agents detained a man in the church’s parking lot. When faith leaders asked the agents to identify themselves, they said one of the officers pointed a gun at its senior pastor, Rev. Tanya Lopez.

As local residents entered the church’s multipurpose room for the Downey ICE Watch meeting, Correa and other organizers had them sit with people who live in their part of the city. Correa said this would help locals mingle with their neighbors, creating a sense of camaraderie that’s essential to community patrol work.

About 50 people attended. The multi-ethnic audience listened closely as Rev. Lopez encouraged them to join her interfaith immigration court observer program. Immigration attorneys talked about cases they’re working on, about the families they’re fighting to keep from being separated.

Local attorney Alfonso Morales thought it important to talk about cases where he’s been successful, including the release of two men who were detained during a warrantless raid at a car wash in San Dimas.

He also offered guidance for bystanders who film federal agents in public spaces.

“Don't interfere,” he told them. “You're there to record and document.”

Morales encouraged them to describe what they witness: “Narrate. Talk about the place, the time, how many officers, how many vehicles, the license plate — all of that is public information.”

“Make sure people know where you are,” he added. “And keep a full copy of the video.”

Morales acknowledged that this type of work can take a toll on one’s mental health.

“I now have a therapist,” he shared. “Seeing people taken on a daily basis, when you know the law, and you know the law should be on your side—it’s painful.”

Still, federal immigration agents “need to know people are watching,” Morales said. “And that history will not forget.”

Correa wrapped up the February meeting with a presentation from other community groups, BarrioPower and Siempre Unidos LA.

Rosa Vazquez, who co-founded BarrioPower last summer, stressed that, if local residents do not feel comfortable participating in community patrols, they can still help their neighbors. Community members, for instance, can deliver groceries to those who are too scared to leave their homes, or volunteer to drive their neighbors’ children to school.

“When the world feels like it's crumbling around us every single day,” she said, “the only way to overcome the despair that is natural for us to feel is to take action.”

The story first appeared on The LA Local.

Los Angeles residents were walking dark streets and passing broken lamps even as the LAPD quietly disbanded a specialized unit in July that tracked thieves stealing copper wire from streetlights. 

Known as the Heavy Metal Task Force, the unit launched in early 2024 to combat persistent copper wire theft from lamps lighting the Sixth Street Bridge connecting Boyle Heights to Downtown L.A.

Lt. Andrew Mathes confirmed to The LA Local this week that the unit was eliminated in July 2025 as the department and city tightened budgets. The L.A. Bureau of Street Lighting, the department responsible for maintaining the lights, also had its budget cut by about 5% in the current fiscal year as its backlog of reports continues to grow. 

The team led investigations that exposed organized wire theft, resulting in more than 300 arrests. And it conducted inspections of local scrapyards to make it harder for people to cash in on high copper resale prices.

“When you get an eye for it, copper is everywhere,” Mathes said. 

Public concerns about lights persist

Calls for repair of streetlights surged from about 35,000 in 2022, the year the Sixth Street Bridge was opened to the public, to 46,000 in 2024. There was only a slight dip in such calls in 2025.

The calls made to the city’s 311 line for non-emergency services include lamps that were hit by cars or could be malfunctioning due to age. But the jump in calls starting in 2022 also include a surge in thefts.

Reports of copper wire theft doubled from about 7,200 in fiscal year 2022-23 to nearly 16,000 in 2024-25, according to data from the L.A. City Controller. But starting last year, the monthly calls began trending down, from 1,500 in October 2024 to about 200 in May 2025. 

After previously leading a similar team on catalytic converter thefts, Mathes was tapped for leading the unit on heavy metal thefts in early 2024. The team was based in the LAPD’s Central Division near where such thefts had been focused.

“LA is the copper theft capital,” Mathes said. “It’s the worst of the worst here.”

At their most active, Mathes said, the unit was conducting two or three operations a week.

They inspected scrapyards for stolen metal and warned the owners of the penalties they could face for purchasing it. They found people impersonating construction workers removing reams of wire for resale. He’d find makeshift processing operations in decrepit RVs, with huge spools of wire spun by hand and toxic fire pits where people would melt away plastic shielding because the unwrapped copper fetches a higher price.

Mathes said they tracked a 70% reduction in such thefts in the Newton Division, south and east of downtown.

So what happens if there is no specialized unit? 

Mathes said it was fitting that the first and last arrests made by the heavy metal unit occurred near the iconic bridge on Sixth Street. 

The officers who served on the unit developed valuable experience, Mathes said. And soon before it disbanded, he said they redoubled efforts to prepare the members to continue the work in their new assignments. Central, Hollenbeck and Newton police divisions have a specialist for these kinds of investigations.

When asked about wire thefts growing in other parts of the city in 2025, he presumed it was because of the intensive work the unit was doing near downtown.

“They had to find new places to target,” Mathes said.

The Los Angeles County fires last year drove up insurance costs for many Californians. Now, a proposed settlement means some State Farm policyholders whose premiums rose won’t see additional increases, and others should even get refunds.

State Farm, the largest insurer in the state with about 20% market share, received approval for unprecedented emergency insurance rate increases in California last May. The company told the state that the billions of dollars it expected to pay out after the deadly fires placed it in financial peril.

The proposed deal among the state Insurance Department, consumer advocacy group Consumer Watchdog and State Farm, disclosed late last week, comes after months of public hearings convened by the insurance department and settlement talks.

Consumer Watchdog, which questioned the rate increases State Farm asked for, says the settlement saves the company’s California policyholders a total of $530 million. From the proposed settlement:

• Homeowners’ rate hikes will stay at the previously approved interim rate of 17% instead of the 30% the company sought.
• Condo owners who saw interim rate hikes of 15% will see their rates drop to an increase of 5.8%, and get refunds with interest dating back to June 1, 2025.
• Rental unit owners with interim rate hikes of 38% will see those increases drop to 32.8%, and receive refunds with interest. 
• Renter policyholders will see an increase of 15.65% vs. the interim rate hike of 15%.

In addition, State Farm has agreed not to cancel any new policies this year, and it won’t be canceling some policies it had planned not to renew in wildfire-affected areas. The insurance department characterized those provisions as important to the continued stability of the state’s insurance market, which has been beset with availability and affordability issues.

“When consumer advocates are able to challenge the data and present their own analysis, excessive requests are reduced and consumers are protected,” said Harvey Rosenfield in a statement. Rosenfield founded Consumer Watchdog and wrote Proposition 103, the voter-approved law that governs insurance in California.

State Farm has paid out more than $5 billion in claims from the L.A.-area fires so far, said spokesperson Tom Hartmann.

After consumer complaints and lawsuits, the insurance department is investigating the company’s handling of claims from the fires and expects results from that examination later this spring.

The agreement, which must be approved by an administrative law judge, also requires State Farm to undergo additional review of its rates in 2027. The company will be required to make a one time 2.5% premium discount available to renewing policyholders if its ratio of premiums to available cash reaches a certain level; Consumer Watchdog litigation director Will Pletcher said the deal will give the group more timely access to the company’s annual financial statements to help keep it accountable.

The insurance department expects the judge to decide on the settlement by April 7. Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara will then review the judge’s decision and have the final say.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

Iran's state media issued what it said was a statement by Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, vowing to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed and keep up attacks on U.S. bases in the region, as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran entered its 13th day.

It was purported to be the new leader's first statement since he succeeded his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli strike on the first day of the war.

The statement said Iran will avenge the blood of its "martyrs," including the victims of a March 1 attack on a girls school in the city of Minab, which Iranian officials say killed at least 165 people, many of them children. NPR has confirmed the U.S. military is investigating how it could have targeted the school.

The Iranian statement said the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route for a fifth of the world's oil supply, should remain closed. It said Iran continues to believe in friendship with its neighbors but will continue targeting U.S. bases in the region.

"The lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must undoubtedly continue to be used.," the statement said, according to an English version published by Tasnim News Agency, run by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

It's unclear if the statement was from Mojtaba Khamenei himself. Another person was heard reading out the remarks on Iranian state media, with a photo of Khamenei posted on the TV screen, as it was broadcast around the world.

There's been speculation about the leader's current condition and whereabouts. An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly, told NPR that Khamenei was lightly injured early in the war.

This is a developing story that will be updated.

Here are other major updates about the conflict.

To jump to specific areas of coverage, use the links below:

Attacks on vessels | Oil stockpiles | Strikes across the Gulf | Israel-Hezbollah escalation | Iranian school attack

Two oil tankers hit in Iraqi waters

Two oil tankers were hit in Iraqi territorial waters near the southern port area of Basra, Iraqi officials said Thursday. It is the first oil-related strike reported in Iraq's waters during more than a week of war, in another sign of the conflict's escalation.

Iran, a critical ally of Iraq, took responsibility for attacking one of the tankers, which it said was owned by the U.S.

A port official said the attack targeted vessels near Basra's port approaches, and Iraq's security spokesman described it as sabotage.

Iraqi officials said one person was killed, and 38 crew members were rescued, with search operations continuing.

Iran has stepped up attacks on energy infrastructure and commercial shipping in response to U.S. and Israeli strikes, warning that the world should brace for oil prices to double.

— Jane Arraf

U.S. and allies to release record oil stockpiles  

The U.S. confirmed it will release 172 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as part of a coordinated International Energy Agency (IEA) release of 400 million barrels from emergency stockpiles.

The U.S. contribution amounts to roughly 40% of the total, to be released gradually over about four months.

The IEA's executive director, Fatih Birol, said the goal is to keep the supply of oil flowing as the conflict disrupts shipping routes and energy infrastructure. But analysts warn stockpile releases can only partially offset prolonged disruption in the Gulf, where roughly a fifth of global oil consumption normally transits the Strait of Hormuz.

On Wednesday, President Trump said the price spike is temporary and said the reserve release would push prices down.

According to the popular app Gas Buddy, the current average cost of regular unleaded is now up to $3.61 a gallon.

- Camila Domonoske

Iran continues attacks on Gulf States

Countries in the Gulf reported new incoming threats and interceptions Thursday, as Iran continued firing drones and missiles across the region – including at U.S. military bases.

The UAE's defense ministry said air defenses were responding to Iranian missile and drone attacks, and that sounds heard in parts of the country were from intercepts.

Kuwait's defense ministry said its air defenses intercepted ballistic missiles and drones that penetrated the northern and southern parts of the country's airspace.

Saudi Arabia said it intercepted and destroyed drones headed toward the Shaybah oil field.

The United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution on Wednesday condemning Iran for recent attacks across the Persian Gulf region, calling them a "breach of international law" and "a serious threat to international peace and security."

- Rebecca Rosman

Israel launches large strikes on Hezbollah sites in Beirut after rocket fire into Israel

People inspect homes damaged by a projectile launched from Lebanon, in Haniel central Israel, on Thursday.

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The militant group Hezbollah launched its biggest rocket attack against Israel since the start of the war with Iran. The Israeli military said the Iranian-backed group fired heavy volleys toward northern Israel overnight into Thursday, triggering interceptions and sending residents repeatedly into shelters.

The Israeli military responded by launching more attacks against what it said were Hezbollah launch sites and command infrastructure.

Huge booms were heard across the capital and large black smoke billowed from the Dahieh neighborhood in south Beirut, while an attack in central Beirut – where thousands of people are displaced – killed 8 people and injured 31, according to Lebanese officials.

Wide evacuation orders for south Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs have displaced at least 800,000 people so far, according to the Lebanese government.

Lebanon, which does not have diplomatic ties with Israel, has unusually called for direct talks with Israel to end the escalating fighting with Hezbollah. Israel has not officially responded.

Israeli strikes on Iran have continued, with Iran firing missiles at Israel intermittently, including overnight.

Israeli military officials say about half of the missiles Iran has launched at Israel have carried cluster warheads, which spread out into smaller bombs over a wider area – increasing the risk to civilians.

- Daniel Estrin, Hadeel Al-Shalchi and Rebecca Rosman

Pentagon: Preliminary assessment suggests U.S. likely responsible for strike on Iranian school

The Pentagon has opened a formal investigation into the missile strike on an Iranian girls school that killed at least 165 civilians, many of them children, after a preliminary assessment suggested the U.S. was at fault, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly. The investigation is expected to take months and will include interviews with all those involved, from planners and commanders to those who carried out the strike.

If a U.S. role in the attack is confirmed, it would rank among the military's most deadly incidents involving civilians in decades. Congress created a special Pentagon office to prevent the accidental targeting of civilians but it was dramatically scaled back by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth soon after he took office last year.

"This investigation is ongoing. As we have said, unlike the terrorist Iranian regime, the United States does not target civilians," said White House spokesperson Anna Kelly.

The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.

NPR previously reported — based on commercial satellite imagery and independent expert analysis — that the strike was more extensive than initially reported and appeared consistent with a precision strike on a nearby military complex, raising questions about whether outdated targeting information contributed to the tragedy.

- Tom Bowman, Kat Lonsdorf, Geoff Brumfiel

Rebecca Rosman contributed to this report from Paris, Jane Arraf from Erbil, Iraq, Hadeel Al-Shalchi from Beirut, Daniel Estrin from Tel Aviv and Camila Domonoske, Tom Bowman, Kat Lonsdorf and Geoff Brumfiel from Washington.
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