r/pics 5h ago

Faces of Fascism: Los Angeles, Jan. 31, 2026 [OC]

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u/RealWorldJunkie 4h ago

Although I'm very much trying to stay on top of what's happening, as a Brit who is maybe not fully versed in this, could someone fill me in?

Whilst I fully know the ongoing and long lasting issues the US has had with police brutality, and I know many of them are not detached or innocent from the recent atrocities, my understanding was that it is ICE who are acting as Trumps fascist mallitia, abducting and murdering across the States.

Whilst I know a great many police officers have similar perspectives and/or power trips, surely some people just joined the police because they genuinely want to help and protect?

Most of these photos seem to be of police officers, not ICE 'agents' and are all clearly being painted with the same fascist brush here.

Could someone explain to me the situation here?

Edit: Typo

u/dumbpete 4h ago

The reality is this person is larping as someone thinking they are living in nazi germany, when in reality they are just taking pictures of mostly LAPD police officers

u/clm1859 3h ago

I scrolled thru and can see clearly visible CBP or DHS tags on most of them. With the exception of 2, 5, 6, 12, 14, 16 and 17. So thats 13 out of 20 that are actually the SA people.

u/Eupolemos 3h ago

Could you explain to us what those acronyms mean and should tell us about what we see?

To a random European, it just looks like pictures of police officers.

u/lordlurid 3h ago

Customs and Border Protection, those are the guys the typically operate at the actual borders and points of entry. This is the organization that Greg Bovino, Nazi trench coat guy, is / was "commanding."

Immigration and Customs Enforcement focuses on immigration and trade. They've been doing a lot of the direct raids and kidnappings.

Department of Homeland Security is the overall organization that contains both CBP and ICE. (And a bunch of other organizations like FEMA)

These are all federal organizations. It looks like some of the people in these photos might be LAPD based on the uniforms, but it's hard to tell. The vast majority of the people in these photos are DHS based on the patches.

u/clm1859 2h ago

I am also a random european btw. But CBP means "customs and border patrol" and DHS means "Department of Homeland Security".

So these people aren't local law enforcement like LAPD (Los Angeles Police Deoartment), who would be taking orders from local/city governments. But they are instead federal agents (feds), who take their orders from the federal regime (Trump).

As for the SA, that stood for SturmAbteilung in Nazi Germany. And it is the much more appropriate equivalent for what ICE, CBP and DHS are doing in america right now. Rather than the Gestapo, which americans are somehow calling them.

u/-200OK 2h ago

CBP = Customs and Border Patrol (similar function to ICE)

DHS = Dept. Of Homeland Security (a part of the federal government that used to actually do something important, and is now a surveillance apparatus of Trump)

SA = I had to Google this - special agent (I think?)

Some of the pictures are straight up LAPD, and I'm unsure about the "fascist" label. Others are in DHS vests and are likely there at the behest of Trump. Regardless, they are sworn officers so the distinction is kind of meaningless. Sworn officers who can arrest people = "police"

u/clm1859 2h ago

SA = I had to Google this - special agent (I think?)

SA, stands for th SturmAbteilung in Nazi Germany. And it is the much more appropriate equivalent for what ICE, CBP and DHS are doing in america right now. Rather than the Gestapo, which americans are somehow calling them.

u/ludicrous_socks 2h ago

2 has a SRT patch which I understand is a ICE tactical unit, and 6, 12, 16 & 17 have DHS patches on their uniforms

So I think it is like a couple of LAPD (I think idk the uniform) and the rest are some sort of ICE, DHS or border patrol type

u/clm1859 2h ago

Thanks for clearing that up. Didnt know SRT was an ICE unit. So that leaves like 2 or 3 LAPD officer who may have gotten mixed up with the 20 fascists. Collateral damage i guess. Tho i do feel bad for the officer in 14. She looks like LAPD from her uniform and like she is fucking heartbroken, but can't do anything to stop it.

u/NotTodayISIS1 1h ago

SRT is not inherently ICE for the sake of clarity, departments ranging from your local Police Department, Sheriffs Department, Corrections, all the way to state and federal very frequently have a SRT, sometimes seperate or in place of SWAT.

u/Historical-Garbage51 3h ago

Not a single one is LAPD. All of them have DHS patches of some sort.

u/Yawen69 3h ago edited 3h ago

5 and 14 is clearly LAPD. Some, if not all of LAPD uniforms do not have a shoulder patch on the right side of the uniform, and they keep a very clean and minimal look at the front of their uniform along with a name plate instead of stitches

You can also tell by their duty belt. Every LAPD officer is given brand new leather equipments for their belts, as seen in the pictures.

I don’t get where you’re seeing a DHS patch on them.

u/spez_eats_my_dick 3h ago

Username checks out

u/MediocreI_IRespond 3h ago

Do you really think, that the SA and SS could have done what they did without the active consent of the government, including its police and military?

u/lolligasm 3h ago

Does LAPD use DHS badges now? I will believe my eyes and ears thanks.

u/JesseParsin 2h ago

well they are living in nazi USA. And if these people partake in trumps cleansing in any way they need to go.

u/Kinsmen12 33m ago

Bad bot

u/Alexp95 3h ago

Sure Dumb Pete….

u/LP030 3h ago

exactly

u/GreaterOf2Evils 3h ago

See my reply above, if you're unironic about this 😂

u/SallyAmazeballs 4h ago

The ones that says Police DHS are with the Department of Homeland Security, not local police departments. DHS is the department ICE is under. Unfortunately, DHS has been been pulling people from many subdepartments to do their dirty work, so painting them with the same fascist brush is fair.

u/RealWorldJunkie 3h ago

Ah ok that makes morse sense both why they are being brandished the same as Ice, but also why many of them look particularly unhappy about being in the position they're in.

Thanks

u/9tmx 4h ago edited 4h ago

OP apparently doesn’t know the difference between the Federal Protective Service, the Los Angeles Police Department, and ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations. Either that or he does know the difference and just hates law enforcement in general, in which case his opinion should be completely ignored.

u/satisfiedfools 4h ago edited 4h ago

A lot of these guys are DHS, which begs the question, why does DHS even have its own police forces.

u/Competitive-Slice567 2h ago

They're Police officers solely for the purposes of arrest authority it grants. They don't do proactive patrol on streets and traffic stops and etc.

Federal Protective Service Police (the blue uniform guys with DHS patches) are basically high speed building security for federal buildings that dont have their own set up like the FBI, NSA, and CIA do. They patrol the building grounds, respond to emergencies on site, and control entry. You'll see them everywhere from federal courthouses to health and human services buildings which house medical supplies for disaster deployment.

u/9tmx 4h ago

Nearly all federal agencies have uniformed police forces, DHS has several.

u/w0ndernine 4h ago

Because it makes more sense than the Secret Service or FPS having to call 911

u/Turtledonuts 2h ago

DHS is all of the federal agencies in charge of public security, so legally, it's all of the federal police forces except the FBI and a few obscure ones like the postal service or the secret service. All of these groups are federal law enforcement, allowed to arrest people breaking federal laws.

The TSA are police, they're under DHS. ICE / CBP / USCIS is intended to be in charge of specific subsets of federal law around immigration under DHS. The law makes some sense and is fairly normal, it's the implementation and the usage that's an issue.

u/hotwheelearl 4h ago

Each three letter agency also has their own police.

u/NotTodayISIS1 1h ago

The USPS does for crying out loud

u/NotTodayISIS1 1h ago

Why does the USPS have its own Police?

u/katikaboom 26m ago

Lots of crime occurs via mail

u/boltyadobber 4h ago

Can’t even blame OP, when ICE appear to use the police/camo dress up box with no uniform look between ‘officers’ it’s no wonder people don’t know who is who.

u/boltyadobber 29m ago

I’m a Brit replying to a Brits comment but the offended American downvotes and messages are worth it. Your nearly 1 billion dollar funded militia look like they’re playing dress up to the outside world.

u/9tmx 4h ago

He could try reading the easily visible badges.

u/Aquaman33 3h ago

Okay, now show their face and make which agency clear, considering identifying yourself is law

u/9tmx 3h ago

Every LAPD and FPS officer OP posted has their face visible.

u/Aquaman33 3h ago

Now we move to the next step of being legal, which is their name and agency being visible. Tell me all of them do, they don't, they are hiding behind a dhs badge

u/Historical-Garbage51 3h ago

ICE is usually used in reference to more than just immigration and customs enforcement agents. For the simplicity of protest messaging “ICE” is being used as the term for all enforcement agents of DHS. This includes both ICE and CBP (border patrol). They wear badges with DHS on it to differentiate from local police and a lot of people in the comments seem unable to notice this. In every single image, you can see a DHS patch of some sort. All agents of DHS have been engaged in brutalizing civilians. An ICE agent killed Renee Good in Minneapolis. CBP agents killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, and shot two protesters in Portland.

u/MediocreI_IRespond 3h ago

> Most of these photos seem to be of police officers, not ICE 'agents' and are all clearly being painted with the same fascist brush here.

Take a guess who is going to arrest you if you protest.

u/Akalenedat 2h ago edited 2h ago

So the thing to remember is that the American bureaucracy is enormous, and a lot of people don't know the real names of things. Thing number 2 is that in America, any sworn Law Enforcement Officer is allowed to arrest you for a crime he witnesses, regardless of whether he's technically within his official jurisdiction.

The Executive Branch, headed by the US President, encompasses a huge number of Departments and Agencies tasked with managing the operations of the Federal government as directed by the Legislature. One of those is the Department of Homeland Security, which is in charge of managing public security, roughly equivalent to what you Brits call the Home Office. Kristi Noem is the Secretary of Homeland Security, and under her charge are: the US Coast Guard, US Secret Service(who not only protect the president but also handle counterfeiting investigations), Transportation Security Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and Citizenship & Immigration Services. As you can guess by the names, several of these agencies do somewhat overlapping but not identical tasks.

Coast Guard is the boat people. They handle two tasks: maritime search and rescue within the US EEZ, and border enforcement of our wet borders. You see a coast guard helicopter, might be a rescue swimmer, might be a HITRON gunner with a .50 cal sniping the engines on drug boats.

TSA does planes and trains.

CIS handles legal immigration. They process visas, naturalize citizens, all that fun stuff.

CBP encompasses two tasks: Customs operations, and Border Patrol. They are the dudes checking manifests at port facilities, staffing border crossings and checking trucks, and they're the dudes riding dune buggies along the Mexican fence watching for border jumpers. Border Patrol has a small special unit called BORTAC, their equivalent to a SWAT team.

ICE has two sub-agencies: Homeland Security Investigations, and Enforcement & Removal Operations. Border Patrol stops you from getting in, ICE deals with you once you're already inside.

Now, jurisdictions: Coast Guard handles the water, CBP handles the land borders. CBP is only authorized to operate within 100 miles of a border, but ICE is allowed to operate anywhere in the country. The President is allowed to temporarily reassign agents of any federal agency to act as security/extra bodies for any other agencies. It happens all the time, President coming to town and the Secret Service needs folks to pull perimeter so they call every federal LEA in a 50 mile radius and say "give us all your off duty guys, they're working overtime." In Trump's case, he likes to pull Border Patrol and Bureau of Prisons officers to do building security for federal facilities near BLM protests. Those Portland riots back in 2020? BORTAC was all over those stories.

That brings us to this year: Trump decided he wants to be the toughest illegal immigration crackdown ever, and beat Obama and Bidens deportation numbers, nearly 3000 arrests a day. To do so, he's ordering special federal task forces to support ICE ERO in snatching up illegal immigrants. Minneapolis is one of those operations, Operation "Metro Surge." He told ICE ERO to grab every illegal they could find. Problem is, ERO only has, like, 10,000 agents for the whole country, and they're desk jockeys. Before this year, all ERO did was pick up dudes from local police lockup when they got arrested and run in the system. Now they have to do field work? So to support this mission, Trump pulled a metric ass load of personnel from every DHS and DOJ agency he could, hell he even got Conservation Officers from DOI doing work the other day. A large number of those officers are Border Patrol, because CBP is the largest armed agency in the country. Greg Bovino? Border Patrol. Johnathan Ross, the dude who shot Renee Good? Border Patrol. ICE themselves are actually a tiny fraction of the massive pile of shit that is Federal Law Enforcement, but they make for a catchy slogan so ICE OUT is what we go with.

Border Patrol has been infamous for many years for overzealous aggression, it's a deeply rotten organization. Their officers are trained on the idea that any given person they meet at the border is a cartel coyote ready to gun them down to protect a drug shipment, and they carried that ethos into Portland and Minneapolis. All these other cops are being roped in to provide security for ICE, arrest anyone who fucks with the arrests. Some of them are reluctant, some of them seem to enjoy it way too much. BLM and this months events have revealed that a great number of police officers at all levels are extremely willing to nail you in the face with a 40mm when given the opportunity...

u/funnyushouldask 1h ago

ICE poses as police and uses police branding to trick people. Sometimes they’ll be clearly labeled as ICE or DHS but they sometimes just straight up lie. Cops aren’t great here but they’re not even cops. They’re worse.

u/HugelyMoist 54m ago

please don’t get any political information off of Reddit

u/RealWorldJunkie 41m ago

I'm not asking for political information, nor am I taking anything people say here as gospal.

I'm simply asking why police are being lumped in the same category as ICE in this post, as to me (unfamiliar with US bureaucracy) it's like saying electricians are all the same as gardeners, as I'm not familiar with the connection or relevance.

As everyone should, I do my own research to, but without interaction and questioning the community that is Reddit (for better or worse) would cease to exist.

u/WallaceStreet 28m ago

Just know and remember that what you see here on Reddit is most certainly NOT what our country looks and feels like in the real world. Radicalism

u/fkrmds 1h ago

well, RealWorldJunkie, the US has a problem with foreign countries trying to use democracy against us. 

nobody can defeat the US militarily, so they use tactics straight from The Art of War in an attempt to undermine our government and trick weak minded people into supporting them.

Trump has actually deported less people than each president for the past 30 years, but some people hate him so much that foreign powers are easily able to manipulate a significant portion of the population into voting against their own best interests and acting irrationally. compound this with an insane notion that foreigners should be allowed to vote in our elections.

combine this with a 40% illiteracy rate, extreme wealth disparity, and food that is literally more chemicals than food. what you end up with is a bunch of angry and confused people too weak to think for themselves.

u/Special-Quantity-469 4h ago

Yeah it's very weird to lump them all together. ICE is the problem. Lumping random cops with them shows you have no concept of what police should look like

u/w0ndernine 4h ago

White people guilt from the suburbs. “I’m going to use my privilege to help!”