Politics
How hard should L.A. go after copper wire thieves? Council members hold a lively debate
A member of a historic church in South Los Angeles pointed out to Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson on Sunday that a landmark item was missing from the building: a bronze plaque.
The plaque at Bethel A.M.E Church had withstood the Great Depression, segregation and other economic downturns, only to disappear a couple of weeks ago, Harris-Dawson said. The plaque may have been stolen amid a surge of copper wire and bronze thefts across the city.
“I do think we have a mutation of petty theft that we need to look at in a serious and deep way,” said Harris-Dawson, whose district has also seen “stretches” of streets targeted by thieves.
The anecdote was shared at the end of a nearly one-hour debate Wednesday — in which more than half of the City Council spoke — over whether to approve motions by Councilmembers Kevin de León and Traci Park to curb copper wire theft. Beyond wire theft, the invigorating conversation illuminated the council members’ differing approaches to crime, with some wishing for more preventive efforts and others pushing for accountability.
The motions, which passed on a 13-2 vote, will create a task force with the Los Angeles Police Department and the Bureau of Street Lighting and establish a rewards program to encourage the public to submit information regarding the thefts.
Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez said the rewards program “misses critical steps in understanding the root of this problem.”
“Rather than expand city efforts and resources on a reward program that does not intervene until after the damage is done and focuses on punitive measures, why aren’t we looking into how we can prevent this cycle together?” said Hernandez, who voted no on the motions.
Hernandez praised a Jan. 9 motion by Councilmember Heather Hutt that requested an examination of replacing copper wires with solar-powered lighting. Efforts like those, Hernandez said, address the root causes of the problem instead of spending money on “solutions that are Band-Aids.” (Hutt did not speak during Wednesday’s discussion but voted to approve both motions.)
Councilmember Monica Rodriguez stood by the rewards program, noting that accountability was necessary to prevent further expense to taxpayers.
“We can’t make it easier for them to continue to break into these systems, steal the copper wire, cash it in and create a bigger public safety threat,” Rodriguez said of the thieves.
Council President Paul Krekorian redirected the council’s attention to the “unscrupulous purchasers of stolen metal,” who he said were the “real source” of the problem.
Since November, Krekorian and City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto have been targeting those who receive the stolen metal. He said the way to prevent the crime was to make it no longer profitable.
From within his district, Harbor-area Councilmember Tim McOsker lamented the loss of plaques at the American Merchant Marine Veterans Memorial as well as at other memorials dedicated to fishing industry families and longshore workers.
McOsker noted that the Los Angeles Port Police had arrested three people — Dionzay Tisby, 42, Brittany Draper, 37, and Deona Jackson, 28 — on suspicion of grand theft related to the plaque thefts.
Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez joined Hernandez in opposing the motions, even though he had initially supported the idea. He asked his colleagues to understand that the thefts might be committed by people living in poverty who are pushed into acts of desperation.
Soto-Martínez urged the council to be “smart legislators” and pursue prevention efforts.
“It’s not just about getting rewards and criminalizing, and I get that’s probably part of the solution. But at the end of the day, it’s not going to solve the issue,” Soto-Martínez said.
In response, Councilmember Imelda Padilla acknowledged Soto-Martínez’s point about poverty but disagreed that the responsible individuals were “impoverished criminals.”
“This is really high, sophisticated, smart, clever, organized crime,” she said.
Councilmember John Lee also pushed back against Soto-Martínez, noting that the funds he wishes he could spend on youth centers or community programs are instead going to costly measures to deter thieves.
“We focus on the person committing the crime and not the victim anymore,” he said. “I don’t understand why we should not be looking at every single thing at our disposal.”
De León said he appreciated the range of perspectives on the issue but clarified that the motions were meant to give priority to public safety and speak to the concerns of residents.
In late December, thieves stole a third of the 6th Street Viduct’s copper wires. De León, whose district includes the structure, said the individuals could receive a “street value” of $11,000 for the stolen material. But repairs will cost taxpayers $2.5 million.
“This is not criminalizing this act,” De León said, “because it’s already a crime.”
Politics
Fetterman unleashes on ‘dirtbag’ wing of Dems after far-left victories: ‘Orgy of socialism’
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Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., unloaded on his own party on Sunday evening, blasting a series of victories for progressives he called “anti-America.”
“Big night for the dirtbag left,” Fetterman said, referring to New York’s recent primaries, where two members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) won primaries.
“I’ve said the party is becoming an orgy of socialism. Clearly anti-America, anti-Western Civilization,” Fetterman said.
Fetterman’s striking calls give a rare look at how some moderates may view the developments on their far-left flank that have dominated the party’s momentum in recent months, sparking concern that their high visibility is dragging the party further and further left.
FETTERMAN WARNS DEMOCRATS ‘DRIFTING FIRMLY INTO COMMUNISM’ AFTER SOCIALIST PRIMARY WINS
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., speaks to reporters outside the Senate Chamber during votes on Nov. 10, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
His comments come on the heels of a handful of key progressive victories.
In Maine, Graham Platner, a controversial Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, has attracted controversy for denying knowledge of the meaning behind a Nazi-linked tattoo, for off-color comments about race and calling himself a “communist” in a deleted Reddit post.
In New York, one DSA member, Claire Valdez, won a primary on a platform of abolishing ICE and a Green New Deal-style approach to climate change. Similarly, Darializa Avila-Chevalier, another DSA candidate, beat out incumbent Rep. Adriano Espillat, D-N.Y., a high-ranking Democrat and the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
WINNERS AND LOSERS EMERGE AFTER SOCIALIST EARTHQUAKE ROCKS NYC PRIMARIES
Graham Platner, Democratic Senate candidate for Maine, speaks at a primary election night event at the Blue Hill YMCA in Blue Hill, Maine, on June 9, 2026. Platner won the party’s Senate primary after a campaign marked by accusations of past misbehavior and voter concerns. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Both Chevalier and Valdez had the backing of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, himself a socialist.
The wins have captured national attention and drawn criticisms from Republicans who have pointed to their success as emblematic of the direction of the Democratic Party.
Fetterman, who has not shied away from confrontations, has been one of the few Democrats to express alarm about the kind of candidates carrying the party’s banner.
“I mean, you look at some of the things that people have said. Abolish prison, abolish the border, abolish ICE, I mean these crazy people — I have colleagues in my caucus that refuse to even call this out,” Fetterman said.
FETTERMAN REACTS TO MAMDANI’S REFUSAL TO ACCEPT SUPREME COURT’S IMMIGRATION RULING
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., walks through the Senate Subway during the Senate War Powers vote on April 22, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
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“Between P-hustle in Maine and some of the other winners in New York, they should form their own party and run on all the things that they’ve had to delete on social media,” Fetterman said, referring to Platner.
“That’s where our party has moved,” he added.
Politics
Supreme Court limits police use of cellphone data to find crime suspects
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court cast doubt Monday on whether police may obtain cellphone data to find crime suspects.
In a 6-3 decision, the justices said this location information showing where a cellphone user has traveled is personal and private and subject to the protection of the 4th Amendment’s ban on unreasonable searches.
Justice Elena Kagan said these “records serve as a personal journal of a user’s movements.”
She said the information “resembles other private materials — think of emails, documents, photographs, or calendars—that even if stored on Google’s servers, a user reasonably views as his own…and reasonably expects to be shielded from the inquisitive eyes of the government.”
Because an “individual has a legitimate expectation of privacy in his cellphone location data,” she said police investigators need a valid search warrant from a magistrate.
The court stopped short of deciding the proper basis for a search warrant in such cases. Instead, the justices sent the case back to judges in Virginia.
But the outcome casts doubt on “geofence warrants.”
In recent years, police have gone to Google and cellphone companies seeking tracking data on cellphones that were at a crime scene. Sometimes, they have had a warrant from a magistrate.
Civil libertarians say the use of this tracking data raises the specter of mass surveillance on innocent people.
Police and government lawyers say no one has a reasonable right to privacy when they are walking on a sidewalk or driving down the street.
The case before the court arose from the armed robbery conviction of a Virginia man who stole $195,000 from a credit union in a small town near Richmond.
By the time police arrived, the robber had fled. But surveillance cameras showed he was carrying a gun and a cellphone.
Lacking other leads, detective Joshua Hilton asked a judge to issue a special type of warrant seeking information from Google.
Referred to as a “geofence warrant,” it seeks data from phones in a particular area at a particular time.
The detective sought data on phones that were within 150 yards of the credit union within one hour of the late afternoon robbery.
After examining and paring down the data, the detective asked for the phone records of Okello Chatrie. Then, with a search warrant of his home, investigators found two robbery-style demand notes, a semi-automatic pistol and about $100,000 in cash.
A judge refused to suppress the evidence from an allegedly unconstitutional search, and Chatrie entered a conditional guilty plea.
The full 4th Circuit Court of Appeals split evenly on the legality of the geofence warrant, and the Supreme Court agreed to decide the issue in Chatrie vs. U.S.
Usually investigators obtain warrants to search the home or vehicle of a known crime suspect.
The new and disputed geofence warrants seek to find a suspect by examining data on the cellphones that were at the scene of a crime.
The FBI used this cellphone data in 2021 to identify suspects who broke through police barricades on Jan. 6, 2021, and pushed their way into the Capitol to disrupt the official counting of electoral votes.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson agreed on the outcome in Chatrie vs. U.S.
In a 21-page dissent, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said the court had “carefully set the stage for its planned performance: striking a pose as a great champion of privacy in the digital age. I cannot support this irresponsible escapade.”
Justice Clarence Thomas agreed.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett agreed in a one-paragraph dissent. “Chatrie had no reasonable expectation of privacy in data about his public movements that he voluntarily disclosed to Google,” she said.
Politics
Supreme Court Expands Presidential Powers to Fire Independent Regulators
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that President Trump could fire independent regulators for any reason. But the justices carved out an exception for the Federal Reserve, preventing the immediate removal of Lisa D. Cook, a Federal Reserve governor.
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