Patel Says FBI Investigating Funding Behind Anti-ICE Riots In LA

As parts of Los Angeles burn under the fury of riots, there are burning questions in Washington about who instigated the protests against immigration enforcement operations and whether any funding is coming from foreign sources.

FBI Director Kash Patel told Just the News the bureau is investigating the money trail behind those organizing and promoting the demonstrations spreading across the country.

“The FBI is investigating any and all monetary connections responsible for these riots,” Patel said in a statement sent late Monday to Just the News.

After initial—and largely peaceful—demonstrations in response to several immigration raids in Los Angeles late last week, the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protests escalated over the weekend to include more than 1,000 rioters filmed assaulting immigration officers, burning self-driving vehicles, looting, temporarily closing down at least one city highway, and throwing concrete rocks at law enforcement officers.

The images of violent rioters waving Mexican and other foreign flags as cars burned in the background circulated the country and drew attention from the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress.

Month-old footage of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum threatening to “mobilize” over legislative proposals to tax remittances to Mexico resurfaced in light of the protests, raising concerns about whether rhetoric from south of the border could be inflaming tensions. Sheinbaum responded to the violence on Monday, condemning it but promising Mexican government commitment to all Mexicans, “regardless of immigration status.”