PHOTO/VIDEO: A Tale of Two May Days
Federal agents and LAPD crashed multiple May Day protests in DTLA on May 1, 2026.
What began as a day for joyous celebrations of International Workers' Day ended with brutal targeted arrests of protestors and press alike. It wouldn’t be International Worker’s Day without a bunch of cops rolling in to break up the party.
Riot shields, less lethal weapons, batons, and a bad attitude. One officer jabbed someone so hard she dropped her body cam. Another officer ignored my colleague’s press pass and called her a “paid agitator.” Border Patrol officers sprinted after protesters and made brutal targeted arrests. Earlier in the day, officers towed three vehicles and declared a rally outside City Hall an unlawful assembly. They diverted marches and menaced children. They arrested a lawyer and a reporter, and cited another.
Are we free to assemble? To protest? To report accurately and faithfully on happenings in our city? Or not? Feels like a vice is tightening around us, and our rights are the first to go.
Happy May Day to us, and remember: cops don’t belong in the labor movement, and cop unions aren’t real unions.
Some additional photos from last Friday's May Day marches, and the police response that followed:
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