FBI Director Kash Patel issued a warning Saturday night after federal agents were injured during violent protests targeting immigration enforcement operations in Los Angeles County.
“If you assault a law enforcement officer, you’re going to jail—period,” Patel said. “It doesn’t matter where you came from, how you got here, or what cause you claim to represent. If local jurisdictions won’t stand behind the men and women who wear the badge, the FBI will.”
The comments followed a surge of unrest in Paramount, California, where U.S. Border Patrol agents were repeatedly attacked while leaving an anti-ICE riot. According to federal sources, protesters hurled rocks, concrete, and other debris at government vehicles, shattering windshields and injuring officers. One agent suffered a bloody hand from a rock that broke through the glass. Images of the injuries and damage were later circulated by federal officials.
In response, President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum authorizing the deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops to the region. It is the most substantial federal intervention in Los Angeles County since the protests began on Friday evening.
Officials say the violence has escalated quickly and have become dangerous. On Friday night, more than 1,000 protesters surrounded a federal building in Los Angeles, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were reportedly assaulted. Demonstrators slashed tires, damaged property, and lit fires, including one that engulfed a vehicle on Atlantic Boulevard.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that several individuals have already been arrested for assaulting federal officers. U.S. Border Patrol Chief Michael W. Banks emphasized the gravity of the situation, warning that agents could have been killed by the projectiles.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem reinforced the administration’s zero-tolerance approach to violence against law enforcement. “If you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” she wrote on X.
Meanwhile, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said the bureau is pursuing leads to identify those responsible for attacking the agents. “It is only a matter of time,” Bongino said, indicating more arrests could follow.
The violence appears to be tied to recent ICE operations in the area, which have drawn criticism from some local officials. But Patel’s message made clear that regardless of political sentiment, assaults on officers will not go unanswered.
“The FBI has an entire force dedicated to immigration enforcement,” Patel added in a post online. “If the local police force won’t back our men and women on the thin blue line, we @FBI will.”
