Propaganda of the Deed (Part 1)

Reflector

Longview

Documentary, Society & Culture

4.6 • 577 Ratings

🗓️ 6 February 2026

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As demonstrators openly debate whether violence is justified to resist the Trump administration, we step back to ask: Have we been here before? This episode traces a largely forgotten chapter of American history – from the Haymarket Riot to anarchist assassinations, government crackdowns, and the birth of the FBI and the ACLU – to show how cycles of political violence and state power have shaped the American left for more than a century. The story reveals how moments meant to spark revolution often end by transforming the country in ways no one intended. For this story – in addition to speaking with dozens of protestors, modern day anarchists, community organizers, and historians – we also read these books, which we highly recommend: The President and the Assassin by Scott Miller The Republic for Which It Stands by Richard White American Colossus by H.W. Brands The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin Luigi Galleani: The Most Dangerous Anarchist in America by Antonio Senta and Sean Sayers And if you’re interested in Scott Miller’s work, he just released a new book called Let My Country Awake: Indian Revolutionaries in America and the Fight to Overthrow the British Raj CREDITS: This episode of Reflector was reported by Andy Mills and Ethan Mannello. It was produced by Eli Cohen and Matthew Boll. Music for this episode was composed by ⁠Cobey Bienert⁠⁠⁠ and Peter Lalish Opening music is Gnossiennes No. 1 by Satie Reflector artwork by ⁠⁠⁠Jacob Boll⁠⁠⁠ To become a Longview subscriber you can visit us ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Thank you to our sponsor Ground News. You can visit them here to learn more: ⁠⁠GROUND.NEWS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, this is Andy Mills, and welcome back to Reflector.
0:07.0	Widespread immigration raids here in L.A.
0:09.6	Federal officials have detained multiple people at different locations at the center.
0:14.8	I know that for some it feels like it was forever ago, but in June of 2025,
0:20.0	as a part of his promise for mass deportations,
0:23.3	President Trump sent ICE agents into the city of Los Angeles, home to one of the largest
0:28.9	populations of unlawful migrants in the U.S.
0:33.7	A series of surprise immigration sweeps throughout L.A.
0:37.7	prompted a fierce pushback.
0:39.7	And these agents were immediately met by protesters who mobilized in mass to tell ICE to leave their city.
0:51.0	And this led to an escalation with the police, who shot rubber bullets of protesters,
0:57.0	arrested over 70 people for breaking windows, assaulting officers, looting local businesses,
1:03.4	and burning cars in the street.
1:05.2	President Trump says he's sending the National Guard to Los Angeles to control growing protests
1:10.2	over federal immigration
1:11.5	raids.
1:12.6	And even though local authorities said that they had the situation under control, President
1:16.8	Trump escalated the tension even further by sending in the National Guard.
1:21.6	It is completely unnecessary.
1:23.9	What are they going to do?
1:25.7	There is no need for this.
1:27.9	The city handled things perfectly last.
	...

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