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jimmy gomez
Progressive Group Supports Angela Gonzales-Torres' Primary Challenge to AIPAC-Backed Jimmy Gomez
"This is about standing up to corruption, calling out a genocide when we see one, and building a Los Angeles that we can afford," said Angela Gonzales-Torres, the candidate endorsed by Justice Democrats.
Sep 04, 2025
The progressive political action committee Justice Democrats on Thursday threw its support behind Angela Gonzales-Torres, a primary challenger to incumbent Democratic Congressman Jimmy Gomez in California's deep blue 34th District.
"Angela is exactly what Los Angeles needs in Congress right now: a working-class champion with the moral courage to not only fight back against the Trump administration's cruelty with the urgency it demands but also take on the Democratic Party when the corporate establishment fails to fight for our communities," Justice Democrats executive director Alexandra Rojas said in a statement.
The support from Justice Democrats—known for helping to elect "Squad" members including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)—comes as Republican President Donald Trump threatens to copy his militarized anti-immigrant attack on Los Angeles in other Democrat-led US cities.
"While Donald Trump is terrorizing our city, kidnapping our friends and neighbors, kicking us off our healthcare, why is our member of Congress funded by Trump's biggest donors and voting for his harmful agenda?" Gonzales-Torres asked in a Thursday video announcing the group's endorsement of her.
Gonzales-Torres launched her campaign in April. She's not the first primary challenger Gomez has faced. Since winning a 2017 special election, he has continuously bested his primary opponents, including David Kim in the past three cycles.
"In the 2024 race, Kim called for cutting off US military funding to Israel and drew fire from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, and its super PAC, United Democracy Project," The Intercept reported Thursday. "Kim also supported the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement and called for an international court to prosecute illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Kim endorsed Gonzales-Torres, who previously volunteered for his campaign."
Gonzales-Torres told the Los Angeles Times that "I think that Angelenos want to see change. And what we are seeing is our current Congress member accepting $2.3 million from AIPAC, then failing to co-sponsor the only bill calling for a ceasefire."
"And what we are seeing is Jimmy Gomez taking, you know, $500,000 from crypto lobbies, then voting to further Trump's corrupt crypto agenda," Gonzales-Torres added. In the new video from Justice Democrats, she also highlighted Gomez's record of taking money from other corporate interests.
"We're doing things differently. I am not taking a dime from AIPAC or any corporate PAC money," Gonzales-Torres said. "This is about standing up to corruption, calling out a genocide when we see one, and building a Los Angeles that we can afford, not just the wealthy or well-connected."
She also recalled her experience growing up in Los Angeles, including the deportation of her father when she was just 15. With her dad back in Mexico, Gonzales-Torres' mother worked as a waitress to support their daughters, and they spent time living in shelters and their car, according to The American Prospect.
"Experiencing family separation, economic insecurity, housing instability, and all of the trauma that comes with it has only made me more committed to fighting for my community, and for all of the Angelenos for whom that is a daily struggle, like it was for my family," she told the Prospect. "Los Angeles deserves better, and I'm determined to get it for us."
While Justice Democrats is accustomed to facing off against AIPAC—which last year backed successful primary challenges to two Squad members, former Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.)—the progressives group's endorsement in this race is notable because of some of the incumbent's positions.
Gomez is "far from a hard-line pro-Israel voice in Congress" and "hardly a moderate: The Eagle Rock resident has more in common with the Justice Democrats slate than many of the members they have previously tried to unseat," the Times reported, noting his support for the Green New Deal and Medicare for All, his speech at Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) Fighting Oligarchy event in Los Angeles, and Ocasio-Cortez's 2024 endorsement of him.
Justice Democrats spokesperson Usamah Andrabi pointed to the congressman's campaign cash.
"Jimmy Gomez got to Washington and closed the door on his community behind him to embrace the same corporate PACs and right-wing lobbies that are raising costs for Angelenos and demanding their tax dollars fund genocide," Andrabi told The Intercept. "In a city that has become ground zero for Donald Trump's war on immigrant families, Angelenos deserve a leader whose donors will never dictate how hard they fight back."
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'This Is What Fascism Looks Like': Beloved Labor Leader David Huerta Arrested
"This is about something much bigger," said the president of SEIU California, still in detention. "This is about how we as a community stand together and resist the injustice."
Jun 07, 2025
Unions and allies in California and across the United States on Saturday are demanding the immediate release of David Huerta, president of SEIU California and SEIU-United Service Workers West, after the highly regarded labor leader was injured and then arrested while witnessing a raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Friday.
"SEIU California members call for the immediate release of our President, David Huerta, who was injured and detained at the site of one of today's ICE raids in Los Angeles," said Tia Orr, executive director of SEIU California, in a statement.
"This isn't just an overreach—it's a nationwide pattern of suppression." —Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.)
In a later update, the union stated that Huerta—a veteran labor leader whose union represents over 45,000 janitors, airport workers, security guards, and other property service workers—had been released from the hospital, where he received treatment for injuries sustained during his arrest, but that he remained in custody.
The union included remarks from Huerta, who said, "We all collectively have to object to this madness because this is not justice. This is injustice."
"This is about something much bigger" than his arrest, said Huerta. "This is about how we as a community stand together and resist the injustice."
According to a statement released by the Department of Homeland Security, approximately 44 individuals were "administratively arrested" in a series of raids at retail stores in the Los Angeles area. In contrast, one individual, identified as Huerta, was arrested "for obstruction" of federal officers.
"This is what fascism looks like," said California State Senator Scott Wiener, a Democrat. "Secret police raids. Injuring protesters. Arresting labor leaders."
U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, the chief prosecutor in the Central District of California, claimed in a post on social media that "federal agents were executing a lawful judicial warrant at a LA worksite this morning when David Huerta deliberately obstructed their access by blocking their vehicle. He was arrested for interfering with federal officers and will face arraignment in federal court on Monday."
"Let me be clear: I don't care who you are—if you impede federal agents, you will be arrested and prosecuted," said Essayli. "No one has the right to assault, obstruct, or interfere with federal authorities carrying out their duties."
A video posted by Essayli alongside his statement appears to show the moment Huerta is pushed over by ICE agents amid a chaotic scene on a sidewalk where officers are clearing an area in front of a gate for an approaching van.
Federal agents were executing a lawful judicial warrant at a LA worksite this morning when David Huerta deliberately obstructed their access by blocking their vehicle. He was arrested for interfering with federal officers and will face arraignment in federal court on Monday. Let… pic.twitter.com/GIFD34LIcF
— U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) June 7, 2025
Separate footage from a different angle shows Huerta going down backward due to a forceful push by the officers and landing with his neck and head on a hard concrete curb:
"Today, SEIU-USWW President, my friend, and constituent David Huerta was thrown to the ground, tased, injured, and arrested for exercising his First Amendment right to observe and document law enforcement activity," said Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), who represents areas of Los Angeles. "This isn't just an overreach—it's a nationwide pattern of suppression. We must stand together."
California's Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom also weighed in. "David Huerta is a respected leader, a patriot, and an advocate for working people," said Newsom. "No one should ever be harmed for witnessing government action."
Outrage over Huerta's arrest and ongoing detention, both from the labor union movement and immigrant rights groups, continued to spread on Friday and into Saturday.
"We refuse to stay silent while ICE terrorizes working-class communities," said the California Federation of Labor Unions (CFLU). "We are turning out and standing united in solidarity with SEIU-California, calling on the release of SEIU President David Huerta!"
In a statement, CFLU president Lorena Gonzalez called for "an end to the cruel, destructive, and indiscriminate ICE raids that are tearing apart our communities, disrupting our economies, and hurting all working people. Immigrant workers are essential to our society—feeding our nation, caring for our elders, cleaning our workplaces, and building our homes."
In a post on social media, SEIU California said: "Let’s be clear: ICE injured and detained the president of SEIU California for peacefully observing. ICE picked the wrong side. The wrong state. The wrong person. And the wrong union. David Huerta stood up. And 750,000 SEIU workers are standing with him."
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Calls for Waltz's Resignation Grow Amid Report of At Least 20 Sensitive Signal Group Chats
"There must be accountability for this administration's dangerous disregard for our national security," said one Democratic congressman and former military prosecutor.
Apr 02, 2025
U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and members of his staff have created at least 20 group chats on the encrypted messaging app Signal to coordinate official work on sensitive policy issues around the world, four people who were added to such groups told Politico.
Waltz was already under fire for a group chat about the U.S. bombing Yemen when the report broke. Politico's Dasha Burns wrote on Wednesday that "none of the four individuals said they were aware of whether any classified information was shared, but all said that posts in group chats did include sensitive details of national security work."
The anonymous sources told Politico that the group chats involved policy issues involving China, Ukraine, Gaza, the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. One of them said, "It was commonplace to stand up chats on any given national security topic," one of the four sources told the outlet.
The Politico article comes a day after The Washington Post reported that Waltz and other members of President Donald Trump's National Security Council conducted official government business via their personal Gmail accounts, which are far less secure than Signal chats.
The fresh revelations also come as "Signalgate"—in which Waltz, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and other top Trump administration officials added a journalist to a Signal group chat about plans to bomb Yemen—still smolders.
Calls for Waltz's resignation or firing, which were already numerous in the wake of Signalgate, mounted Wednesday.
Resign.
[image or embed]
— Senator Ed Markey ( @markey.senate.gov) April 2, 2025 at 2:26 PM
"Waltz must resign. Hegseth must resign," Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said on the social media site Bluesky. "There must be accountability for this administration's dangerous disregard for our national security."
Referring to the Signal group chats, Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) asked on the social media site X, "How many more are there?"
"Even Trump allies say this doesn't pass the smell test," he added. "National Security Adviser Waltz and Pete Hegseth need to be fired."
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