Local Democrats Saturday condemned the Trump administration’s overnight attack on Iran, calling it an illegal action taken without authorization from Congress, while Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said police would be providing extra security at local places of worship and other sensitive areas of the city.
“We are closely monitoring for any threats to Los Angeles’ public safety amid military action in the Middle East,” Bass said in a statement. “While there are no known credible threats at this time, LAPD has stepped up patrols near places of worship, community spaces, and other areas of the city, and we will remain vigilant in protecting our city.
“We understand that many Angelenos are affected and deeply concerned, and encourage everyone to voice their views in a peaceful way.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said state officials were also monitoring the situation.
“California is closely monitoring the evolving situation in Iran and the surrounding region. Our homeland security and emergency management teams are working with federal partners to prepare for any impacts here at home,” the governor’s office said. “The State Threat Assessment Center is actively coordinating with local law enforcement partners. There is no specific or credible threat to California at this time, and we remain fully prepared and vigilant.”
The U.S. military, with support from Israel, carried out large-scale strikes on targets within Iran early Saturday, hitting the capital city of Tehran the hardest but also striking several other cities.
Iranian officials said one strike killed dozens of people at a girls school.
Iran launched a counteroffensive, attacking Israel and U.S. military bases located in allied Arab nations across the region, including in the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq and Jordan.
Many of the missiles launched at Israel were intercepted by that country’s air defense system.
“The United States military is undertaking a massive and ongoing operation to prevent this very wicked, radical dictatorship from threatening America and our core national security interests,” President Donald Trump said in a message to the nation on Saturday. “We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground.”
The president accused Iran of attempting to rebuild its nuclear program after the U.S. carried out a massive attack on it last summer that Trump said at the time had left the program “completely and totally obliterated.”
“The Iranian regime seeks to kill. The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties. That often happens in war, but we’re doing this not for now. We’re doing this for the future, and it is a noble mission,” Trump said Saturday.
In his speech, Trump recited several episodes from decades ago, including the 1979 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in which 52 U.S. hostages were held for more than a year, the 1983 bombing of a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut that killed 241 U.S. troops, which Trump blamed on Iran’s `proxies,” the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole that killed 17 sailors, which Trump said Iran “knew (about) and were probably involved with,” and the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, which Trump also characterized as a proxy attack directed by Iran.
“For 47 years the Iranian regime has chanted `Death to America’ and waged an unending campaign of bloodshed and murder, targeting the United States, our troops and the innocent people in many, many countries,” he said.
“It’s been mass terror, and we’re not going to put up with it anymore.”
Trump also called on the Iranian people to rise up and confront their government after the bombing stopped.
The United Nations Security Council called a meeting for Saturday to address the situation.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said House Democrats plan to force a vote soon on limiting Trump’s war powers in Iran.
Some members of the Southland’s Democratic congressional delegation were quick to protest the attack.
“The self-proclaimed `Peace President’ just dragged the United States back into war in the Middle East. Despite rising inflation, ongoing nationwide job losses, and mounting questions about his health, Trump is launching a war against Iran without authorization from Congress and approval from the American people,” said Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Los Angeles. “This reckless decision risks further destabilizing a region still reeling from the aftermath of a brutal two-year war and jeopardizes the lives of 40,000 Americans and countless civilians across the region.
“Let me be clear: the Iranian regime is among the world’s worst human rights abusers. I unequivocally support the people of Iran in their fight for freedom and democracy. But Trump acting alone, without a clear motivation or sustained day-after plan, risks causing even greater harm to both them and to us.
If the administration came to Congress with a comprehensive strategy to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to support the Iranian people, many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle would be ready to listen,” she continued. “Instead, the president has offered no evidence of an imminent threat, no accounting of the potential costs, and has once again gone rogue — leaving Congress and the American people in the dark.”
Kamlager-Dove is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
“Saturday is a sad and dangerous day for the men and women of our military and their families, as the president starts another potential war in the Middle East with Iran,” said Rep. Nanette Barragan, D-San Pedro. “Given the severity of the president’s actions, which I believe ignores and tramples on the Constitution, the Speaker should immediately call on Congress to return to Washington to debate and vote on the matter.”
Rep. Gil Cisneros, D-Covina, said the president “cannot circumvent the Constitution and wage war without the approval of Congress. Iran is a bad actor and oppressive state that has suppressed its people and supported terrorism around the world. However, our military forces do not belong to the president to use on a whim, or because he doesn’t agree with the pace of negotiations. This is not about defending the nation. This is the president being reckless. Donald Trump’s actions have put military forces at risk and made us less safe.”