A senior Homeland Security attorney wrote in an internal email last June that federal agents in Los Angeles "should have, when they brought the line in, just started hitting the rioters and arresting everyone that couldn't get away," according to documents released this week. The remark, buried in a government email chain, is now front and center for civil-liberties advocates and legal experts taking a fresh look at how the federal response to protests was framed inside the agency.
As reported by the Los Angeles Times, the message was sent by Joseph Mazzara on June 11, 2025, and was among materials the watchdog American Oversight obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. The thread, labeled "California DOD Lawsuit," included draft declarations and legal coordination defending the administration's move to federalize National Guard troops for operations in the city.
Court records describe tense clashes near federal sites
Public filings in Newsom v. Trump recount protesters throwing objects at ICE vehicles and attempting to use "large rolling commercial dumpsters as a battering ram" to breach a federal parking-garage gate, a June 19, 2025, 9th Circuit order states. The appeals court order was cited by the administration in defending the federalization decision and appears in the public record as detailed on Justia.
Watchdogs and lawyers say the tone crosses a line
Critics say the email does more than blow off steam, arguing that it reveals an aggressive posture toward demonstrators at the very moment the government was justifying a heavier federal role.
"They reveal a level of hostility toward protesters that is deeply at odds with the government’s obligation to protect civil liberties," American Oversight executive director Chioma Chukwu told the Los Angeles Times. Kerry Doyle, a former senior ICE lawyer, told the paper that Mazzara’s remark appears to "encourage constitutional violations" and could expose officers and the department to legal liability.
Mazzara's rise keeps the controversy alive
Mazzara was later elevated to a senior role at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a promotion that critics say makes his internal legal tone more than just a one-off email and potentially significant for how enforcement choices are made. Reporting in The Daily Beast has traced his rapid promotions and the wider personnel shakeup at DHS since last year.
What comes next
The emails surface in the middle of ongoing litigation and political battles over the federal role in local protests and are likely to fuel renewed oversight questions in Congress and from state officials. Local civil-rights groups say they will continue to push for fuller disclosure of internal records and for accountability from federal leaders whose guidance shapes what happens on the streets.
