Los Angeles protests were inflated by influencers and creators online
As the protests in Los Angeles against the Trump administration extended until their fifth day on Tuesday, the number of social media outlets sometimes exceeded the traditional journalism corpus of the gatherings and played a major role in the media’s participation in what happened on the ground.
They were equipped with their temporary helmets and jackets, and many creators – many of whom are conservative – broadcast full days of coverage and published on social platforms such as X and broadcast sites such as Twitch and YouTube. During some of the most violent moments of the week, such as Trump officials such as Stephen Miller and billionaires such as Elon Musk to choose to Elaborate What the creators published, causing viral walk and narration feeding that violence was out of control.
President Trump said that the governor of the state, Gavin News, from California and others, had not controlled the protests, and called for the intervention of the National Guard forces. Mr. Newsom said that the forces were not necessary and made a proposal in emergency situations to prevent the Trump administration from sending the forces. Officials said at least 150 protesters have been arrested since Friday.
Among the creators in the protests, Kam Higbi, 25, was a journalist and a political commentator for the conservative digital outlet Today America. He flew to Los Angeles from his home in Washington on Friday after seeing videos of the demonstrations on X.
On Monday night, he was subjected to the front lines of the protests alongside a creator and another online friend, Aldou Boutezone, 25. Mr. Higbi and Mr. Botazoni previously worked at Media Outlet Prager U and Brand themselves “America first”. Many of its content comes in the form of refutation for Democratic officials such as the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass or Mr. New No.
The publications of Mr. Highby, which collected millions of views in recent days, are cleansed the line between reports and advocacy. Sometimes he publishes video updates about police movements, and sometimes he repeats Mr. Trump’s statements on howYou do not need the National Guard“In attempts to calm anger.
“I would like to call her duplication: I am preparing reports on the ground, and also commented on the issues,” said Mr. Higbi.
With a limited number of correspondents in Los Angeles, Fox News took advantage of Mr. Highby and MR. Buttazoni for unpaid TV manifestations during the weekend, and cut them to live updates.
The liberal demonstrators who confessed to Mr. Higbi and Mr. Boutezone, publicly photographed, and in the end, Mr. Botazoni took off any identity badges in his name from his clothes. Mr. Highby said he had received “reliable threats” on social media, which he paid for $ 3,000 to employ personal guards.
Left inclinations such as Twist Streamer Hasan Piker, 33, also informed the gatherings in Los Angeles, although it appears to be smaller numbers. Mr. Baker Twitch Stream on Monday From the same Los Angeles protest that Mr. Higbi attended it that lasted eight hours and received 1.4 million views.
Andrew Kalhan, a journalist in Los Angeles and the creator of the media company, 5 News channel, which also covered the protests, said that the market for videos of protest and riots was born during Black Lives Matter demonstrations for 2020. But it has ever exploded, with some right -wing creators who use the “independent” brand even though they are Partisan.
“They have no president, so they can say they are independent, but they are following the same incentives structures, such as the conservative institution,” Mr. Calhan said in an interview. “Click the taste, the main tires that do not reflect the reality of the situation, and do everything they can to accommodate the audience who will see the same programming on Fox News.”