In what may go down as one of the most surreal moments of media spin in modern protest coverage, a Los Angeles ABC 7 news anchor described a group of violent anti-ICE rioters as “just a bunch of people having fun watching cars burn” — a statement that instantly drew comparisons to the infamous “fiery but mostly peaceful” media refrains from the 2020 riots.
WATCH: ABC News wants you to know what is happening in California isn’t a violent riot.
It’s “just a bunch of people having fun watching cars burn.” — ABC 7’s Marc Brown. pic.twitter.com/xjiQZJyuDq
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) June 9, 2025
As fires raged across downtown Los Angeles, including five Waymo self-driving vehicles torched on live television, the anchor attempted to caution against law enforcement intervention. “It could turn very volatile if you move law enforcement in there in the wrong way,” he said, as flames roared behind him, “and turn what is just a bunch of people having fun watching cars burn into a massive confrontation.”
Let that sink in: “Having fun watching cars burn.”
This isn’t just poor phrasing. It’s a case study in narrative contortion, the latest in a long line of verbal gymnastics meant to launder destructive criminal activity into something vaguely justifiable—or worse, entertaining. As RedState’s Nick Arama put it, it’s “Mostly Peaceful Protester 2.0”—the sequel no one wanted.
“it’s just a bunch of people having fun watching cars burn.”
You don’t hate the media enough.
— Champagne Joshi (@JoshWalkos) June 9, 2025
And this time, the targets aren’t just buildings. Rioters have reportedly been calling in Waymos just to incinerate them, using tech infrastructure as props for anarchic spectacle. One vehicle exploded on live camera, just twenty minutes before the anchor made his now-viral remark. Viewers were left wondering whether the next step would be to describe arsonists as “urban pyrotechnics enthusiasts.”
Clowns. Irresponsible clowns.
It’s not even funny. Months of enabling violence and destruction by ignoring and downplaying it, thereby eliminating any pressure on politicians to take action. pic.twitter.com/sbehzKrhmE
— AG (@AGHamilton29) August 27, 2020
The anchor’s performance isn’t happening in a vacuum. It follows a troubling precedent set by major legacy media outlets during past waves of unrest. In 2020, CNN infamously aired a segment in front of a burning Kenosha business with the now-infamous chyron: “FIERY BUT MOSTLY PEACEFUL PROTESTS.” MSNBC’s Ali Velshi stood in front of flaming buildings in Minneapolis, claiming the protests were “not, generally speaking, unruly.”
This is Ali VelshI seconds ago on Brian Williams’s show, standing in front of a burning Minneapolis building and saying what you hear him say here, which might be the stupidest thing ever said on American television (and that includes the entirety of Rachel Maddow’s career.) pic.twitter.com/qU6Xn7Aw2D
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) May 29, 2020
Now, with dozens of structures damaged, government buildings tagged with graffiti, police headquarters windows shattered, and federal officers pelted with Molotov cocktails, we’re somehow supposed to accept that people are just “having fun”?
It’s not just a moral failure. It’s a journalistic one.
Here’s the unfiltered truth:
- Multiple buildings, including the LAPD Headquarters and the U.S. Courthouse, have been vandalized.
- At least five Waymo vehicles have been destroyed by fire.
- Law enforcement is being assaulted with rocks, bricks, and incendiary devices.
- And downtown LA has been declared an “unlawful assembly” zone due to the sheer scale of criminal activity.
This is not spontaneous. This is not harmless. And it’s certainly not “fun.” It’s orchestrated urban chaos, coordinated by activist networks, enabled by a media apparatus that too often seems more interested in protecting narratives than reporting facts.
The tally isn’t measured in burnt vehicles—it’s in credibility lost, public trust eroded, and communities left in fear. For every anchor who downplays the destruction, there are officers, residents, and business owners cleaning up the literal ash.
