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Law enforcement officials would also be required to be identifiable by uniform carrying their name

Local, state, and federal law enforcement officers who cover their faces while conducting official business could face a misdemeanor inCaliforniaunder a new proposal announced Monday.

The bill would require all law enforcement officials show their faces and be identifiable by their uniform, which should carry their name or other identifier. It would not apply to the national guard or other troops and it exempts Swat teams and officers responding to natural disasters.

Scott Wiener, a Democratic state senator representing San Francisco, and Jesse Arreguin, a Democratic state senator representing Berkeley and Oakland, said the proposal seeks to boost transparency and public trust in law enforcement.

“We are seeing more and more law enforcement officers, particularly at the federal level, covering their faces entirely, not identifying themselves at all and, at times, even wearing army fatigues where we can’t tell if these are law enforcement officers or a vigilante militia,” Wiener said.

“They are grabbing people off our streets and disappearing people, and it’s terrifying,” he added.

The state senators said that in recent months, federal officers have conducted raids while covering their faces, and at times their badges and names, at churches, restaurants, hardware stores and schools in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Concord, Downey and Montebello.

“Law enforcement officers are public servants and people should be able to see their faces, see who they are, know who they are. Otherwise, there is no transparency and no accountability,” Wiener said.

Some videos of raids showing masked officers using unmarked vehicles and grabbing people off the streets have circulated on social media in recent weeks.

On Wednesday, a group of masked and armed mendetained a Latino manin a church parking lot in Downey, a small, largely Latino suburb near Los Angeles.

The senior pastor of the church, Rev Tanya Lopez,described the incidentand said the men did not identify what agency they worked for and refused to provide their names or badge numbers when asked. Lopez attempted to speak to the man, who only spoke Spanish, but one of the men turned a rifle on her.

“Who knows if this man is a citizen? They were not letting him answer any questions or provide any identification,” Lopez latertold reporters. “They surrounded him and started to just get ready to grab him. And that’s why I could not just stand idly by.”

Federal judge dismissed lawsuit brought by faculty groups over government cuts to Columbia University funding

TheTrump administrationscored its most significant legal victory in its sweeping effort to reshape American higher education when a federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit brought by faculty groups over the government’s cuts to Columbia University’s federal funding.

The lawsuit concerned the Trump administration’s cuts to $400m worth of federal funding to Columbia on the grounds it tolerated antisemitism during pro-Palestinian protests on campus. Columbia largely accepted the government’s terms for restoring funding – in anagreementwidely panned as a capitulation of its own academic freedom – several days before the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) sued the Trump administration over the cuts.

The judge in the case, Mary Kay Vyskocil of the southern district of New York, ruled that the faculty unions had no “standing” to bring the suit and had not clearly indicated how the administration had broken the law.

“It is not the role of a district court judge to direct the policies of the Executive Branch first and ask questions later,” the judge, a Trump appointee, wrote in her 30-pageruling. “Plaintiffs have not established their standing to litigate this case, let alone any violation of any law.” She seemed to accept the government’s prerogative to withhold funding and its argument that Columbia had enabled antisemitism to fester on campus. She also noted that Columbia had remained “conspicuously absent” from the case.

The university did not immediately respond to a request for comment. That funding has not yet been restored though the education secretary Linda McMahon recently said that Columbia had “made great progress” and that the administration was considering a consent decree with the university.

The administration has also cut billions in funding to several other universities, warning dozens more that it is investigating them over alleged antisemitism on campuses. So far, Harvard, which has lost more than $3bn in federal funding, is the only university to sue the administration in two separate lawsuits, one overfunding cutsand another against the administration’s ban on Harvard’s ability to enroll international students. On Monday, a federal judge in Massachusetts extended atemporary blockon the administration’s order concerning Harvard’s foreign students.

The AAUP has filed three other lawsuits against the Trump administration – over its ban ondiversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, theattempted deportationof pro-Palestinian students and funding cuts at Harvard. The group has vowed to fight on.

“This is a disappointing ruling, but by no means the end of the fight,” Todd Wolfson, the AAUP president said. “The Trump administration’s threats and coercion atColumbia Universityare part of an authoritarian agenda that extends far beyond Columbia. Ultimately, lifesaving research, basic civil liberties and higher education in communities across the country are all on the line. Faculty, students, and the American public will not stand for it. We will continue to fight back.”

Protect Democracy, the group representing the AAUP and AFT said they would appeal Monday’s ruling and vowed to “continue to fight to stop the administration from using public funding as a cudgel to consolidate power over higher education”, they wrote in a statement.

“This is a deeply problematic decision that ignores what this is all about – a government attempt to punish a university over student protests that galvanized a national movement in opposition to Israel’s genocide in Gaza,” said Radhika Sainath, senior managing attorney at Palestine Legal, a group advocating for pro-Palestinian voices on US campuses which had filed a brief in support of the AAUP’s lawsuit.

“The court uncritically takes the government’s line for granted, that speech activity critical of Israel is inherently anti-Jewish – though Jewish students and professors make up a large percentage of those speaking up for Palestinian human rights.”

Salvador Plasencia, who gave Friends star the drug in month leading to overdose, to plead guilty to four counts

A doctor charged with givingMatthew Perryketamine in the month leading up to the Friends star’s overdose death has agreed to plead guilty, authorities said Monday.

Dr Salvador Plasencia has agreed to plead guilty to four counts of distribution of ketamine, federal prosecutors said in a statement. They said the plea carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, and Plasencia is expected to enter the plea in the coming weeks.

Plasencia and a woman accused of being a ketamine dealer had been the primary targets of the prosecution, after three other defendants, including another doctor, agreed to plead guilty in exchange for their cooperation.

Plasencia had been scheduled to start trial in August. An email to his attorney seeking comment was not immediately answered.

Perry was found dead by his assistant on 28 October 2023. The medical examiner ruled that ketamine was the primary cause of death. The actor had been using the drug through his regular doctor in a legal but off-label treatment for depression that has become increasingly common.

Perry, 54, began seeking more ketamine than his doctor would give him. About a month before the actor’s death, he found Plasencia, a doctor who in turn allegedly asked the other doctor, Mark Chavez, to obtain the drug for him, according to court filings in the Chavez case.

“I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Plasencia texted Chavez, according to court filings from prosecutors. The two met up the same day in Costa Mesa, halfway between Santa Monica,California, where Plasencia practiced and San Diego, where Chavez practiced, and exchanged at least four vials of ketamine, the filings said.

After selling the drugs to Perry for $4,500, Plasencia allegedly asked Chavez if he could keep supplying them so they could become Perry’s “go-to”, prosecutors said.

While Plasencia is accused of supplying the bulk of Perry’s ketamine in his final weeks, another defendant, Jasmine Sangha, who prosecutors allege was a major ketamine dealer, is alleged to have provided the dose that killed the actor. She is also scheduled to go to trial in August. She has pleaded not guilty – making her the only one of five people charged in Perry’s death who has not entered a plea agreement.

Perry struggled with addiction for years, dating back to his time onFriends, when he became one of the biggest stars of his generation as Chandler Bing. He starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004 on NBC’s megahit.

Officers arrest people at swap meet in Santa Fe and detain people in Montebello as curfew in LA remains in place

US immigration raids continued to target southern California communities in recent days, including at a popular flea market and in a Los Angeles suburb where US citizens were detained.

On Saturday, as mass protests swept the nation, includingtens of thousandsdemonstrating in LA, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents descended on aswap meet in Santa Fe Springsin southeast LA county. Videoshoweddozens of heavily armed, masked officers carrying out the raid before a scheduled concert at the long-runningeventthat features vendors, food and entertainment every weekend

Witnessestoldthe Los Angeles Times that agents appeared to be going after people who “looked Hispanic in any way”, sparking widespread fear.

A US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson said on Monday that it arrested two people at the swap meet who are now facing deportation.

The crowd at the swap meet largelyclearedout before a scheduled 5.30pm concert, which was ultimatelycanceled, leaving the site unusually empty for a spring Saturday. Another witnesstold ABC7agents were asking attendees where they were from: “I told them I was from the United States, and then they proceeded to walk away, and they took a picture of me … I took it as a personal threat.”

The swap meet arrests came at the end of more than a week of sustained raids and Ice activity in the region that have targetedday laborers outside Home Depot,car washers,warehouse workers, people outside churches and other residents in public spaces. The raids have continued as Donald Trump has sent the national guard and marines to LA to respond to protests, despite the objections of California leaders, who havesued to stop a deploymentthey deem unconstitutional.

Also over the weekend, videoemergedof immigration actions in Montebello, a suburb east of the city of LA. Last Thursday, armed border patrol agents, who drove in an unmarked car, ended up detaining Jason Brian Gavidia and pressing him against a fence by an auto body shop he runs, the New York Timesreported.

An agent interrogated Gavidia, a US citizen, asking, “What hospital were you born at?” Gavidia, 29, was born down the street, and video shows agents twisting his arm, as he said, “I’m American! … I’ll show you my ID. I was born here.” A witness filming the encounter is heard saying: “Literally based off skin color.”

Gavidia was released, but Javier Ramirez, another US citizen who is Gadivia’s friend and coworker, was detained by two agents, forced facedown on the ground and taken to federal detention, where he has remained in custody, the New York Times reported.

Salvador Melendez, the mayor of Montebello, acitythat is 79% Latino, told the Guardian on Monday that the videos and reports of Ice in his community had caused widespread anxiety.

“This is racial profiling. They’re stopping folks because of the way they look,” said Melendez. “Ice agents are terrorizing our community. They are taking actions and asking questions later. There is absolutely no due process.”

Ice agents were spotted in a small area of Montebello, the mayor said. “But psychologically, they are already in our whole city. People are not going to work, not going out, not going to school. People don’t want to ride the bus. It’s extremely unfair … seeing Ice agents come in with these big guns, it almost feels like a war zone. They’re militarized to apprehend folks and they rough up our people.”

After millions protested Trump in national “No Kings” demonstrations, the president pledged Sunday toescalate Ice raids in Democratic-run cities, including LA, Chicago and New York.

“Folks have to stay vigilant, we have to look out for one another. If you see something, alert your neighbors,” said Melendez. “It’s beautiful to see people coming together, helping their neighbors and rallying against this … This is not normal and we have to be outspoken.”

Immigrant rights’ lawyers have said that people detained in the raids have disappeared or had little contact with theirattorneys or families. Amid the crackdown, residents across the region have increasinglygone into hiding, turning typically lively immigrant hubs desolate.

DHS and border patrol did not respond to inquiries about the detentions in Montebello, but Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary, said in a press release Monday: “DHS targets have nothing to do with an individuals’ skin color. What makes someone a target is if they are in the United States illegally.”

A spokesperson added in a statement to the Guardian: “DHS and its components continue to enforce the law every day in greaterLos Angelesand throughout the country … DHS agencies will not be deterred from the completion of our mission.”

The Los Angeles mayor, Karen Bass, has continued to keep a curfew in place for the downtown neighborhood that has been at the center of protests, but some activities in the center of the city have resumed, includingtheatrical performances. And while the national guard remains deployed, as the courts consider California’s objections, many areas in the LA region were functioning relatively normally, with little sign of the protests and the aggressive federal response.

But signs of the immigration crackdown are still being felt across the city. In LA’s Koreatown, a dense immigrant neighborhood, street vendors have been staying home out of fear of raids, causing significant financial hardships, said Andreina Kniss, an organizer with Ktown for All, a mutual aid group. Volunteers identified more than 60 families of vendors out of work andfundraisedmore than $50,000 for them, she said. The group had distributed funds to 36 families covering a month of expenses, as of Monday morning, allowing vulnerable workers to stay home.

“We felt like we couldn’t stand around and watch them have to make the choice between being kidnapped and paying their bills,” she said. “The city is being held hostage economically, and it’s not going to end until these Ice raids end.”

She hoped to see mutual aid efforts expand: “The $2,000 you raise for a family might prevent a family separation. It can change people’s lives. We’re just normal neighbors who care about neighbors.”