In Los Angeles (LA), U.S., protests against the crackdown on illegal immigrants have continued for several days, and the LA Korean Association criticized Donald Trump Jr. on the 9th (local time) for posting a photo of a Korean American militia during the 1992 LA riots, calling it "inappropriate behavior."
The LA Korean Association pointed out in a statement released that day, "Amid ongoing unrest in LA, Donald Trump Jr. demonstrated recklessness by referring to 'rooftop Koreans' from the 33 years ago LA riots and posting mocking content on X regarding the current turmoil."
The LA Korean Association continued, "As the son of the current president and an influencer with about 15 million followers, his behavior could pose an immense risk during these delicate times."
They emphasized, "We strongly urge that the traumas of Koreans should never, under any circumstances, be exploited for any purpose."
Donald Trump Jr. posted a photo of a man who appeared to be Korean during the previous day's riot on X (formerly Twitter), writing, "Make Rooftop Koreans Great Again!"
During the LA riots that broke out in 1992, Koreans were targeted by rioters and suffered from looting and arson. As the police failed to respond adequately to the riot triggered by the Rodney King incident, Korean business owners took up arms to protect themselves.
They formed a militia armed with firearms to defend Koreatown and were referred to as 'rooftop Koreans' by locals. First-generation immigrants utilized their military service experience to establish defensive formations and concentrated firepower on the rooftops of buildings.
Despite these efforts, Koreatown sustained significant damages amounting to 400 million dollars (approximately 540 billion won) out of the total damages of 1 billion dollars incurred across LA. It is assessed that the damages would have been greater had it not been for the self-defense efforts of Koreans.
Experts interpret that Trump Jr.'s post of the Korean militia's photos aims to invoke the lawlessness of the LA riots 33 years ago to advocate for a strong response utilizing firearms.
However, major media outlets such as The New York Times (NYT) pointed out that the ongoing protests against the crackdown on illegal immigration and the 1992 LA riots are of significantly different levels of chaos and crisis, making them incomparable.
Currently, sporadic clashes are occurring locally in LA. In contrast, in 1992, the situation was severe enough to result in 58 deaths across lawless LA.
California Governor Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass are both strongly opposing President Trump's deployment of military forces, arguing that deploying the National Guard would only provoke the protesters further and worsen the situation.