Sniper Spotted Overseeing LA Protest Sparks Questions About Federal Response to Anti-Trump Demonstrations

An independent journalist’s high-zoom lens captured a startling moment during Thursday night’s protest in downtown Los Angeles—an armed, uniformed sniper positioned atop a federal building, rifle pointed into a crowd of demonstrators and members of the press.

Ford Fischer, co-founder of News2Share, posted the footage to X (formerly Twitter), where the video quickly ignited concern and speculation.

“POV: You’re filming some protests and you have a camera with 20X optical zoom,” Fischer posted alongside the now-viral footage.

The scene unfolded during another tense clash between law enforcement and far-left agitators protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) outside a federal building. Police declared the event an unlawful assembly, used less-lethal munitions for crowd control, and made arrests.

“Anti-ICE protesters gathered again outside the loading bay of a federal building in downtown LA on Thursday evening… Officers pushed into the crowd, firing a less lethal round and arresting at least one person,” Fischer reported.

Fischer’s subsequent footage zooms in on a rooftop sharpshooter.

“A man (not clear to me which agency) pointed a scoped rifle directly into the crowd of protesters and press as police threatened arrest,” he wrote.

The identity of the rifleman remains unconfirmed, though online users suggest he may be affiliated with the Department of Homeland Security’s Special Response Team.

“Pretty sure that patch is for Department Of Homeland Securities (Special Response Team),” one commenter noted. “They typically perform over watch duties on Federal Buildings in these type of situations.”

“Yeah. Dude is doing overwatch,” another user affirmed.

Fischer later posted that while rooftop personnel remained the following night, they were now using binoculars instead of rifle scopes.

“While new footage from Friday night does show snipers at the same location on the federal building in LA, they appear to now be using binoculars rather than rifle scopes to observe the crowd,” he clarified.

The protests, which have escalated into sporadic riots, erupted on June 6 after ICE agents conducted multiple deportation operations in Los Angeles. Left-wing activists quickly mobilized, accusing federal authorities of overreach and human rights abuses.

The protests are being organized in part by the so-called “No Kings” movement—a radical anti-Trump initiative spreading across major U.S. cities. Their rhetoric echoes the rhetoric of anarchist groups from past years, now rebranded with a more polished website and updated slogans.

“They’ve defied our courts, deported Americans, disappeared people off the streets, attacked our civil rights, and slashed our services,” reads the group’s website. “The corruption has gone too. far. No thrones. No crowns. No kings.”

President Donald J. Trump’s administration has remained firm in its position: enforcing immigration law is not only legal but essential to restoring order and sovereignty in cities that have long been overrun by leftist sanctuary policies and criminal noncompliance.

While critics attempt to frame this show of force as “tyrannical,” supporters of the President see it for what it truly is—law enforcement doing its job in the face of organized chaos.