"Make Rooftop Koreans Great Again": Trump Jr. Praises Korean Vigilantes to Justify Crackdown
Trump Vows to Maintain Hardline Response Until Protests End
As protests against the Trump administration's crackdown on undocumented immigrants intensify in Los Angeles, California, Donald Trump's eldest son has sparked controversy by posting a photo of armed Koreans from the 1992 LA Riots. The move is seen as an attempt to justify President Trump's decision to deploy the National Guard and to emphasize the legitimacy of the administration's hardline response.
A post by Donald Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., on X (formerly Twitter) on the 9th. Screenshot from Donald Trump Jr.'s X (formerly Twitter).
On the 9th, Donald Trump Jr. posted a photo on X (formerly Twitter) with the caption, "Make Rooftop Koreans Great Again!" The photo shows a man, presumed to be Korean, holding a firearm on a rooftop during the 1992 LA Riots. At the top of the image, there is a phrase implying that "the riots stopped when Koreans took to the rooftops."
In 1992, protests against violent police actions against Black individuals in LA escalated into riots, which severely affected the Korean community. As enraged rioters looted Koreatown, turning the area into what resembled a war zone, Koreans formed vigilante groups in response. They armed themselves and took positions on rooftops to protect Korean businesses and their community. Since then, they have been referred to in the United States as "Rooftop Koreans."
Trump Jr.'s post is interpreted as an attempt to justify his father Donald Trump's labeling of the protests in LA against federal immigration enforcement as "riots," and to emphasize the legitimacy of the administration's hardline crackdown.
However, there has been criticism that comparing the current protests to the 1992 riots is inappropriate, and the post has faced backlash.
The New York Times (NYT) pointed out, "Some Republican supporters compare President Trump's deployment of the National Guard to the dispatch of soldiers and Marines to LA after the 1992 riots, but the situations are entirely different." The NYT added, "The 2025 protests are very minor compared to the widespread upheaval and violence of 1992," and noted, "Protesters in 2025 mainly directed their anger at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, not at other residents."
Critical responses to Trump Jr.'s post included comments such as, "Koreans are just one of the immigrant groups Trump wants to deport," and "It is absurd to deploy soldiers to suppress protests against immigration enforcement while simultaneously targeting immigrants."
Meanwhile, the large-scale protests in LA, sparked by ICE's crackdown on undocumented immigrants, are escalating as President Trump has ordered the deployment of the National Guard. President Trump warned that he would maintain a hardline response until the protests end, claiming that "LA has been taken over by undocumented immigrants and criminals."
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