A large “No Kings” protest in downtown Los Angeles escalated Saturday as demonstrators vandalized a federal building with threats against ICE agents, clashed with law enforcement, and sparked multiple arrests. Early in the afternoon, Leftist radicals vandalized a federal building in Los Angeles on Saturday, scrawling the message “Kill your local ICE agent” alongside two crosshairs as thousands flooded downtown for a “No Kings” protest. DIRECT THREAT: An agitator spray-paints “kill your local ICE agent” on the side of a federal building in Los Angeles as thousands marched through the city’s downtown for the “No Kings” protest. pic.twitter.com/oYw1tTLHDU — Fox News (@FoxNews) March 29, 2026 The threatening graffiti came amid a day of demonstrations that drew tens of thousands into the city’s streets, with organizers estimating attendance as high as 50,000 at a rally held at Gloria Molina Grand Park outside City Hall. The Los Angeles Police Department placed the city on tactical alert around 5:30 local time and issued a dispersal order, warning demonstrators to leave the area near Alameda Street or face arrest. When multiple individuals refused to comply, officers began taking people into custody 30 minutes later. Federal officials also reported violence directed at law enforcement. U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said federal agents had “started arresting those who assaulted our personnel at the Los Angeles courthouse,” warning that suspects who hurled projectiles at officers had been captured on video.

ABC News anchor Jonathan Karl referenced Sun Tzu and ‘The Art of War’ as he struggled on Sunday to piece together a cohesive strategy from President Donald Trump’s statements regarding his potential next moves in Iran. Karl, on Sunday’s broadcast of “This Week,” presented a number of seemingly-conflicting statements and movements, saying that at times it was impossible to tell whether the Trump administration was planning to bring Operation Epic Fury to an end or further escalate the military action against the Iranian regime. WATCH: “Listening to President Trump’s words at any given moment, it sounds like the war is about to end — or it’s about to intensify.” One month into the war with Iran, @JonKarl breaks down Trump’s often conflicting statements about the war’s developments.https://t.co/LMawxMOHLc pic.twitter.com/XuToAZZKLy — This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 29, 2026 “In ‘The Art of War,’ Sun Tzu wrote that a leader’s plans must be as dark and impenetrable as night,” Karl began, saying that Trump might not be basing his strategy on Sun Tzu but his plans were certainly difficult to pin down. Karl highlighted the conflicting statements about developments in Iran, saying that Trump spent half the time talking about how many objectives had already been achieved — some, as he’s said on several occasions, ahead of schedule — while quietly moving to build up troops in the area, and perhaps signaling a coming escalation. “Just consider his words over the past ten days,” Karl said. “On March 20th, he declared that he was ‘close to meeting his military objective and considering winding down our military efforts in the Middle East.’ The very next day he announced a major escalation, threatening to ‘hit and obliterate’ Iranian power infrastructure if the regime did not fully open the Strait of Hormuz.” Just days later, Karl noted, Trump had announced that he’d been having “productive” conversations with officials regarding bringing hostilities to a close – but then extended the deadline more than once. “Listening to President Trump’s words at any given moment, it sounds like the war is about to end — or it’s about to intensify,” Karl remarked. Since the beginning of Operation Epic Fury, Trump and a number of his surrogates — including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and War Secretary Pete Hegseth have repeatedly made it clear that they would not, at least publicly, remove any military or diplomatic options from the table. That in conjunction with Trump’s apparently-conflicting statements and actions suggest that he has, in fact, taken “The Art of War” to heart.

Former acting ICE Director and current White House Border Czar Tom Homan blasted congressional Democrats over the ongoing Department of Homeland Security funding standoff, accusing lawmakers of trying to strong-arm policy changes by withholding funding. Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Homan said the dispute is not about budgetary constraints, but about efforts to curb immigration enforcement. WATCH: “President Trump wants the entire @DHSgov funded,” says @RealTomHoman. “They’re holding the department hostage because they don’t like what ICE is doing — and ICE is enforcing laws they enacted.” pic.twitter.com/bMDcSIJ7IB — Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 29, 2026 “President Donald Trump wants the entire Department of Homeland Security funded. He wants the government open and funded,” Homan said. “But the bottom line is they want changes in ICE tactics. They want changes in policy.” Homan argued that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is simply carrying out laws that have remained consistent across multiple administrations. “The same laws ICE follows today have been in place during the Clinton, Obama [administrations], and now,” he said. “The law hasn’t changed.” According to Homan, lawmakers are privately pushing to limit arrests rather than openly advocating for abolishing ICE. “They can say they don’t want to abolish ICE — I’m in the room,” he said. “They want to change operations so we arrest fewer people.” The remarks come as Congress remains locked in a dispute over DHS funding, with negotiations increasingly tied to immigration enforcement demands. Some lawmakers have pushed for additional oversight measures and operational restrictions, including expanded use of body cameras and clearer guidelines around enforcement locations. Homan noted that ICE has already engaged in discussions on some of those issues, including funding for body cameras, which he said has been allocated at roughly $120 million. But he rejected claims that agents are routinely targeting sensitive locations such as churches or hospitals. “They can’t point to a single instance—not one—where we’ve arrested anybody in a church or inside of a hospital,” Homan said. “We already practice discretion. We don’t do operations there unless there’s a significant national security threat.” He added that while discussions over enforcement practices could continue, they should not come at the expense of funding the department. “Why can’t these discussions continue while we keep the Department of Homeland Security open?” Homan said. “They’re holding the department hostage because they don’t like what ICE is doing.” At the center of the dispute is a fundamental divide between the House and Senate over whether immigration enforcement agencies should be fully funded. The Senate passed a bipartisan measure to reopen most of DHS but excluded funding for ICE and parts of Customs and Border Protection, an approach backed by Democrats but rejected by House Republicans.  House Republicans instead pushed a short-term funding bill that includes full funding for ICE, arguing that enforcement agencies should not be carved out of appropriations. That measure passed narrowly but faces strong opposition in the Senate, prolonging the stalemate.  The deadlock has had tangible consequences across the country. Tens of thousands of DHS employees, particularly Transportation Security Administration workers, have gone without pay for weeks, leading to staffing shortages, airport delays, and mounting pressure on the administration to act.  President Trump has attempted to mitigate the fallout by signing an emergency order to ensure TSA agents receive pay, which Homan later said during the interview “There is a plan to get these TSA agents paid, hopefully by tomorrow or Tuesday,” but many other DHS functions remain affected as lawmakers continue to clash over immigration policy and enforcement reforms.  Democrats have insisted that any long-term funding deal must include new restrictions or oversight on ICE operations, while Republicans argue that such demands amount to undermining existing law enforcement authority, mirroring the criticism Homan leveled in his interview. Homan framed the dispute as a fundamental separation-of-powers issue, arguing that Congress should change the law if it disagrees with enforcement outcomes. “If they don’t like what ICE is doing, then change the law,” he said. “That’s their job.” As negotiations continue, the standoff underscores a broader clash in Washington over immigration enforcement, one that is increasingly spilling into funding battles with real consequences for federal agencies and the everyday Americans they employ.

Late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel defended his jabs at newly-sworn-in Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, saying that his intent had not been to insult plumbers, only to say that he didn’t believe Mullin was qualified to hold his current post. Kimmel began by blaming President Donald Trump for the the backlash he’d received, noting that Trump had complained about him while “The Five” on Fox News earlier that day. “[The president’s] apple polishers are all in a tizzy because I made light of the fact that his new head of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, before he was a senator, was a plumber,” Kimmel said, and then he doubled down. “And now he’s the head of Homeland Security. Which is not necessarily the kind of resume you might hope for, for the person in charge of protecting us from terrorism.” WATCH: Jimmy Kimmel tried to clean up his comments about Markwayne Mullin being a former plumber, but he tried to have it both ways. First he doubled down ignoring Mullin’s management experience with his plumbing company “[Trump’s] apple polishers are all in a tizzy because I made light… pic.twitter.com/3zqd1AG6r9 — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) March 27, 2026 “Listen, let me make this very clear: I’m not upset that the head of homeland security used to be a plumber,” Kimmel said on Thursday’s broadcast. “I’m upset that he isn’t still a plumber.” “Of course [conservatives] decided to twist that to say it was an insult to plumbers, which it was not,” Kimmel continued, saying that he had meant to draw attention to Mullin’s qualifications. “I wouldn’t put a plumber in charge of homeland security for the same reason I wouldn’t call a five-star general to pull a rat out of my toilet … We all have our areas of expertise.” Kimmel went even further, suggesting that what he was doing was no different from those who were critical of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez — who previously worked as a bartender — and suggested that she was more qualified to serve drinks than to serve in Congress. “Well, on behalf of bartenders everywhere, we anxiously await your apology,” he said. What Kimmel left out — both in his initial comments about Mullin and the follow up — was that Mullin went to work at his family’s plumbing business at just 20 years old, leaving college to take over due to his father’s illness. He proceeded to take the small family business and expand it to a multi-million dollar enterprise.

Israeli police prevented senior Catholic leaders from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday, marking what church authorities say is the first time in centuries that the site’s top clerics were barred from celebrating one of Christianity’s most sacred observances. According to a joint statement from the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Custody of the Holy Land, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and Father Francesco Ielpo, the Custos of the Holy Land and official guardian of the church, were stopped en route to the church and turned back by police. The two clerics were traveling privately and “without any characteristics of a procession or ceremonial act,” the statement said, yet were still denied entry to the site where they were scheduled to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass. “For the first time in centuries, the Heads of the Church were prevented from celebrating the Palm Sunday Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,” the statement noted, calling the incident “a grave precedent” that disregards “the sensibilities of billions of people around the world.” Church authorities emphasized that they had complied with all restrictions imposed since the start of the war, including canceling public gatherings and arranging for services to be broadcast remotely to the faithful worldwide. “Preventing the entry of the Cardinal and the Custos … constitutes a manifestly unreasonable and grossly disproportionate measure,” the statement said, adding that the decision represented “an extreme departure from basic principles of reasonableness, freedom of worship, and respect for the Status Quo.” The Patriarchate and Custody expressed “profound sorrow” that prayer on one of the most sacred days of the Christian calendar had been prevented in Christianity’s holiest site. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani publicly condemned the move, expressing “heartfelt solidarity” with the Patriarch and Custos — both Italian nationals — and calling the decision “unacceptable.” “For the first time, the Israeli police denied the leaders of the Catholic Church the possibility of celebrating Palm Sunday Mass in one of the holiest places for millions of believers around the world,” Tajani wrote, adding that Italy had summoned the Israeli ambassador to lodge a formal protest and reaffirm its commitment to defending religious freedom. Israeli authorities, however, pointed to ongoing wartime conditions and security concerns as justification for the restrictions. In a statement obtained by former Israeli spokesman Eylon Levy, police said that all holy sites, including the temple mount and Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City have been closed in accordance with Home Front Command guidelines amid the ongoing conflict. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, police said, lacks adequate protected space, and recently Iranian missile shrapnel has landed nearby. They also cited the difficulty of navigating emergency vehicles through the Old City’s narrow alleyways in the event of a mass casualty incident. According to the statement, Cardinal Pizzaballa had requested an exception to the restrictions, which authorities declined after explaining the security concerns. “‘Freedom of worship will continue to be upheld, subject to necessary restrictions,’” the police statement read, adding that Israel’s top priority remains “protecting human life.”  Israeli government officials, for their part, have pointed squarely to escalating security threats as the driving force behind the decision. In a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office’s official X account, the government said that “over the past several days, Iran has repeatedly targeted the holy sites of all three monotheistic religions in Jerusalem with ballistic missiles,” underscoring the severity of the situation unfolding in the Old City. The statement noted again that in at least one recent strike, missile fragments landed just meters from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre itself, an incident Israeli officials cited as evidence that even the most sacred sites are no longer insulated from the widening conflict. “As a result, Israel has temporarily asked worshippers from all faiths not to worship at the holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City to protect them,” the Prime Minister’s Office said, framing the restrictions as a blanket security measure rather than one targeting any single religion or denomination. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also addressed the specific decision to block Cardinal Pizzaballa, emphasizing that it was made “out of special concern for his safety,” and insisting that “there was no malicious intent whatsoever, only concern for his safety and that of his party.” At the same time, the government acknowledged the extraordinary nature of the restriction, particularly given the timing during Holy Week. The Prime Minister’s Office said Israel’s security agencies are now “putting together a plan to enable church leaders to worship at the holy site in the coming days,” suggesting that the restrictions could be adjusted as conditions allow. Israel’s Foreign Ministry echoed that explanation in a separate statement on X, stressing that all current limitations in the Old City are “a direct result of Iranian missile fire,” which has struck in the vicinity not only of the Holy Sepulchre, but also the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Western Wall. “In light of this, and in order to protect the lives of worshippers of all faiths, precautionary instructions have been issued for all holy sites of all religions, and mass gatherings are not possible,” the ministry said. “The concern over a mass-casualty event in the Old City is particularly acute given the area’s density and the difficulty of deploying first responders in such an incident,” the statement said, appealing to the logistical challenges facing security officials. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, however, took issue with that reasoning. While acknowledging the security-driven closure of all holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City he described the specific denial of entry to the Catholic leaders as being perhaps overzealous. “While all Holy sites in the Old City are closed due to safety concerns for mass gatherings … the action today by the Israel Nat’l Police to deny Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and 3 other priests from entering the Church to offer a blessing on Palm Sunday is an unfortunate overreach already having major repercussions around the world,” Huckabee wrote in a statement on X. He noted that Home Front Command guidelines restrict any gatherings to 50 people or less, a limit the four Catholic representatives were well below. Although Israeli government statements have cited safety reasons for the decision, Huckabee observed that churches, synagogues, and mosques throughout Jerusalem have continued to operate under the same 50-person restriction. “For the Patriarch to be barred from entry to the Church on Palm Sunday for a private ceremony is difficult to understand or justify,” he added. Despite the restrictions, Israeli authorities indicated that dialogue with Church leadership is ongoing. The Foreign Ministry said police are expected to meet with Cardinal Pizzaballa to “explore solutions that allow for as normal a routine as possible while ensuring public safety,” signaling a potential path forward as tensions remain high. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, located in Jerusalem’s Old City, is revered by Christians as the site of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, burial, and resurrection, making it one of the most sacred places in the world. The decision to bar access on Palm Sunday, the day marking the beginning of Holy Week, has heightened tensions between church authorities and Israeli officials, raising broader questions about the balance between security measures and religious freedom during wartime. As the conflict continues, the incident is likely to reverberate far beyond Jerusalem, drawing scrutiny from Christian communities and governments around the world.