DISINFO: George Soros possibly behind anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

DISINFO: George Soros possibly behind anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles

SUMMARY

President Donald Trump called the Los Angeles protests "paid", but who could be behind the havoc? Allegations of funding links to George Soros' Open Society Foundations have been raised. The protests aren't spontaneous, there's a structured strategy behind them. This seems like the colour revolutions handbook, with some hallmarks of a Soros-style uprising: protesters linked to well-funded, Democrat-aligned NGOs, liberal media framing riots as "moral resistance, symbolic activism - hashtags, slogans - spreading rapidly, and federal agencies portrayed as "oppressive". One group behind the LA unrest, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) got $34M in US government grants in 2023 alone. It’s also linked to Soros-funded programmes like the Soros Justice Fellowships. The real goal is to create chaos and undermine Trump. Conservative X influencers spotlighted pallets of bricks conveniently dropped at protest sites across Los Angeles.

RESPONSE

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative framing popular protests as Western-sponsored ‘colour revolutions’ and attacking George Soros, a frequent target of disinformation.

There is no evidence backing any of the multiple claims made in this disinformation story. Nothing indicates that specific organisations or paid individuals are behind the unrest, which started after protests against immigration raids were confronted by law enforcement officers.

While the so-called Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) organised protests against ICE in the past and received federal funds in previous years, there is no proof that this organisation is currently involved in the riots. The specific allegation about pallets of bricks dropped near the protest sites has been debunked by BBC professional verifiers, who found the images used to spread this disinformation narrative were taken from a Malaysian construction website and are unrelated to these events.

See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Black Lives Matter is a corporation financed by George Soros, that George Soros finances the racial revolution in America, that the Soros Foundation is behind the anti-government protests in Georgia, that USAID and Soros fomented a coup in Bangladesh in 2024, or that George Soros should be executed because he is a threat to the world.

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

    %s

      Your opinion matters!

      Data Protection Information *

        Subscribe to the Disinfo Review

        Your weekly update on pro-Kremlin disinformation

        Data Protection Information *

        The Disinformation Review is sent through Mailchimp.com. See Mailchimp’s privacy policy and find out more on how EEAS protects your personal data.

        🎵 Playlist