The Department of Homeland Security history teacher Ron Gochez stated during a Tuesday press conference denouncing ICE raids that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents “are not the only ones with guns” and that “people have every right to defend themselves” against them.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin responded to Gochez’s comments, telling the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF) that such remarks endanger agents’ lives and “look criminal.”
“Calling for violence against law enforcement is un-American and beneath the conduct of someone teaching the next generation of Americans,” McLaughlin said. She added that the DHS will refer Gochez to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
“Our law enforcement officers are already facing a 1000% increase in assaults against them including terrorist attacks, cars being used as weapons, and rocks thrown at them,” McLaughlin continued. “Words have consequences and this type of rhetoric is going to get one of our officers killed.”
Neither LAUSD, Gochez, nor the DOJ responded to DCNF’s requests for comment.
Gochez led the press conference on behalf of activist group Unión del Barrio (UDB), which also did not respond to a request for comment.
In his remarks, Gochez maintained that he was not “calling for violence” by suggesting that anti-ICE agitators carry guns, though he praised rioters who threw bricks at federal agents.
“This is South Central Los Angeles. They are not the only ones with guns in this city. They’re not the only ones and don’t forget that,” Gochez told his audience.
“And I don’t say that because we’re calling for violence, I’m saying that because the people have every right to defend themselves against masked, unidentified gunmen with AR-15s and other military rifles.”
“The people have every right to defend themselves,” he continued. “That’s not violent, that’s intelligent.”
Gochez also boasted that rioters had effectively reduced ICE raids in California, mentioning those who threw hard objects at federal agents in Paramount after mass protests began in June.
“They caught some bricks. Y’all remember Paramount? They caught those bricks,” Gochez said. “This is Los Angeles and this is South Central. The people will fight back.”
Earlier this year, UDB received a letter from Senate Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism Chair Josh Hawley of Missouri announcing an investigation into the group’s possible ties to California’s anti-ICE riots.
In response, UDB stated that it “has not organized, aided, abetted, financed, or engaged in any illegal activity.”
The DCNF previously reported that Gochez was seen telling an audience at a UDB-led press conference to resist ICE “by any means necessary” just one day after riots broke out.
—
*All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline, and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.*
https://dailycaller.com/2025/10/23/public-schoolteacher-faces-doj-probe-over-unhinged-threat-toward-ice/
