Calls for an investigation into the financing of the Los
Angeles riots reached the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, with Josh Hawley (R-Mo.)
becoming the first Republican to do so publicly.
For days, Los Angeles news reports have shown rioters
wearing expensive face shields, headsets, and other protective gear preparing
for clashes with police and immigration agents, all a result of a weekend
immigration raid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Even mainstream media outlets in the City of Los Angeles
have condemned the provision of such equipment, which obscures protesters'
faces and protects them from less-lethal crowd control measures employed by the
National Guard and Marines.
All of this piqued the interest of Hawley, who declared
Wednesday that he will conduct an investigation into the violence as chairman
of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism.