The MeidasTouch Podcast

Episode: Trump Caught on Film as LA Rises Up and Strikes Back Hard
Date: September 4, 2025

Overview

In this urgent episode, the Meiselas brothers focus on shocking footage and first-hand accounts of militarized ICE raids in Los Angeles, conducted under orders from Donald Trump's administration. The show highlights the personal and constitutional implications of these actions, speaking directly with LA City Attorney Heidi Feldstein Soto about ongoing legal battles and the city's efforts to protect its residents against federal overreach, racial profiling, and violations of civil liberties. The episode is both a condemnation of the Trump regime’s tactics and a rallying cry for democracy and constitutional rights.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Host’s Personal Connection & Opening Monologue

• Host Ben Meiselas opens with a passionate explanation of why this episode is especially personal, connecting the issue to his wife’s Latino family and their experiences in LA.
  • Quote [01:28]: "This is one of the most important videos I've ever done here at the Midas Touch Network and it has deep connections to me and my family... their neighborhood is targeted on a frequent basis by ICE."

2. Shocking Evidence: ICE Conduct in Los Angeles

• Hosts present multiple recent video clips showing ICE agents in plainclothes snatching individuals from the streets and public places, often without warrants or clear identification.
• Key themes:
  • Disappearances of ordinary residents
  • Use of unmarked cars
  • Targeting of Latino communities

Key Clip 1: Courthouse Snatching

• ICE agents grab a man outside LA’s largest courthouse.
  • [03:26]: Heidi Feldstein Soto: “You guys have a warrant?”

Key Clip 2: Detainment of a Minor with Disabilities

• 15-year-old disabled student mistaken for gang member, briefly detained.
  • [04:44]: Mother’s account: "He feels harassed. He tells me he doesn't feel safe."

Key Clip 3: Andrea Velez, U.S. Citizen, Detained

• 32-year-old production coordinator forcibly detained by ICE despite her American citizenship.
  • [05:30]: Andrea Velez: “All I felt was that he grabbed and just slammed me to the floor.”
  • [05:39]: “I asked him to show me his badge number, his id, identification... he said I didn't need to know any of that.”
  • [06:07]: “They didn't believe me... I gave them my real id... my driver's license and even my Kaiser health insurance card."
  • [06:18]: Had nothing to drink for 24 hours and had to buy utensils to eat while detained.

Key Clip 4: ICE Profiling in East LA

• Witnesses recount being profiled and detained purely based on skin color.

3. Federal Rhetoric: Secretary Kristi Noem’s Justification

• Clip of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem suggesting LA would have been "destroyed" without Trump's crackdown.
  • [09:27]: Kristi Noem: “LA wouldn't be standing today if President Trump hadn’t taken action... that city would have burned down...”

4. Interview: City Attorney Heidi Feldstein Soto

Federal Overreach and Militarized Response

• Feldstein Soto describes an overwhelming federal militarized presence, utterly disproportionate to any actual threat.
  • [10:34]: “This administration deployed 4,000 federalized national troops, plus 800 Marines to supposedly deal with a protest that occupied at most 1 to 2 square miles... The federal government response was disproportionate, unconstitutional, militaristic, and candidly, a little bit frightening.”
• Points out that LAPD, Sheriff's Department, and CHP have handled far more intense civil unrest without federal intervention.

Direct Rebuttal: Noem’s Comments

• [12:45]: “That's preposterous. That is utter, abject nonsense... LA has long been a place of robust civil discourse... we've done fine through the years.”

Legal Efforts Against Trump Administration

• Explains the coalition of 22 local jurisdictions joining federal lawsuits and the ongoing legal strategy:
  • [14:56]: “We are not interfering with... federal law... What we are saying is you can't run around with rifles and masks and militarized equipment in unmarked cars and in effect snatch people off our streets... The manner in which this is done... was an organized series of troops that were designed to come here and scare people into self deporting, into doing the federal government's bidding in ways that we have never seen...”
• Businesses are shuttered; calls pour in reporting what appear to bystanders as public kidnappings.

Restraining Orders and Rule of Law

• The Trump regime continues violating a federal judge’s restraining order against racial profiling and unconstitutional ICE raids.
• Feldstein Soto details legal steps to strengthen injunctions and hopes for the judiciary to check executive abuse.
  • [19:15]: “We develop the record. We get a preliminary injunction. And I'm a lawyer. My best hope is the courts... to provide a check against this overreach and this militaristic deployment of external troops on domestic soil.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Ben Meiselas [01:28]: "We have Donald Trump busted on tape. We have the receipts, we have the film, we have the photos of Donald Trump sending his gestapo, his militarized ICE agents... disappearing people off the streets."
• Eyewitness 07:56: "Literally based off of skin color... I'm American, you don't ever grab me like that, bro."
• Heidi Feldstein Soto [10:34]: "At no point in time did I feel as though the protests were out of control or something our LAPD couldn't handle... The federal government response was disproportionate, unconstitutional, militaristic, and candidly, a little bit frightening."
• Heidi Feldstein Soto [12:45]: "That's preposterous. That is utter, abject nonsense... we've done fine through the years."
• Heidi Feldstein Soto [14:56]: "You can't run around with rifles and masks and militarized equipment in unmarked cars and in effect snatch people off our streets... and take them away in vans... and in effect, do performative theater to terrify the city and our residents."
• Interview Wrap [19:15]: "My best hope is the courts... will provide a check against this overreach and this militaristic deployment of external troops on domestic soil."

Important Timestamps

• [01:28] – Host's personal connection, introduction of videos and context
• [03:15] – Initial video of plainclothes ICE agents snatching man outside courthouse
• [04:00-06:37] – Series of clips: 15-year-old disabled teen detained, Andrea Velez’s ordeal as a citizen detained
• [07:43] – Eyewitnesses describe racial profiling and ICE detentions
• [09:27] – Kristi Noem's comments rationalizing Trump's crackdown
• [10:34-19:15] – Interview and legal discussion with LA City Attorney Heidi Feldstein Soto

Tone & Style

The episode maintains a direct, urgent, and unapologetically pro-democracy tone, blending legal expertise, passionate advocacy, and first-hand testimonies. The conversation is frank about both the gravity and unconstitutionality of federal tactics while emphasizing the importance of local resistance and judicial checks.

Takeaway

This episode offers a stark look at escalating federal actions against immigrants and people of color in Los Angeles, presenting firsthand testimony and legal analysis on both the cruelty and the constitutional perils of the Trump administration’s tactics. The legal fight led by LA and a coalition of cities is portrayed as an essential stand for civil rights and the rule of law.

Listeners are left with both a chilling portrait of present dangers and an urgent call to shared action and vigilance in defense of democracy and humanity.