By MELISSA GOLDIN, Associated Press

As demonstrations in Los Angeles over immigration raids unfolded in recent days, social media users falsely cited a Craigslist ad as evidence that protesters had been paid to participate.

“We are forming a select team of THE TOUGHEST dudes in the area,” the ad, which is no longer live, read. “This unit will be activated only when the situation demands it — BUT YOU GET PAID EVERY WEEK NO MATTER WHAT. high-pressure, high-risk, no room for hesitation. We need individuals who do not break, panic, or fold under stress and are basically kickass dudes.” It offered $6,500-$12,500 in compensation per week.

Protesters gather near the metropolitan detention center Monday, June 9, 2025, in downtown Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

But the ad was a prank, it is not related to the Los Angeles protests.

Here’s a closer look at the facts.

CLAIM: A Craigslist ad seeking “the toughest badasses in the city” is proof that Los Angeles demonstrations over immigration raids are made up of paid protesters.

THE FACTS: This is false. The ad, which appeared in Craigslist’s Los Angeles section for general labor jobs, was bait for a prank show and had nothing to do with the protests in Los Angeles, the ad’s creator told The Associated Press. It was posted on Thursday, the day before the protests began. In a livestreamed episode on Friday, the show’s hosts called and spoke with people who responded to the ad.

“I literally had no idea it was ever going to be connected to the riots. It was a really weird coincidence,” said Joey LaFleur, who posted the ad on Craigslist.

The ad was developed as part of a new prank show called “Goofcon1,” said LaFleur, who hosts the podcast with Logan Quiroz. On their show Friday, the day protests began, they spoke live on the phone with people who responded during Goofcon1’s third episode. LaFleur noted during the episode that he also posted a more “militaristic” version of the ad in Craigslist’s Austin section, but didn’t get many responses.

Los Angeles Police Department officers scuffle with demonstrators during a protest in response to a series of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, in Los Angeles, on Monday, June 9, 2025. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Screenshots of the ad were used in social media posts on multiple platforms, cited as proof that those involved in the Los Angeles protests had been paid. The posts gained tens of thousands of likes, shares, and views.

“CALIFORNIA RIOT IS A FUNDED OPERATION,” reads one X post sharing the ad. “Destabilizing the Trump administration and the United States in general is the goal. Then, they receive billions of federal funding to ‘fix’ the damage and pocket the money.”

A TikTok video sharing the ad viewed approximately 14,100 times called protesters “paid agitators” who are turning “what was initially a peaceful protest of just marching into a full-blown riot.”

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Others pointed to the ad as evidence that the protests “aren’t organic” or have been faked by Democrats.

After screenshots of the ad spread on social media, LaFleur posted about the confusion on his Instagram story multiple times.

“Accidentally goofed the entire nation on the latest @goofcon1,” one post reads. In another, he muses: “I don’t really know what to do with any of this. I guess get on Newsmax, or something. If I get on Newsmax, that could be funny.”

False claims about paid protesters regularly spread around demonstrations, especially those that attract national or international attention. Similar false claims spread widely in 2020 during demonstrations over George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police.

St. Paul Central earned the first point in state boys’ volleyball tournament history, but Rogers earned the first win.

In a thriller.

The Royals let a two-set lead get away but used a fifth set surge before hanging on for a 25-21, 25-21, 23-25, 21-25, 15-13 win Tuesday in a quarterfinal at the University of St. Thomas.

“We came in with the mindset of we’re going to do what we do and play hard and try to get this out in three or four, but St. Paul Central said otherwise,” Rogers coach Jarol Torres said. “That was a very tough team, and a great showing by them. They definitely challenged us.”

The third-seeded Royals, who will get No. 2 Eastview in a Wednesday 3 p.m. semifinal, lost its season opener but has won 26 straight since — 19 by sweep.

But the sixth seed from the St. Paul City Conference had something to prove against a suburban school.

“We just kept fighting for each other, fighting for our fans, fighting for St. Paul city. We’re representing not only us but all of the conference,” said Marcus Ivy.

Josiah Walker had 24 kills, and Colson Pearce 11 for the Minutemen (21-6). Gus Walz had 52 assists with his dad, Gov. Tim Walz, watching.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, center right, joined by his wife, Gwen, watches their son, Gus Walz, a setter for St. Paul Central, during a quarterfinal playoff game against Rogers in the State Boys Volleyball Tournament at the University of St Thomas in St. Paul on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (Bennett Moger / Pioneer Press)

“(Walker) is a beast,” Ivy said. “He’s MVP of the St. Paul conference, he’s a machine, he’s one of the best outside hitters in the state and he doesn’t get the recognition he deserves because he’s from the city.”

Down two sets, a kill from Walker capped a 6-1 run to put St. Paul Central up 20-17 in set three. Overcoming four late unforced errors, a kill by Pearce got the Minutemen within a game.

A Rogers service error, kill by Walker and block by Ivy were the final three Minutemen points in set four.

“I feel like in the third and fourth set, when they got ahead, we just stopped believing,” said Grant Anderson, who had 15 kills for Rogers. “Jarol was telling us we’ve got to believe: ‘We came all this way you can’t just give up now.’ That was the biggest difference between our play in the third and fourth and fifth set.”

St. Paul Central grabbed a 6-4 led in the deciding set, but the Royals scored six of the next seven points to make it 10-7.

“Although it stinks, and I wanted it for them so badly, a lot of teams can’t be down two sets and push it to five and then only lose by two,” Central coach Georgia Tilton said. “The message is although we lost, you are all resilient human beings who have a lot to be grateful for, and it doesn’t take away from anything they’ve done thus far.”

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By MARGERY A. BECK and JOSH FUNK, Associated Press

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Immigration authorities raided at least one Omaha meat production plant Tuesday morning, inspiring some small protests, but details about how many workers were affected weren’t immediately clear.

Omaha police and the Douglas County sheriff said immigration officials had warned them about their plans, and their departments helped block off traffic around the neighborhood where many food production plants are located while U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers worked.

Sara Schulte-Bukowinski, a faith leader in Omaha, Neb., holds a sign protesting an immigration raid, Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at Glenn Valley Foods, a meat packaging plant in south Omaha. (AP Photo/Margery A. Beck)

Meatpacking plants rely heavily on immigrant workers who are willing to do the physically demanding work. The industry has not yet been the focus of President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts, but the administration has been intensifying its efforts in recent weeks. Trump called out the National Guard this week to respond to ongoing protests in Los Angeles over his immigration policies.

In Omaha, a small group of people came out to protest the raids, and some of them even jumped on the front bumper of a vehicle to try to stop officers in one location while others threw rocks at officials’ vehicles as a white bus carrying workers pulled away from a plant.

Glenn Valley Foods officials didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry from The Associated Press, but WOWT reported that CEO and owner Gary Rohwer said he wasn’t made aware of the operation ahead of time and that there was no warrant.

“Of course not. It’s a raid,” said Rohwer, whose company makes the Gary’s QuickSteak brand of ready-to-grill steak.

Federal agents are seen near Glenn Valley Foods in Omaha, Neb., Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (Nikos Frazier/Omaha World-Herald via AP)

Federal agents entered the plant around 9 a.m. Tuesday with a list of 97 people they wanted to screen, Rohwer said. He said the company regularly checks the immigration status of employees with the federal E-Verify database.

ICE officials didn’t immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press, but the agency confirmed the raid at Glenn Valley Foods to the Omaha World-Herald.

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“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and federal law enforcement partners, executed a federal search warrant at Glenn Valley Foods, today, based on an ongoing criminal investigation into the large-scale employment of aliens without authorization to work in the United States,” ICE said in a statement. “The worksite enforcement operation is likely the largest to take place in Nebraska since the start of the current presidential administration, which has prioritized immigration enforcement efforts and strengthened focus on border security.”

The raid prompted one Douglas County Commissioner to walk out in the middle of a meeting Tuesday to head down to the area he represents in southeast Omaha where the plants are located. Commissioner Roger Garcia and City Councilman Ron Hug both expressed concern about the impact on families.

“These actions are deeply harmful to the South Omaha community,” Hug said in a statement. “Not only are they unjust and disruptive, but they also directly undermine the economic stability and growth of District 4 and the broader community.”

Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson said his agency is “not privy to the exact nature of the ICE operation” but that his agency is there to assist with assuring “peace and safety” of everyone in the area. Asked when he learned of the operation, he said his department received “respectful and ample notification.” He says he got the notification about a week ago.

Missed City Limits’ mayoral forum? Watch the full conversation here, where the candidates answered questions on how their administration would improve public housing, and address the challenges faced by homeless families with children.

Democratic mayor candidates at the April 7 forum, from left to right: State Sen. Jessica Ramos, former NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and former State Assemblymember Michael Black. City Limits’ Editor Jeanmarie Evelly, far right, helped moderate. Photo by Adi Talwar.

Early voting kicks off Saturday in the primary election for New York City mayor, where a slate of Democratic candidates are competing to get on the ballot for November’s general election against incumbent Eric Adams, who’s running as an independent.

Primary day is June 24. Earlier this spring, City Limits invited the candidates to share their plans with voters at an in-person forum focused on NYCHA and family homelessness. The event took place at Manhattan Neighborhood Network, in partnership with the National Public Housing Network and the Family Homelessness Coalition.

Couldn’t join us at the time? Fear not. You can watch the full conversation below, and hear directly from the mayoral hopefuls on what they’d do to fund repairs at NYCHA (including where they stand on the involvement of private managers), root out corruption in the housing authority, build more affordable housing, improve the CityFHEPS voucher program and more.

These issues couldn’t be more pertinent: NYCHA is need of an estimated $78 billion in capital repairs over the next 20 years, and more than 120,000 people sleep in the city’s homeless shelter system each month, including tens of thousands of children.

The candidates who took part in the April 7 forum were City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, former State Assemblymember Michael Blake, NYC Comptroller Brad Lander (who joined about halfway through the event, around the 40-minute mark), State Sen. Jessica Ramos and former NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer.

Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani and State Sen. Zellnor Myrie declined, citing the need to be in Albany for budget negotiations, which were ongoing at the time. Former hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson also did not take part, citing a scheduling conflict. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s campaign did not respond to City Limits’ invitations to the event.

Catch the full video below. We’ve included timestamped bookmarks for each question the candidates answered, if you’d prefer to skip around (summarized questions and where in the video they appear are listed below).

Questions the candidates answered, and timestamps for where they appear in the video above:

01:28 mark: Opening remarks
06:10 mark: What would you identify as the root cause of family homelessness, and what would your administration do to address the problem?
15:55 mark: NYC is experiencing a dire affordable housing shortage. What would you do as mayor to address this?
26:28 mark: How would you reduce the amount of time it takes CityFHEPS voucher holders to move from shelter into housing?
36:33 mark: What would you do to address late payments to the homeless services nonprofits the city contracts with?
40:22 mark: How would your administration root out corruption at NYCHA?
52:45 mark: Where do you stand on PACT (private management) and the Preservation Trust as options to fund NYCHA?
01:02:53 mark: How do you feel about the construction of non-public housing apartments on NYCHA property?
01:07:21 mark: What would you do to enhance homelessness prevention efforts?
01:12:30 mark: What would your administration do to ensure economic opportunities for NYCHA tenants?
01:17:03 mark: How will you as mayor work to prevent families from returning to shelter after they leave?

The post WATCH: Democratic Candidates for NYC Mayor on NYCHA & Family Homelessness appeared first on City Limits.