The masked man on the motorcycle, the one who waved a Mexican flag in front of a torched car as Los Angeles police stood by, will soon be famous. His identity remains unknown, his image iconic – but for all the wrong reasons. 

Republicans will replay the clip again and again in campaign ads ahead of the midterms. 

“This lawlessness is exactly what Americans rejected in 2024,” said Michael Whatley, chairman of the Republican National Committee. “While Democrats sow chaos, Republicans stand as the party of law and order.” President Trump is delivering on his campaign promise to crack down on illegal immigration, Whatley told RealClearPolitics, and ahead of the midterms, his party “will continue to run on this winning message and finish the job for the American people.”

As National Guard were being deployed to quell violence in California, Republicans were mobilizing to capture and catalog video of looting, rioting, and violence. One RNC official told RCP they were struggling to capture the flood of content coming across cable news.

“It was just non-stop,” they said. “There was so much.”