These are some of the people during the Los Angeles protests and why they did it

Suppliers sold a variety of colorful flags in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday, but Axel Martinez settled with half of glory and the Mexican flag.

Born in the United States, raised in Mexico City, the 26-year-old returned to the United States due to opportunities, he said. He stood among hundreds of protesters outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday, facing the National Guard on Alameda Street. There are about a dozen flags – flags from Mexico, the United States, California, Guatemala and El Salvador – flying over the crowd.

“Everyone has a story here,” Martinez said. “I’m honored to be Mexican and be born here.”

For eight days, protesters have been heading to downtown Los Angeles to protest the city’s immigration detention and the presence of the National Guard. Images of the flag (mostly from Mexico) spread in news reports and social media – sometimes causing anger from critics. Even supporters of the demonstrations criticized the display of foreign flags, saying they had sent the wrong message. Members of the Trump administration posted images of the second lieutenant in social media posts and called the protest a “invasion” or “uprising.”

Vice President Stephen Miller, Vice President of President Trump's deputy chief of staff, posted on social platform X on Sunday, called Los Angeles “occupied territory.”

Vice President JD Vance calls the protesters “insurrectionists” on X.

But many people offered similar answers when some protesters were asked why they waved foreign flags, rather than the red, white and blue colors of the United States.

“Why not?” said Martinez.

On Monday, Christopher Kim, 46, flew a Korean flag like a cloak near Alameda Street.

This was his first decision to join the protest, and when he caught Taegeukgi, he did not think twice before doing it.

“I saw all these flags flying around there, but there are not only Koreans, Mexicans, Guatemalans,” he said. “There are people from all over the world who live in Los Angeles, and we have a community here.”

He said that carrying the flag was a tribute to his immigrant parents who came to the United States to work for their children to live a better life.

“They are not here, but it represents my roots,” he said. “This flag is my home, my family.”

When asked if the flag should be considered offensive or counterproductive during the protest, Kim laughed and shook his head.

“This country is made of immigrants,” he said. “How could this offend anyone?”

Earlier this week, a 21-year-old woman only joined a group of protesters on Alameda Street if Jade bought the Mexican flag.

“These are our people,” she told reporters on Monday.

She and her parents were both born in the United States, but her grandparents immigrated from Mexico. Carrying red, white and green flags was their nod to their sacrifice, she said.

“I come from an immigrant family and I'm here to serve them,” she said. “This is my country. This is my family.”

On the street, Ariel Miller left the police route in hopes of avoiding the rubber bullet being fired by policemen trying to disperse the crowd.

She looked back at the police route, waving the blue and white flags of El Salvador. She said she was not Latin America but was waving flags for a close friend who could not participate in the protest.

“I did it for her because I wanted her to know that she couldn't be here, I love her, I'm here for her,” she said. “She has family and it's a very terrible moment.”

In the ocean of people marching and chanting, the signs of Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador and other countries are signs of community composition, she said. Flags are like signs of history, bringing them to the same place to protest against new immigrants, immigrants, and customs law enforcement's presence in Los Angeles.

“It's important to say, you can't erase me,” she said. “You can be proud of who you are and where you come from.”

Miller is not the only demonstrator to carry a flag for others this week.

Najee Gow, a black man who grew up in Minnesota, arrived downtown Wednesday with a Mexican flag on his back and led the crowd with a megaphone outside the Metropolitan Detention Center.

He explained that his fiancée was from El Salvador, but the person selling the flags had run out of blue and white flags. He chose the familiar three colors of red, white and green.

“It has a personal impact on me,” he said of the recent immigration raid. He said his fiancée was scared, like other immigrants.

He heard critics say they shouldn't carry foreign flags during the protests, but he shrugged.

“It's like saying, 'Don't wave your legacy, history'.”

He said various national banners helped highlight the message amid protests that protesters sought to highlight the important contribution of immigration and diversity. This includes stars and stripes.

“It’s pretty, look, most [U.S.] The flag was turned upside down,” he looked at the crowd. “It should be every flag. ”

In front of the Metropolitan Detention Center, protesters gathered near a group of National Guards for several days, with a flag supplier selling a variety for $10 per piece.

On Wednesday, he said he quickly encountered the flags of Guatemala and El Salvador. He said he might give the rest of the flag to protesters for free before he returns home. It was his third day in the protests, and he said the next day he just brought in a new batch.

He declined to name himself, but said he was selling flags, not just to pay a few dollars for his family, but to support protesters.

The supplier handed him to the Mexican flag when a masked demonstrator pounded the pocket of his pants and said he had no cash for the flag.

“I have family members who were deported, too,” he said. “When all of this started, they were picked up.”

Although critics showed images, there was also an American flag in the protests.

Javiera Burton, 25, from Chile, raised the U.S. flag on Wednesday.

“We live in the United States, and this is the flag,” she said, adding that she had no doubts about the foreign flags in the protests. “I think people should do what they want to do.”

She said at some point in the protests Wednesday, supporters of President Trump's immigration policy approached her and believed that she also supported the immigration crackdown in recent days because she was flying the American flag.

So, she said, she took the American flag off the pole and turned it upside down – a symbol of distress.

“We are fighting for this country, fighting for our people,” she said.

For some people carrying foreign flags, they said, the aim is to connect different communities of demonstrators.

“The flag I carry is not my flag. It is our flag,” said Kim, who holds the South Korean flag. “It represents the entire people who strive to survive with the dreams and hopes of every human being.”

He said they seemed to be an invitation to join when he saw Latin American flags on the news broadcast of the protests.

“Everyone there hugged them [flag] Because it represents: we are the people of Los Angeles,” he said.