Congress passed a resolution on Friday that condemns the “violent riots” in Los Angeles, referring to the demonstrations that broke out earlier this month amid the Trump administration’s ramped-up immigration enforcement efforts in Southern California.

Led by Rep. Young Kim, R-Anaheim Hills, and the rest of California’s Republican House delegation, the resolution said protests “quickly escalated into violent riots across Los Angeles, where acts of arson, widespread looting, property destruction, and vandalism were committed, blocking streets and highways, lighting streets on fire, throwing rocks at law enforcement vehicles, and assaulting federal and local peace officers.”

“Peaceful protests are a constitutional right, but vandalism, looting, violence and other crimes are not,” Kim said, adding that her resolution is an effort to “support law and order as our communities see unrest enabled by California’s soft-on-crime policies.”

Only seven Democrats voted for the resolution on Friday, June 27, including California Reps. Jim Costa of Fresno and Adam Gray of Merced.

The other five were Reps. Henry Cuellar of Texas, Don Davis of North Carolina, Laura Gillen of New York, Jared Golden of Maine and Tom Suozzi of New York.

Gray said the resolution is “far from perfect” and has “no real force of law” but expresses the sentiment “that Congress is grateful for the first responders and public safety officers who keep us safe day in and day out.”

He said he wants to see support for a similar resolution led by Rep. Nanette Barragán, D-Carson, that expresses support for peaceful and lawful protests while also condemning President Donald Trump’s deployment of troops to Southern California amid his immigration efforts.

“Let me be clear: I condemn recent ICE raids throughout California that are causing fear across the Valley,” Gray said. “There are ways to fix our immigration system, but these terror-inducing raids are not one of them.”

Other Democratic lawmakers who represent Southern California, though, rejected the resolution and admonished it.

The resolution “is not about public safety. It is about fear,” said Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Los Angeles.

“It is about scapegoating immigrants. And it is about gaslighting the American people into believing that Los Angeles is some so-called ‘hellscape,’” Kamlager-Dove said. “This resolution ignores the fact that the violence didn’t start in a vacuum. It was sparked by the Trump administration’s provocative, aggressive raids across the state.”

Rep. Mike Levin, D-San Juan Capistrano, called the resolution “intentionally divisive.”

“Earlier this month, our state and local law enforcement officers in Los Angeles worked admirably to provide a safe environment so Americans could exercise their First Amendment right to protest,” Levin said. “I wholeheartedly condemn those who took advantage of the situation to commit violent acts, and I stand with our state and local law enforcement.”

“The resolution we voted on today,” Levin continued, “uses inflammatory language designed to divide us instead of bringing people together. We should be focused on bipartisan solutions that strengthen public safety and protect civil rights, not on partisan exercises that inflame tensions and pit communities against each other.”

But Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, said the House showed by passing the resolution that it is “standing up for and thanking our law enforcement officers.”

“There is no room for riots and other violence in our streets,” Calvert said.

Protests have broken out around Southern California — and the country — this month in opposition to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts.

That includes a “No Kings Day of Defiance” protest that drew thousands of demonstrators in the Inland Empire and thousands more to Orange County.

Those June 14 “No Kings” rallies were mostly peaceful, although some violence and arrests did occur. In Los Angeles, nearly four dozen people were arrested in downtown L.A.

Protests have continued in Los Angeles, mainly centered in the downtown and south L.A. neighborhoods, as well as in Pasadena and Pico Rivera.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass instituted a curfew for the downtown region for several days, an effort she said was for “ensuring safety, stability and support in the downtown neighborhoods.” While most demonstrations had remained mostly peaceful, police and city officials said that some gatherings turned destructive after dark, with looting and vandalism blamed on “bad actors.”

Staff writer Linh Tat contributed to this report.