Los Angeles leaders are speaking out after video captured the moments when what appeared to be a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent pointed a gun at a bystander as a different man was detained in North Hollywood on Friday.
The cell phone footage shows a man being taken away by several masked agents just seconds before the bystander, who was walking two dogs, appeared to pick something up off the ground. He was then rushed by two agents, one of whom pushed the man into some bushes while holding what looked to be a handgun. The bystander tossed the item almost instantly, at which point the agent backed away.
As the video continues, the dog walker can be heard yelling at the officers before one approached him again, holding what witnesses said was pepper spray, causing him to run down the street. As he’s running, he can again be seen bending down to pick something up, which he tosses further down the street. It’s unclear what the object was.
In the video, the agents are seen wearing vests that say “ICE Police” while dragging the detained man towards an unmarked SUV parked in the street.
It happened at around 8:30 a.m. near the Ivy Apartments on Vineland Place and Otsego Street. Damari Butler, who lives in the area, said he watched the entire ordeal.
“He draws his gun and puts it right in the guy’s face,” Butler said. “Which was insane. At that moment, I realized how real this was, because, respectfully, I didn’t know what was about to happen to that guy.”
In a statement provided to CBS LA Saturday on the incident, DHS said agents arrested Angel Luis Gonzalez Lobo from Venezuela during a targeted operation.
“He was issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge after failing to show up for his court date. He will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings and will receive due process,” DHS said in its statement.
DHS also addressed the incident with the bystander, claiming he was armed with pepper spray, creating “a moment of chaos.”
“These actions by these individuals created an unnecessarily dangerous, and precarious environment for federal law enforcement as they endeavored to carry out their lawful duties and effect an arrest,” DHS said.
Several L.A. city leaders also addressed the incident Friday night after the video began to gain traction on social media.
“It is alarming to see the images and reports coming out of North Hollywood this morning,” said Mayor Karen Bass in a statement. “Every Angeleno deserves to feel safe in their own community. No one should have to live in fear because of where they come from, what language they speak, or how they look.”
Congresswoman Luz Rivas, who represents the area, called the video “horrifying.”
“ICE is violating the fundamental rights and safety of individuals across the San Fernando Valley to carry out Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda,” Rivas said in a statement. “Families are being ripped apart and hardworking residents are being terrorized on their own streets by masked thugs. ICE needs to get out of L.A. and it must be abolished for good.”
Mayoral candidate and Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nithya Raman also shared her “outrage” on social media.
“LA is not a playground for the Trump regime’s inhumane operations, and Angelenos should not have to live in fear of going to work, taking their kids to school, or living their life,” Raman’s statement said.
