Immigration officials target multiple Los Angeles sites in raids that 'deeply angered' mayor
LOS ANGELES — Federal immigration authorities raided 'multiple locations' throughout the city on Friday, officials said, in action that drew an immediate rebuke from the mayor and a distanced response from city police.
Agents targeted clothing manufacturer, importer and wholesaler Ambiance Apparel in the city's Fashion District, U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli told NBC Los Angeles.
The agents served a search warrant and were looking for "fictitious employee documents," Essayli said.
A rep for Ambiance Apparel could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said there were federal immigration raids at "multiple locations" that spread "terror in our communities."
'This morning, we received reports of federal immigration enforcement actions in multiple locations in Los Angeles," Bass said in a statement. "As Mayor of a proud city of immigrants, who contribute to our city in so many ways, I am deeply angered by what has taken place. These tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city."
She added: "My Office is in close coordination with immigrant rights community organizations. We will not stand for this.'
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell was quick state that his staff had no role in the federal action.
'Today the LAPD became aware that ICE was conducting operations in the City of Los Angeles," he said. "I'm aware that these actions cause anxiety for many Angelenos, so I want to make it clear: the LAPD is not involved in civil immigration enforcement."
Eleven members of the 15-member L.A. City Council condemned the action.
"This indiscriminate targeting of children and families not only harms the individuals who are directly impacted, but destroys our communities' sense of trust and safety in their own homes," the lawmakers said in a joint statement.
"We condemn this in no uncertain terms: Los Angeles was built by immigrants and it thrives because of immigrants. We will not abide by fear tactics to support extreme political agendas that aim to stoke fear and spread discord in our city."
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Reuters
10 hours ago
- Reuters
Riot police, anti-ICE protesters square off in Los Angeles after raids
LOS ANGELES, June 6 (Reuters) - Helmeted police in riot gear turned out on Friday evening in a tense confrontation with protesters in downtown Los Angeles, after a day of federal immigration raids in which dozens of people across the city were reported to be taken into custody. Live Reuters video showed Los Angeles Police Department officers lined up on a downtown street wielding batons and what appeared to be tear gas rifles, facing off with demonstrators after authorities had ordered crowds of protesters to disperse around nightfall. Early in the standoff, some protesters hurled chunks of broken concrete toward officers, and police responded by firing volleys of tear gas and pepper spray. Police also fired "flash-bang" concussion rounds. It was not clear whether there were any immediate arrests. An LAPD spokesperson, Drake Madison, told Reuters that police on the scene had declared an unlawful assembly, meaning that those who failed to leave the area were subject to arrest. Television news footage earlier in the day showed caravans of unmarked military-style vehicles and vans loaded with uniformed federal agents streaming through Los Angeles streets as part of the immigration enforcement operation. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents targeted several locations, including a Home Depot in the city's Wetlake District, an apparel store in the Fashion District and a clothing warehouse in South Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles City News Service (CNS). CNS and other local media reported dozens of people were taken into custody during the raids, the latest in a series of such sweeps conducted in a number of cities as part of President Donald Trump's extensive crackdown on illegal immigration. The Republican president has vowed to arrest and deport undocumented migrants in record numbers. The LAPD did not take part in the immigration enforcement action. It was deployed to quell civil unrest after crowds protesting the deportation raids spray-painted anti-ICE slogans on the walls of a federal court building and massed outside a nearby jail where some of the detainees were believed to be held. Impromptu demonstrations had also erupted at some of the raid locations earlier in the day. One organized labor executive, David Huerta, president of the Service Employees International Union of California, was injured and detained by ICE at one site, according to an SEIU statement. The union said Huerta was arrested "while exercising his First Amendment right to observe and document law enforcement activity." No details about the nature or severity of Huerta's injury were given. It was not clear whether he was charged with a crime. ICE did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for information about its enforcement actions or Huerta's detention. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued a statement condemning the immigration raids, saying, "these tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city."
NBC News
17 hours ago
- NBC News
Immigration officials target multiple Los Angeles sites in raids that 'deeply angered' mayor
LOS ANGELES — Federal immigration authorities raided 'multiple locations' throughout the city on Friday, officials said, in action that drew an immediate rebuke from the mayor and a distanced response from city police. Agents targeted clothing manufacturer, importer and wholesaler Ambiance Apparel in the city's Fashion District, U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli told NBC Los Angeles. The agents served a search warrant and were looking for "fictitious employee documents," Essayli said. A rep for Ambiance Apparel could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said there were federal immigration raids at "multiple locations" that spread "terror in our communities." 'This morning, we received reports of federal immigration enforcement actions in multiple locations in Los Angeles," Bass said in a statement. "As Mayor of a proud city of immigrants, who contribute to our city in so many ways, I am deeply angered by what has taken place. These tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city." She added: "My Office is in close coordination with immigrant rights community organizations. We will not stand for this.' Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell was quick state that his staff had no role in the federal action. 'Today the LAPD became aware that ICE was conducting operations in the City of Los Angeles," he said. "I'm aware that these actions cause anxiety for many Angelenos, so I want to make it clear: the LAPD is not involved in civil immigration enforcement." Eleven members of the 15-member L.A. City Council condemned the action. "This indiscriminate targeting of children and families not only harms the individuals who are directly impacted, but destroys our communities' sense of trust and safety in their own homes," the lawmakers said in a joint statement. "We condemn this in no uncertain terms: Los Angeles was built by immigrants and it thrives because of immigrants. We will not abide by fear tactics to support extreme political agendas that aim to stoke fear and spread discord in our city."
NBC News
a day ago
- NBC News
Officer who used excessive force allowed to plead guilty to misdemeanor after felony conviction
LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles sheriff's deputy will serve four months in prison on a misdemeanor conviction for using excessive force after the new Trump-appointed U.S. attorney offered an unusual plea deal despite a jury convicting him of a felony. The victim's attorney asked a federal appeals court to reinstate the felony conviction, but the court declined to do so on Thursday. Deputy Trevor Kirk was recorded tackling and pepper-spraying an older woman while she filmed a man being handcuffed outside a supermarket in June 2023. A federal jury in February found Kirk guilty of one felony count of deprivation of rights under color of law, a crime that carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years. Felony convictions also prevent law enforcement officials from continuing to serve or owning a gun. But when U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli took office a few months later, federal prosecutors offered Kirk a plea deal — a dismissal of the felony if Kirk pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, and a recommendation of one year of probation. A judge agreed to the lessened charge but sentenced Kirk to four months in prison on Monday. Essayli said in a video posted online that prosecutors also offered Kirk a misdemeanor plea agreement under the prior administration, which he turned down. "After reviewing this case extensively and thoroughly and carefully reviewing the facts and the law, I made the decision to re-extend the misdemeanor plea agreement to Deputy Kirk," Essayli said. In court filings signed off by Essayli, prosecutors wrote they believed that Kirk's actions fell on the lower end of the excessive force spectrum, the woman did not suffer "serious bodily injury," and that the case was prosecuted improperly. Some former prosecutors and police conviction experts called the step highly unusual, especially without any indication of prosecutorial misconduct, ethical violations or new evidence in the case. It follows President Donald Trump's vow to "protect and defend" law enforcement officers from prosecution and his efforts to assert greater control over the U.S. Justice Department. "It's very unusual to offer a plea deal after a conviction," said Jeffrey Bellin, a former federal prosecutor from Washington, D.C., who is now a law professor at William and Mary Law School. In cases where it could happen, there's usually new evidence of innocence, "not just the same evidence from a different perspective," he said. Kirk's attorney, Tom Yu, said they filed a motion for acquittal that was denied but planned to appeal the decision. The encounter Caree Harper, who represents the woman Kirk injured, said in court filings that the federal government changed its account of the incident to make Kirk's actions seem justified. In the original indictment, prosecutors wrote Kirk "violently" threw the woman to the ground. In the new plea agreement, the government alleged the woman "swatted" at Kirk and "resisted," Harper wrote, which she said was not proven in the criminal trial nor testified to in civil litigation. She said her client did not commit a crime, had no weapon, and did not try to flee or resist. She suffered from a black eye, a fractured bone in her right wrist, multiple bruises, scratches and significant chemical burning from the pepper-spray. Harper said the plea agreement sent a "dangerous message" that law enforcement officials could be convicted of a felony and still "cut a backroom deal after the trial." Philip Stinson, a former police officer and attorney who studies police misconduct, said the plea deal offered to Kirk was "seemingly without precedent" in federal court cases prosecuting police officers for their on-duty crimes, according to his search of an internal database of more than 24,000 arrest cases in the last 20 years involving sworn law enforcement officers. LA County Sheriff's Department spokesperson Nicole Nishida said Kirk will remain employed with the agency but relieved from duty while it conducts an internal investigation to determine if any policy or procedures were violated. A new approach by federal prosecutors Kirk's case is the latest showing the Trump administration's plan to take a lighter hand in the federal government's traditional role in prosecuting police misconduct. Trump's April executive order on policing promised the "unleashing" of law enforcement and support for their legal defense. The Justice Department announced in May it was canceling proposed consent decrees reached with Minneapolis and Louisville to implement policing reforms in the wake of the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. The department also announced it would retract its findings in six other sweeping investigations into police departments that the Biden administration had accused of civil rights violations. Trump-appointed federal judges have also played a hand in dismissing cases against police officers, including murder charges against a former Atlanta police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man hiding in a closet in 2019. Experts say the reliance on the federal government to perform this policing oversight comes from the close relationship between local prosecutors and police officers, who regularly work together to investigate crimes. "We are often looking at the federal government to serve as a check and balance for local law enforcement officials who are accused of really egregious activity toward the public," said Devin Hart, a spokesperson for the National Police Accountability Project. All four members of the original prosecutors withdrew from the case after the new plea deal was presented, and at least one resigned from the office, according to court filings. Two others took the buyout offered to federal employees, spokesperson Ciaran McEvoy confirmed.
