GOP lawmaker demands accountability for LAPD's delayed response time helping assaulted ICE officers
FIRST ON FOX: California GOP Congressman Darrell Issa is calling for an investigation into allegations that the Los Angeles Police Department did not promptly respond to protect ICE officers being assaulted as violence broke out in the city on Friday night.
Issa, who represents California's 48th Congressional District and is a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, said in a press release Tuesday he is calling for a "full and complete Congressional investigation" into the response time of the LAPD assisting the ICE officers who, according to a press release from DHS, waited for two hours for assistance.
"Last night, over 1,000 rioters surrounded a federal law enforcement building and assaulted ICE law enforcement officers, slashed tires, defaced buildings, and taxpayer funded property," DHS said in a press release on Saturday, referring to the previous night when violence broke out in Los Angeles in response to the ICE raids.
"It took the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) 2 hours to respond."
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, who quickly put out a press release Friday reassuring the public that the department does not participate in immigration activities, pushed back against DHS' claim in a Sunday press conference.
"When we heard that, I think anybody who's a police officer couldn't believe it, and certainly anyone with LAPD couldn't imagine how that could happen," McDonnell said to reporters. "Well, it didn't happen."
McDonnell claimed that the actual response time was 40 minutes due to traffic.
In a statement to Fox News Digital on Monday, Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stood by the department's original claim.
"The fact remains that it took the Los Angeles Police Department two hours to respond," McLaughlin said. "During that time, over 1,000 rioters surrounded a federal law enforcement building and assaulted ICE law enforcement officers, slashed tires, defaced buildings, and taxpayer funded property. DHS is grateful that now the LAPD is stepping up to help restore law and order."
Fox News Digital reached out to the LAPD for comment.
Issa said in a statement regarding his call for investigation that, "We need to know if the political leadership of the City of Los Angeles, the State of California, or anyone else instructed the LAPD to stand down and not respond to the emergency requests of our ICE agents who were under attack by rioters determined to block them, burn them, or even kill them as they bravely carried out their sworn duties."
Democratic leadership in California has faced widespread criticism from conservatives for blaming President Donald Trump for the unrest and referring to the protests, many of them violent, as "peaceful."
While some protesters have remained peaceful, violence had taken place by the end of the day Friday and continued into the weekend, resulting in law enforcement officers being injured and attacked with projectiles and fireworks.
On Monday, LAPD announced that 50 arrests had been made with charges including attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon on an officer, Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin reported on X, adding that five LAPD officers and five LAPD horses sustained minor injuries.
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