Latest news with #ElizabethMendoza
CNN
5 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
A protest over immigration broke out next to a Compton restaurant. The owner, an immigrant, offered help to both protesters and cops
Elizabeth Mendoza watched nervously as demonstrators protesting President Donald Trump's immigration raids and policies clashed with police outside of her Compton restaurant, Restaurante Y Pupuseria La Ceiba. 'It started with just a few people, then it started growing very quickly,' she told CNN in an interview translated from Spanish. Mendoza, herself an immigrant from El Salvador, has gained notoriety after videos of her and her staff sheltering protesters and helping law enforcement agents in her Los Angeles County restaurant spread across social media. In the late afternoon hours on Saturday, June 7, the protest began to ramp up significantly as demonstrators and officers clashed right in front of her business. At one point, Mendoza recalled seeing the police push the protesters away from her storefront and deploying chemical irritants. 'I don't know what happened with the tear gas they threw. It was so strong at one point that we all felt like we were suffocating,' Mendoza told CNN. 'Then they came in. It wasn't something planned, it wasn't something I was thinking about, but it just happened,' she said. Inside the restaurant, video at 5:30 p.m. shows Mendoza and her employees getting water for LA County Sheriff's deputies, fanning their blinking, watering eyes and applying wet towels to their faces. An employee guided one of the officers toward the walk-in refrigerator at the back of the store after wiping off his face, surveillance video shows. In a video Mendoza uploaded to TikTok, three of her employees can be seen taking care of two officers: One employee holds a cloth to the face of an officer while another fans his face. 'I looked for masks and gave them to different people … The only thing I managed to grab for some protesters were towels, towels we use to clean. And I told them to cover yourselves with this. And then they covered themselves,' Mendoza said. 'I also offered them milk. I ran out of milk.' Clashes between protesters and law enforcement have resulted in hundreds of arrests in Los Angeles, and Trump invoked a rarely used law to federalize the National Guard over the objection of Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and local officials, which further inflamed the response. The Trump administration also mobilized 700 Marines to the Los Angeles area on Monday, though it is not yet clear when they will be deployed onto the streets to help with protests, according to a US Northern Command spokesperson. Mendoza said she never directed her staff to help the people suffering after the confrontation just outside the restaurant – they acted of their own accord. 'I was at the door, just letting everyone in,' she said. 'They just acted the way they felt they should have done to other people themselves.' Almost half of Los Angeles County's nearly 10 million residents are Latinos or Hispanics, according to US Census data. Over one-third of Angelenos are immigrants. Mendoza came to the United States without her family – 'without a father, without a mother, without siblings,' she told CNN, and first found work at a restaurant. She opened her own restaurant 15 years ago and has since found her place in the community. 'I was afraid something bad would happen and they would destroy my restaurant, which you hear about,' Mendoza said. 'So I decided to stay there, and looking at that whole situation, thank God, I sympathize with many protesters. I live in the area, and I can practically tell you that I know several of them, and they are good people and are my clients.' Multiple friends contacted Mendoza and urged her to close her restaurant for the day after seeing all of the chaos surrounding the protests in her neighborhood. Mendoza felt that she had to stay open to provide for her clients that had stayed with her 'through the good and the bad.' 'I have to take care of them and, above all, of my clients, who have always been with me through thick and thin, and who are my Latino people and people of any other race,' she said. While the restaurant workers' compassion has been praised by many, Mendoza said some have criticized her for helping both demonstrators and authorities. 'I just want them to know that we did it as human beings,' she said. 'I'm happy to have helped those people, just like I did with the people who were there for the protests.' Mendoza said the world could use more 'empathy and humanity for all people,' and that as an immigrant, she wants people to know most immigrants who come to the United States do so to work hard and make a better life for themselves and others. 'Sometimes we're treated like aliens; we're not like that. The fact that we're darker-skinned doesn't make us different,' she said. 'We've all seen it as a wonderful country, and we've all seen a country with better opportunities for our lives. Yes, and maybe that's why we decided to come here, and maybe some of us haven't done it the right way. But in the same way, we've all come with a purpose, which is to work and put in the effort. And often, I think they don't realize that it's us Latinos who come to do the most difficult jobs.' More demonstrations are planned nationwide this week and weekend, when the military parade honoring the Army's 250th birthday is planned in Washington, DC.
CNN
6 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
A protest over immigration broke out next to a Compton restaurant. The owner, an immigrant, offered help to both protesters and cops
Elizabeth Mendoza watched nervously as demonstrators protesting President Donald Trump's immigration raids and policies clashed with police outside of her Compton restaurant, Restaurante Y Pupuseria La Ceiba. 'It started with just a few people, then it started growing very quickly,' she told CNN in an interview translated from Spanish. Mendoza, herself an immigrant from El Salvador, has gained notoriety after videos of her and her staff sheltering protesters and helping law enforcement agents in her Los Angeles County restaurant spread across social media. In the late afternoon hours on Saturday, June 7, the protest began to ramp up significantly as demonstrators and officers clashed right in front of her business. At one point, Mendoza recalled seeing the police push the protesters away from her storefront and deploying chemical irritants. 'I don't know what happened with the tear gas they threw. It was so strong at one point that we all felt like we were suffocating,' Mendoza told CNN. 'Then they came in. It wasn't something planned, it wasn't something I was thinking about, but it just happened,' she said. Inside the restaurant, video at 5:30 p.m. shows Mendoza and her employees getting water for LA County Sheriff's deputies, fanning their blinking, watering eyes and applying wet towels to their faces. An employee guided one of the officers toward the walk-in refrigerator at the back of the store after wiping off his face, surveillance video shows. In a video Mendoza uploaded to TikTok, three of her employees can be seen taking care of two officers: One employee holds a cloth to the face of an officer while another fans his face. 'I looked for masks and gave them to different people … The only thing I managed to grab for some protesters were towels, towels we use to clean. And I told them to cover yourselves with this. And then they covered themselves,' Mendoza said. 'I also offered them milk. I ran out of milk.' Clashes between protesters and law enforcement have resulted in hundreds of arrests in Los Angeles, and Trump invoked a rarely used law to federalize the National Guard over the objection of Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and local officials, which further inflamed the response. The Trump administration also mobilized 700 Marines to the Los Angeles area on Monday, though it is not yet clear when they will be deployed onto the streets to help with protests, according to a US Northern Command spokesperson. Mendoza said she never directed her staff to help the people suffering after the confrontation just outside the restaurant – they acted of their own accord. 'I was at the door, just letting everyone in,' she said. 'They just acted the way they felt they should have done to other people themselves.' Almost half of Los Angeles County's nearly 10 million residents are Latinos or Hispanics, according to US Census data. Over one-third of Angelenos are immigrants. Mendoza came to the United States without her family – 'without a father, without a mother, without siblings,' she told CNN, and first found work at a restaurant. She opened her own restaurant 15 years ago and has since found her place in the community. 'I was afraid something bad would happen and they would destroy my restaurant, which you hear about,' Mendoza said. 'So I decided to stay there, and looking at that whole situation, thank God, I sympathize with many protesters. I live in the area, and I can practically tell you that I know several of them, and they are good people and are my clients.' Multiple friends contacted Mendoza and urged her to close her restaurant for the day after seeing all of the chaos surrounding the protests in her neighborhood. Mendoza felt that she had to stay open to provide for her clients that had stayed with her 'through the good and the bad.' 'I have to take care of them and, above all, of my clients, who have always been with me through thick and thin, and who are my Latino people and people of any other race,' she said. While the restaurant workers' compassion has been praised by many, Mendoza said some have criticized her for helping both demonstrators and authorities. 'I just want them to know that we did it as human beings,' she said. 'I'm happy to have helped those people, just like I did with the people who were there for the protests.' Mendoza said the world could use more 'empathy and humanity for all people,' and that as an immigrant, she wants people to know most immigrants who come to the United States do so to work hard and make a better life for themselves and others. 'Sometimes we're treated like aliens; we're not like that. The fact that we're darker-skinned doesn't make us different,' she said. 'We've all seen it as a wonderful country, and we've all seen a country with better opportunities for our lives. Yes, and maybe that's why we decided to come here, and maybe some of us haven't done it the right way. But in the same way, we've all come with a purpose, which is to work and put in the effort. And often, I think they don't realize that it's us Latinos who come to do the most difficult jobs.' More demonstrations are planned nationwide this week and weekend, when the military parade honoring the Army's 250th birthday is planned in Washington, DC.
CNN
6 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
A protest over immigration broke out next to a Compton restaurant. The owner, an immigrant, offered help to both protesters and cops
Elizabeth Mendoza watched nervously as demonstrators protesting President Donald Trump's immigration raids and policies clashed with police outside of her Compton restaurant, Restaurante Y Pupuseria La Ceiba. 'It started with just a few people, then it started growing very quickly,' she told CNN in an interview translated from Spanish. Mendoza, herself an immigrant from El Salvador, has gained notoriety after videos of her and her staff sheltering protesters and helping law enforcement agents in her Los Angeles County restaurant spread across social media. In the late afternoon hours on Saturday, June 7, the protest began to ramp up significantly as demonstrators and officers clashed right in front of her business. At one point, Mendoza recalled seeing the police push the protesters away from her storefront and deploying chemical irritants. 'I don't know what happened with the tear gas they threw. It was so strong at one point that we all felt like we were suffocating,' Mendoza told CNN. 'Then they came in. It wasn't something planned, it wasn't something I was thinking about, but it just happened,' she said. Inside the restaurant, video at 5:30 p.m. shows Mendoza and her employees getting water for LA County Sheriff's deputies, fanning their blinking, watering eyes and applying wet towels to their faces. An employee guided one of the officers toward the walk-in refrigerator at the back of the store after wiping off his face, surveillance video shows. In a video Mendoza uploaded to TikTok, three of her employees can be seen taking care of two officers: One employee holds a cloth to the face of an officer while another fans his face. 'I looked for masks and gave them to different people … The only thing I managed to grab for some protesters were towels, towels we use to clean. And I told them to cover yourselves with this. And then they covered themselves,' Mendoza said. 'I also offered them milk. I ran out of milk.' Clashes between protesters and law enforcement have resulted in hundreds of arrests in Los Angeles, and Trump invoked a rarely used law to federalize the National Guard over the objection of Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and local officials, which further inflamed the response. The Trump administration also mobilized 700 Marines to the Los Angeles area on Monday, though it is not yet clear when they will be deployed onto the streets to help with protests, according to a US Northern Command spokesperson. Mendoza said she never directed her staff to help the people suffering after the confrontation just outside the restaurant – they acted of their own accord. 'I was at the door, just letting everyone in,' she said. 'They just acted the way they felt they should have done to other people themselves.' Almost half of Los Angeles County's nearly 10 million residents are Latinos or Hispanics, according to US Census data. Over one-third of Angelenos are immigrants. Mendoza came to the United States without her family – 'without a father, without a mother, without siblings,' she told CNN, and first found work at a restaurant. She opened her own restaurant 15 years ago and has since found her place in the community. 'I was afraid something bad would happen and they would destroy my restaurant, which you hear about,' Mendoza said. 'So I decided to stay there, and looking at that whole situation, thank God, I sympathize with many protesters. I live in the area, and I can practically tell you that I know several of them, and they are good people and are my clients.' Multiple friends contacted Mendoza and urged her to close her restaurant for the day after seeing all of the chaos surrounding the protests in her neighborhood. Mendoza felt that she had to stay open to provide for her clients that had stayed with her 'through the good and the bad.' 'I have to take care of them and, above all, of my clients, who have always been with me through thick and thin, and who are my Latino people and people of any other race,' she said. While the restaurant workers' compassion has been praised by many, Mendoza said some have criticized her for helping both demonstrators and authorities. 'I just want them to know that we did it as human beings,' she said. 'I'm happy to have helped those people, just like I did with the people who were there for the protests.' Mendoza said the world could use more 'empathy and humanity for all people,' and that as an immigrant, she wants people to know most immigrants who come to the United States do so to work hard and make a better life for themselves and others. 'Sometimes we're treated like aliens; we're not like that. The fact that we're darker-skinned doesn't make us different,' she said. 'We've all seen it as a wonderful country, and we've all seen a country with better opportunities for our lives. Yes, and maybe that's why we decided to come here, and maybe some of us haven't done it the right way. But in the same way, we've all come with a purpose, which is to work and put in the effort. And often, I think they don't realize that it's us Latinos who come to do the most difficult jobs.' More demonstrations are planned nationwide this week and weekend, when the military parade honoring the Army's 250th birthday is planned in Washington, DC.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE The sad reason customers have fled El Salvadoran restaurant that went viral for helping LA riot cops
Restaurant owner Elizabeth Mendoza didn't expect a brief video footage of her heroic employees helping deputies would go viral. On Monday, Elizabeth stood in front of her business, a Salvadoran restaurant called La Ceiba, just two days after the terrifying incident when a handful of LA County Sheriff's deputies overcome by tear gas burst into her small restaurant. Without missing a beat, Mendoza's cousin, Rosa, jumped in and splashed milk and water into the grateful deputies' eyes. 'They came in with a lot of coughing,' Elizabeth told 'That's when I knew they needed help.' Over the weekend, La Ceiba became the center of activity after protestors clashed with deputies in Compton, California. The protestors mobilized in the area on Saturday after Homeland Security agents detained several day laborers at the Home Depot less than a mile from the restaurant. During the skirmish with protestors, several deputies who were overcome by the chemicals sought refuge and piled into La Ceiba. Footage of the restaurant workers providing aid to the dazed deputies quickly went viral over the weekend. Rosa, who also works as a chef at the restaurant, said she was surprised at all the attention their little family establishment has received since the incident. She was one of the employees who was seen helping deputies to clear their eyes. 'I helped them because we are all humans,' Rosa told 'They needed our help and we are here to serve.' On Monday, however, Elizabeth sighed heavily as she looked at her empty restaurant. The beginning of the work week is usually busy at La Ceiba, a Salvadoran restaurant in Compton, just 20 minutes south of Downtown LA. 'All the people are scared,' Elizabeth said. 'Because of the ICE raids, they are staying away from the area. I don't think it's because we helped some of the officers. I think it's because of ICE and the situation in general.' Adriana Lemus, a La Ceiba employee, said business has been slow ever since the clash on Saturday. The restaurant also has a karaoke bar next door, which is usually filled with customers over the weekend. Barely a handful of patrons showed up on Sunday. On Monday, things were not better. 'On a daily basis it's usually busy in the morning,' Lemus said. 'People stop by for breakfast and come for lunch here. Since Saturday, it's been pretty slow, and we believe people are afraid to come here to expose themselves [to ICE].' Lemus said employees have been instructed to protect their patrons should ICE agents return to the area. 'We will close our doors to them and ask for a warrant because they are required to show that,' Lemus said. 'We protect our customers here and we want them to know they will be safe.' While there was more DoorDash orders coming in on Monday, seeing the empty seats in the normally busy restaurant is disheartening, owner Elizabeth Mendoza said. 'We hope it will pick up again once they [ICE] leave the area, but who knows,' she said. By Monday night, Elizabeth said she received dozens of calls at the restaurant asking how they could support her business. Strangers who saw the viral video said they were moved by Elizabeth and her employees' heroism in helping the deputies. One man from New York even sent Elizabeth $300. 'He said, "I want to support your restaurant and I want you to deliver that food to a nearby police station." And before that call, someone from the Compton Police called to say they want to recognize my business. She continued in tears: 'It's too much because we didn't really think about it when it was happening. We just wanted to help our fellow humans. It's what we all should do.'
CBS News
4 days ago
- CBS News
Compton restaurant owner served compassion amid immigration enforcement protests
La Ceiba Restaurante y Pupuseria in Compton served up more than pupusas on Saturday as owner Elizabeth Mendoza and her staff offered compassion and aid to protesters and sheriff deputies alike. Mendoza said although chaos ensued outside her restaurant, she knew she had to stay open. On June 7, protests began in Paramount after it appeared that federal law enforcement officers were conducting another operation there. The Department of Homeland Security said there was not "an ICE 'raid' at a Home Depot in LA today," but rather DHS was staging at an office in Paramount. Demonstrations spread to the nearby city of Compton. Mendoza said on Saturday that friends and family were calling to tell her to close her restaurant and leave but she said something told her to stay. "No, I can't. I need to help when the people need me," Mendoza said. She said she feared for her life as protesters and law enforcement clashed outside on Alondra Boulevard, just feet away from her business. "I feel like, at war." As an immigrant from El Salvador, Mendoza says she sympathizes with the protesters, and that federal immigration enforcement is affecting many of her long-time customers. "My kids, my husband, we're okay. But I know a lot of people came, they don't have papers, they don't have anything, but they want to work," Mendoza said. When protesters needed water, napkins and food, she said she handed it to them. As the situation escalated, she realized her business was the only one open. La Ceiba Restaurante y Pupuseria staff helped sheriff deputies as they responded to protests in Compton on Saturday, June 7. Elizabeth Mendoza Later in the day, around 5:30 p.m., a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy came into the restaurant, crouched over after being sprayed in the face with a chemical irritant. Other deputies followed, and restaurant staff escorted some into the walk-in freezer to cool them off, while others were fanned with paper plates. A video posted to Mendoza's TikTok account shows the deputies, sitting at the restaurant booths, getting fanned as they take a minute to recover from their duties outside. Mendoza said they even put milk and ice on the face of one of the deputies who was suffering from chemical exposure. When asked why they did it, Mendoza said it was not about taking sides as both the deputies and protesters are her beloved customers, part of her community.
