Witnesses said protesters gathered in southeast Los Angeles Friday night in the face of a fatigued masked man, detained at least three people in a car wash in Bell City and visited another car wash near Maywood.
Bell's immigration operation took place in Jack's car wash and details, located in the 7000 block of Atlantic Avenue north of Florence Avenue. Security camera footage from The Times commented shows a masked man wearing an olive vest chasing a car washer, who is wearing a bright green uniform and hat.
The video shows another employee – wearing a bright green hat, a white long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans – surrounded by a masked man with his hands tied behind him. When customers and others gather, the employee is held on the ground, and some take out their phones to record videos.
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Protesters gather in southeast Los Angeles County to face a tired masked man after a car wash in Bell City after a noticeable immigrant raid.
According to Jesús Rafael Cervantes, the employee’s brother, the man wearing a white long-sleeved shirt is a car washer and a U.S. citizen. He said his brother lived in Bell Gardens and wanted to defend a colleague – Cervantes said the action prompted agents to detain his brother.
“Just to defend someone, they come, knock him down. As you can see in the video, they come, and just knock him down. That's not fair, they come to catch someone like this, as if he was an animal or something,” Sevaters told The Times.
Protesters gathered to face agents from the area, about 6 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. In a video shared with The Times, protesters sprayed white paint on the silver SUV and could be heard saying, “Put…get out of here!” while others laughed. People can be seen crashing.
Department of Homeland Security officials did not immediately return the request for comment. The agency said in a statement posted on social media that the Border Patrol vehicles “are fiercely targeted in both Bell and Maywood’s legal actions.”
The Department of Homeland Security said a car was hit and the tires were cut down on the Atlantic boulevard. According to the department, a federal vehicle attacked a federal vehicle on Slauson Avenue, a civilian.
“The driver was arrested for suspected vehicle attacks as the mob formed and cut other tires,” the department said.
The statement includes photos showing silver vehicles with cracked or broken windows. A silver SUV is shown with sunken doors and scratched paint.
“Federal law enforcement is facing a growing attack, but we are not stopped,” the department said. “If you attack a federal officer, you will be prosecuted.”
The statement does not indicate how much detained on immigration-related issues.
The protests in Bell are a city with large Latino and Lebanese communities, looking for and capturing undocumented immigrants as the federal government continues to run in Los Angeles. These actions sparked opposition from local and state officials and forced some residents to hide.
“We are not sure who these armed men are. They don't have uniforms. They cover up completely. They refuse to provide ID cards. They drive regular cars with tinted windows, in some cases, outside the state license plate. Who are these people?” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a briefing Friday night.
“If they were federal officials, why didn't they identify with themselves?” asked the bass.
Around the Atlantic and Brompton Avenue, the crowds gathered to shoot videos and watch these agents-armed men were wearing Balaclav, some carrying long weapons, wearing vests and cam pants. They stood on the street near the Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop.
The crowd and agents were separated by yellow tape. A woman throws obscene women on agents and President Trump. Others waved the Mexican flag and the upside-down American flag, traditionally a symbol of protest or distress.
“Loser!” another woman called out. “Go and fight a war!” another shouted, “Shame you!”
Elsewhere, one of the armed men wore the American flag on his vest and some onlookers called them. “Are you a bounty hunter? Is it an illegal bounty now?” someone shouted in the street.
As the crowd gathered, Cudashi Mayor Elizabeth Alcantar Loza was in Bell and said the mood on Atlantic Avenue suddenly suddenly came to anger the crowd with an unmarked silver SUV towards the people standing near her and the others. Some people start bumping into the SUV and throwing it away. A moment later, a second unmarked vehicle tried to do the same thing, she said.
“It feels like it’s about inciting violence,” Alcantar Loza said. “People are protesting peacefully, and that’s completely different because the vehicle is trying to drive into the crowd.”
“We've seen this all over the board, people are participating in immigration activities and then violently doing them. Then they respond and we're proven to be violent protesters – the people in reality are calm, they're chanting, they're chanting, they're protesting. They're trying to run for people.”
After 8 p.m., motorists honked their horns and waved peaceful protesters on Bell's car wash, waving the Mexican and American flags. “Elter everywhere!!” said a sign. Another country said: “Immigrants built this country.”
According to Maywood MP Eddie de La Riva, there appeared to be another immigration operation on Friday that appeared to be focusing on a car wash in Maywood. In the end, no one took it from the business, he said.
Once, there was a considerable commotion near the car wash.
Video shared with The Times shows a slight collision between a blue BMW and a blue SUV, with at least three agents inside, all wearing green vests.
A passenger in the SUV opened his door in front of the slowly moving BMW, causing the BMW to hit the SUV's door.
The MP said agents detained the BMW driver and were later released. By then, a group of protesters were formed.
Fernando Botello, 39, encountered an alarm on his citizenship app that people were found in the area when suspected of being an immigration agent and later drove back to Maywood.
He said a moment later he learned that agents were in the Xpress Wash in Slauson and Alamo Avenues, just blocks from his home. When Botello approached the intersection, he could see several vehicles blocking the road.
He couldn't move, he got out of the car and looked at the scene.
He said the crowd began to scream to let go of the man. He could hear the numbers of badges people asked for agents. He said five minutes later, local police arrived.
At that time, he said, agents drove into their vehicle and threw tear gas on a group of people standing in a corner near the park.
A video taken by Botello shows an armed masked man standing on the ledge of a black SUV open-air door, driving slowly along a street near Maywood Riverside Park. The video shows the agent throwing objects at a group of people and he will hear a loud noise when he returns to the car. Botello said the object was an explosive grenade and was thrown by the person in the video.
“They know what they want to do,” he said.
As he told the situation, Botlo paused to try to stop the tears.
“I'm frustrated because people are exercising their rights. They're not hitting the officer's vehicles, they're not in the middle of the street,” he said. “You're punishing people to stand up for their neighbors and yourself.”
“It feels surreal. I don't know how long this will last.”
