Protesters gathered in southeastern Los Angeles County Friday evening to face a tired, tired man after federal agents detained at least three people in a car wash in Bell City and visited another car wash in adjacent Maywood.
Bell’s immigration action took place at Jack’s car wash and detail, in the 7,000 block of Atlantic Avenue just north of Florence Avenue. Security camera footage reviewed by The Times shows a masked man in an olive vest chasing after a car wash employee wearing bright green uniforms and a cap.
The video shows another employee wearing a bright green hat, a white long sleeved shirt and blue jeans surrounded by a masked man, his hands restrained behind his back. Employees are tackled on the ground when customers and others gather together and take out their phones to record the video.
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Protesters gathered in southeastern Los Angeles County and faced the masked man tired after an apparent migrant attack in Bell’s city of car washes.
According to the employee’s brother, Jess Rafael Cervantes, the man in a white-sleeved shirt is a car wash worker who is a US citizen. He said his brother, who lives in Bell Gardens, wanted to protect his colleagues. This said the agent urged the agent to restrain his siblings.
“Just to protect someone, they came and defeated him. They knocked him down like that, so you can see on the video. And that’s unfair.
Protesters gathered to confront local agents about six miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. In one video shared with The Times, protesters can hear the silver SUV spraying white paint and saying, “From here…” Others jeer. People can see them hit a car.
Officers from the Department of Homeland Security immediately did not reply to requests for comment. In a statement posted on social media, the agency said Bell and Maywood’s Border Patrol vehicles were “hardly targeted during a legal operation.”
The Department of Homeland Security said one vehicle was plunging in and reduced tires on Atlantic Boulevard. On Slauson Avenue, civilians attack federal vehicles, totalling, according to the department.
“The driver was arrested on suspicion of assaulting the vehicle as a mob formed and reduced additional tires,” the department said.
The statement included photographs showing a silver vehicle with cracked or crushed windows. One silver SUV was shown with dented doors and scratch paint.
“Federal law enforcement is facing a constant increase in attacks, but we are not blocked,” the department said. “Assaulting a federal officer will be charged.”
The statement did not show the number of detention in immigration-related issues.
The protests in Bell, a city with large Latino and Lebanese communities, come as the federal government continues its campaign to find and capture undocumented immigrants in Los Angeles. The action spurred backlash from local and state officials, forcing some residents to hide.
“We don’t know who these armed men are. They show up without uniforms. They are completely masked. They refuse to give them IDs. They drive regular cars with windows and sometimes out of state license plates. Who are these people?” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said at a briefing Friday night.
“If they are federal officials, why don’t they identify themselves?” Bass asked.
Lots of people gather around the streets of Atlantic and Brompton, film videos and watch agents. They were standing on the street near Baskin Robbins’ ice cream shop.
The crowd and agents were separated with yellow tape. One woman with the bull threw indecency on her agent and President Trump. Others waving our flag upside down with the Mexican flag. Traditionally, it was a symbol of protest and pain.
“Loser!” another woman called out. “Fighting the real war!” cried another person, “Your shame!”
Elsewhere, one of the armed people wore the American flag with his vest, and several onlookers called out to them. “Are you a hunter of grace? How much is illegal grace now?” someone on the street cried.
When the crowd gathered, Elizabeth Alcantal Rosa Mayor Kadahi was in the bell and said that the mood on Atlantic Avenue had changed as the mood suddenly stood near her and others who had angered the crowd. Some started hitting objects in SUVs and throwing them. The second unmarked vehicle quickly tried to do the same, she said.
“It felt like it was made to incite violence,” Alcantal Rosa said. “People were protesting peacefully, but it became completely different because of the vehicles they were trying to drive in the crowd.”
“We’ve seen it all in full. People appear in immigration work, violence is instituted on them. And they respond and we are shown as violent protesters.
Just after 8pm, peaceful protesters waving Mexican and American flags gathered around Jack’s car wash at Bell. “Ice comes out from anywhere!!” one sign said. “The immigrants built this country,” another country said.
Maywood Councillor Eddie de la Riva said there was another immigration lawsuit on Friday in Maywood that appears to be focusing on car washes. In the end, no one was taken out of the business, he said.
At one point there was a lot of fuss near the car wash.
The video shared with the Times shows a slight conflict between a blue BMW and a blue SUV, with at least three agents wearing green vests.
One of the SUV passengers opens the door in front of the slow moving BMW, and the BMW bumps into the SUV door.
The agent took the BMW driver into custody and was later released, councillors said after onlookers yelled at the agent to let the driver go. By then, a crowd of protesters had formed.
Fernando Botero, 39, was back in Maywood after picking up his 14-year-old son on his civic app when he received warnings that people suspected of being immigrant agents have been found in the area on his civic app.
After a while he said he learned that the agent was just blocking his home with an Xpress wash on the streets of Slauson and Alamo. As Botero approached the intersection, he was able to see several vehicles blocking the road.
Unable to move, he left the car and watched the scene.
He said the crowd began screaming to let go of the man. He could hear people seeking badge numbers for their agents. Five minutes later, local police arrived, he said.
At that point, the agents got into their car and threw tear gas at the group standing at the corner near the park.
A video shot by Botero shows an armed masked man standing from the open door shelf of a black SUV driving slowly along the street near Riverfront Park in Maywood. The video shows the agent throwing an object at the crowd, and a big bang can be heard as he returns to the car. Botero said the object was a flash bang renade and was thrown by people filming the video.
“They knew what they wanted to do,” he said.
When he spoke about the situation, Botero paused and tried to hold back tears.
“I was upset because people were exercising their rights. They weren’t hitting the police car, so they weren’t in the middle of the street,” he said. “You’re standing up for their neighbors and yourself and punishing people.”
“It feels surreal. I don’t know how long this will last.”
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