Video shows an ICE agent pointing a handgun in the face of a North Hollywood bystander.
A federal immigration agent pulled out a handgun and pointed it inches from a passerby’s face during an apparent raid in North Hollywood Friday morning, according to video obtained by The Times.
The bystander was not arrested or taken into custody by federal officials during the incident, but a person who appeared to be a masked federal agent pushed the man into some bushes and pointed the handgun in his face after the bystander threw a spray can into the street that had been dropped by another agent, according to video and a witness.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the incident.
The encounter happened shortly before 8:30 a.m. near the intersection of Vineland Place and Otsego Street, said resident Damari Butler. Butler was sitting on his balcony when he said he saw a pedestrian being attacked on the sidewalk by two masked men who appeared to be U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Butler said there appeared to be no warning before the man was thrown into nearby bushes. That’s what got Butler started recording.
“There was no asking what his name was, no ID, nothing,” Butler said. “They just grabbed him.”
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The video shows a masked ICE agent stopping a pedestrian on the sidewalk, while a man with two dogs on leashes stands nearby.
After a few seconds, a second masked person wearing tactical gear with “ICE Police” written across the chest rushes in, telling the man with the dogs to back off while pointing what witnesses say was a can of pepper spray at him.
The man with the two dogs is then seen backing away while the two officers handcuff the man on the sidewalk. Someone can also be heard shouting “ICE!” » in the background.
As the officers carry the man by the arms, an officer is seen in the video dropping the cartridge. We then see the passerby with the dogs rushing towards the can. An ICE officer sees this and rushes towards him. The man throws the object towards the street. That’s when the second officer draws his gun.
“The guy with the dog, I guess he brushed the pepper spray aside, and then the other ICE agent ran,” Butler said.
The confrontation between the two lasts only a fraction of a second, because the man with the dogs steps back after throwing the can and the agent facing him drops it.
But behind this officer was the other who had stopped the pedestrian. This masked man pulls out a gun with his right hand, points it at the man with the dogs, and walks toward him. He then extends his left arm, pushes the man into the bushes and leans over him, holding the gun inches from the man’s face. The person then backs up, holsters the gun and returns to the SUV.
The officer yells at the unidentified passerby and leaves him on the sidewalk while another officer retrieves the can from the street.
Someone in the area can be heard using whistles, a tool some activists have used to alert people when ICE is in the area. Meanwhile, the arrested man is seen lying in the street, screaming for help in Spanish.
Eventually, other officers showed up and put the arrested man in the back of an SUV. Under the gaze of the man with the dogs and a second witness, an officer approached them and sprayed the man with the dogs.
We see the passerby fleeing.
Officials from ICE and the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for information about the man who was arrested or why he was arrested. The incident occurred a day after a federal judge barred Southern California agents from arresting people based on racial stereotypes and found that immigration agents stopped and detained people in the region because they appeared Latino.
Butler said the incident was disturbing to see and has shaken area residents.
“It shows how helpless we are,” he said. “I thought this man was going to die. If someone throws a gun and puts a gun that close to his face, you expect the worst to happen at that point.”
Since then, the video has been circulating on social networks.
Ron Gochez, a leader with Union del Barrio, a community group that monitors ICE activities in the area, said several videos of the North Hollywood incident were sent to the group.
Mayor Karen Bass called the video and reports of the incident “alarming.”
“My office is aware of the situation and we stand with the community and the concerns residents are raising regarding the tactics being used,” Bass said in a statement. “We will not stand idly by and accept tactics that intimidate, instill fear or put our communities at risk. »
Councilwoman Nithya Raman, who is running against Bass in the upcoming election, also released a statement on social media, saying she was outraged by the incident, calling ICE arrests on city streets “kidnappings.”
“LA is not a playground for the Trump regime’s inhumane operations, and Angelenos should not have to live in fear of going to work, taking their children to school, or living their lives.”
A spokesperson for Councilman Adrin Nazarian, who represents the area on the city council, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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