“Help me! Help me! My arm is f— broken, it hurts!” » shouts a Long Beach man as he is pinned facedown in a gutter and handcuffed by ICE agents.
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Videos of the detention, which took place Saturday in a residential neighborhood in North Long Beach, sparked outrage over the tactics employed by federal immigration agents and the lack of answers from the Department of Homeland Security about the operation itself. DHS did not respond to The Times’ request for comment Monday.
Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said he was outraged by the recordings and spoke to the injured man, Ricardo Gonzalez, who is a former longtime city employee.
“Ricardo is a dad,” Richardson said. “He just wants his kids to feel safe. He shouldn’t have to worry about getting hurt, getting hit by a car. Kids shouldn’t have to see their parents detained, whether you’re a U.S. citizen or not.”
Gonzalez told Richardson he was a U.S. citizen. On Monday, Richardson filed a complaint with the DHS Office of Inspector General requesting an independent investigation into the use of force incident and that all officers involved be removed from law enforcement in the field until such an investigation is completed.
According to the mayor, Gonzalez called 911 Saturday to request police help with de-escalation after seeing a group of unmarked vehicles and a crowd gathering in his neighborhood. By the time officers arrived on scene near Locust Avenue and Ellis Street, Gonzalez was on the ground and screaming for medical help after being struck by a vehicle, Richardson said.
His daughter, Leslie Gonzalez, wrote that her father was shocked twice with a Taser and pinned to the ground before being taken to the hospital with serious injuries. The family started a GoFundMe to cover his medical expenses.
“My father is one of the hardest working men,” wrote Leslie Gonzalez. “Thanks to him, I have a roof over my head and I have every opportunity around me. Our family is all because of him. We ask for your support and prayers during this horrible time. What ICE did was wrong.”
She told The Times on Monday that the past few days had been a “difficult time” for her family and declined to answer further questions until her father had recovered and was ready to talk.
Sherman Austin, a Long Beach resident who volunteers with the Local Rapid Response Network, a group that tracks Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities, had arrived in North Long Beach with several others after receiving alerts about the presence of agents in the area. He said he observed unmarked vehicles when one suddenly fled.
He followed the vehicle which he said ran stop signs in the residential area and that’s when he saw Ricardo Gonzalez. The man was on the ground, next to another unmarked car, with his electric bike overturned.
“They just kept their knee on his back and put handcuffs on him while his arm was broken,” Austin said. “You could see his arm bone split and they just sat there on him and didn’t explain anything to anyone.”
Neighbors came out and gathered around, arguing with ICE agents, who were arresting a woman. Bystanders began pleading with Long Beach police officers, who had arrived on the scene, to do something about the situation.
“They had just broken a man’s arm and they were trying to run away with this other woman,” Austin said. “Everyone was understandably extremely angry and frustrated. »
The Long Beach Police Department said in a statement that it received a request for assistance from DHS and ICE on Saturday “due to vehicle vandalism in progress and a subject in need of medical assistance.”
Officers transported Gonzalez to a nearby fire station, where they removed the handcuffs, allowing paramedics from the Long Beach Fire Department to transport him to a hospital for treatment. Officers remained on scene to de-escalate the situation and direct the crowd of spectators from the area, police said.
Police told ICE agents that if they wanted to file a vandalism report, they could contact the City of Long Beach communications center and a Long Beach police officer would respond.
The incident occurred amid a recent increase in immigration enforcement in Southern California. Some immigration advocates say the measure is intended to discourage voter turnout in the midterm elections.
“We need to understand why the use of force was necessary,” Richardson said. “A car striking an individual, if it was justified. What were the circumstances surrounding the injury? Why did the officers not provide medical assistance?”
Richardson demanded that DHS answer these questions and provide information about the purpose and scope of the broader enforcement operation in its complaint to the Office of Inspector General.
“A federal badge is not a license to brutalize people, disregard their constitutional rights, or deny medical assistance to someone in need,” he wrote in the complaint. “No one is above the law, including the officers charged with enforcing it.”
U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach) said in a statement Sunday on X that the videos of the encounter were horrific and should worry the country.
“ICE agents brutally attacked and broke the arm of a North Long Beach resident and American citizen,” he wrote, adding that he was “proud of the neighbors who documented and defended the family terrorized by ICE.”
First Assistant U.S. Attorney. Bill Essayli shared Garcia’s post with a statement accusing the congressman of encouraging people to obstruct the work of ICE agents.
“These incidents would be less frequent if targets complied with lawful orders,” Essayli wrote. “You are intentionally fanning the flames and increasing the danger to the community and officers.”
A Justice Department spokesperson said there was no criminal case involving Gonzalez and referred all questions to DHS. The spokesperson did not say whether Essayli accused Gonzalez of interfering with Saturday’s operation.
Richardson described Gonzalez as a member of the town family and said what should have been a safe Saturday in the community turned into a chaotic and deeply worrying Saturday.
“You shouldn’t be able to drive around our neighborhoods chasing people and hitting them with your car,” Richardson said. “This is not acceptable in America.”
Gonzalez worked for the city of Long Beach in several roles and graduated from Millikan High School, according to his LinkedIn page. He worked as a customer service representative for the city’s Department of Energy Resources, as well as the Department of Environmental Health and the Department of Utilities.
He describes himself as having years of experience in customer service and data entry, an open mind and a willingness to always lend a helping hand.
“I am open to new challenges in any industry and do my best to achieve any goals I set for myself,” Gonzalez wrote in his LinkedIn bio. “I have been knocked down many times and many doors have been closed to me, but I remain positive, happy and fulfilled to be part of this great team that I call family in the city of Long Beach.”
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