Federal immigration agents were seen driving away with a toddler after separating her from her father during a detention in Los Angeles’ Cypress Park neighborhood on Tuesday, as shown in disturbing footage shared with JS.
The nearly eight-minute video captured at least five masked agents questioning a man while a young girl sat in the back of his vehicle, which was parked at the far end of a public parking lot.
Amidst the questioning, around five armed officers patrolled the area as concerned bystanders, including community volunteers monitoring immigration sweeps, confronted the agents and recorded the incident on their phones.
An agent informed the man, whose hands were restrained behind his back, that he had failed to provide identification. A brief struggle ensued, leading the immigration authorities to guide the detainee to one of their trucks while two other agents entered the vehicle where the young girl was and drove away with her.
According to an immigration lawyer who spoke to the family, the 32-year-old man in the video is a U.S. citizen, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
In a statement to the Times on Tuesday night, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson accused the man of exiting his vehicle “wielding a hammer and throwing rocks at law enforcement while having a child in his car.”
“He was arrested for assault, and during the arrest, a pistol reported stolen from the state of New York was found in his car. The individual also has an active warrant for property damage,” the statement continued.
Family members informed the Times that the toddler, who will be 2 in January, has been safely reunited with them, but they are understandably traumatized by the incident.
The Los Angeles Rapid Response Network, consisting of over 1,500 volunteers dedicated to protecting immigrant communities, decried the Cypress Hill incident and accused authorities of conducting Tuesday’s raids to intimidate Los Angeles voters.
“The presence of masked federal agents aims to sow chaos, threaten our community, and ultimately suppress our right to vote,” the organization stated in a message to JS.
