Faith leaders decry ICE operation in Downey Memorial Christian Church parking lot

Faith leaders gathered at Downey Memorial Christian Church on Wednesday, June 11, to decry the detention of an unidentified man on their property earlier that day.

The man, described as a dark-skinned man with dark hair who only spoke Spanish, was taken into custody by law enforcement dressed in plainclothes who refused to identify themselves or produce a warrant for the man’s arrest on Wednesday, according to church leaders.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, could not immediately be reached for comment.

But Paulina Alcala, a Downey resident, said she was driving down Florence Avenue near Downey Memorial Christian Church when she saw several law enforcement agents surround the unidentified man, who was sitting on a bench outside a business adjacent to the church.

Unsure about whether the officers were local police or ICE agents, Alcala flipped her car around and went to see if she could assist the man.

“Once I heard that they were asking for papers, I was like, oh — this is ICE,”  Alcala said Wednesday. “(An agent) called me an illegal and said that I was going to get arrested for getting in the way — I told them that I am a USA citizen fighting for what is going on right now. The only thing I said to them was he’s just sitting under a tree and he’s not doing anything. The moment (I said that), they got him up (and) dragged him away.”

Soon, a group of about 10 community members, including multiple leaders from the Downey Memorial Christian Church, joined Alcala in the parking lot to confront the agents. Several witnesses at the scene, including the church’s senior pastor, Tanya Lopez, said there were three unmarked vehicles and about five law enforcement officers in the church parking lot to arrest one man.

“They were wearing regular clothing — one of them was wearing Vans like the ones I’m wearing today. They had a badge across their vest that said police,” Lopez said. “I said where’s your badge number and tell me your name — and why are you wearing a mask? Police officers don’t have to hide their identity.”

Lopez recorded the incident, and repeatedly asked the officers to identify themselves, produce a warrant for the man’s arrest, and to stop conducting a raid on the church’s private property, she said. Lopez also tried to step closer to the vehicle the officers had detained the man in to try to get his name and age, and to advise him not to sign any papers.

“They did point their rifle at me — and they said, ‘You need to get back,’” Lopez said. “I did decide to finally step back, because unfortunately, since they had no warrants, they chose to not show any documentation, I (could not) be sure that they wouldn’t choose to fire whatever kind of weapon they have.”

The entire incident — from Alcala sighting the officers surrounding the man to them detaining him in the vehicle and leaving — lasted only around three minutes in total, Alcala said.

“They kept asking us to step back, and telling us that we couldn’t be there. Some words were exchanged, and this will stand in my mind,” said Rev. Al Lopez. “When we said we don’t want this in our property, a gentleman just shouted, ‘The whole country is a property.’ When someone tells that to you with a weapon in their hands — that was a very clear message.”

The Wednesday incident at Downey Memorial Christian Church is just one of many similar federal immigration operations being reported across Los Angeles County as the Trump administration continues to ramp up its mass deportation agenda.

While critics have called the administration’s decision to federalize the National Guard and deploy 700 U.S. Marines to Los Angeles following several days of protests in Downtown Los Angeles in response to ICE’s increased presence in the region immoral and illegal — with the state suing the federal government over the decisions earlier this week — the White House has steadfastly stuck to its guns, arguing that the crackdown is necessary to secure the country’s borders.

The Trump’s administration has promised to round up some 3,000 immigrants a day and deport 1 million a year. Republicans have been relentless in their attacks on Democrats, portraying the protests in Los Angeles — which have been largely confined to a small area downtown — in highly charged terms as “riots,” in a preview of campaign ads to come.

At a private meeting of House Republicans this week with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Rep. Richard Hudson, the chairman of the GOP’s campaign arm, framed the situation as Democrats supporting rioting and chaos while Republicans stand for law and order.

“Violent insurrectionists turned areas of Los Angeles into lawless hellscapes over the weekend,” Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., wrote earlier this week in the Wall Street Journal, suggesting it may be time to send in military troops.

“The American people elected Donald Trump and a Republican Congress to secure our border and deport violent illegal aliens,” he wrote. “That’s exactly what the president is doing.”

Ron Gochez, with Union del Barrio, said during the Wednesday press conference that his organization had confirmed at least 20 different ICE operations throughout LA County — on Wednesday alone.

“There have been coordinated attacks against our community throughout the Los Angeles area today,” Gochez said. “And so today, as we do our part to try to defend the community from these ICE raids that are separating families, we remind you that the vast majority of people who are being kidnapped on the streets of the city are working class people who do not have criminal records. We want to put that out there clearly.”

Associated Press reporter Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.