El Pueblo en una Sola Voz

LOS ANGELES, CA— Masked ICE agents with military gear conducted raids across Los Angeles on Friday, using flash-bang grenades and pepper spray against peaceful demonstrators in the Fashion District and injuring and detaining a union leader. The raids stoked fear and outrage across the city and set off a day of peaceful protest, confrontation and community defense.

Hundreds of demonstrators joined immigrant-rights advocates, workers and labor leaders to denounce the senseless aggression and to demand the release of David Huerta, California President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

The Trump Administration’s surging use of indiscriminate police-state tactics and violence has immigrant-rights advocates and leaders calling for massive peaceful resistance by the people.

The following is a statement from Pablo Alvarado, Co-Executive Director of the National Day Laborer Network (NDLON):

“They have masks, weapons, tactical gear and military vehicles when they storm our homes, schools, churches, courthouses, Home Depots and other workplaces. But we have the power of the people. We wear vests of morality and humanity that they wish they had. They wear masks — not for protection but to hide their shame. They don’t dare to show their faces because they know what they are doing is fundamentally wrong. They are violating basic human decency.

“They are oppressing the people — and the people will not allow it.

“Our greatest sword and shield is to peacefully resist in the streets and bring our arguments to the court of public opinion. We must exercise our First Amendment rights to the greatest extent possible. Peaceful resistance everywhere: at the workplace, in our neighborhoods, and on the streets, sidewalks and parking lots where we look  for work.

ICE out of our communities. ICE out of Home Depot. Solo el Pueblo salva al Pueblo.”

The Los Angeles operations started at a Workers’ Center and adjacent Home Depot between Wilshire and Alvarado Street, and then moved to the Fashion District near downtown in the middle of the day. FBI, ICE and police forces were met with strong condemnation from immigrant communities.

The community came out just after 1:30 p.m. when ICE agents stormed a clothing wholesaler in the Fashion District, using flash-bang grenades and pepper spray on a crowd that had gathered to protest the raid. Several employees were detained inside the building.

At 4 p.m., hundreds gathered outside the Los Angeles Federal Building to protest the enforcement actions and demand the release of SEIU California President David Huerta, who was detained and injured while documenting one of the raids, according to a statement from SEIU California.

Tensions continued to mount into the evening. By 7 p.m., the Los Angeles Police Department declared an unlawful assembly and ordered the remaining crowd of protesters to disperse. At 8 p.m., LAPD authorized the use of “less-lethal” munitions. A citywide tactical alert was issued shortly after.

We know our strength is in the numbers, we vow to continue resisting the federal government’s actions, calling for unity and continued mobilization in the face of injustice.

We will not be intimidated. We will not be silenced. We will keep showing up—in peaceful resistance, with our hearts full of love for our people and our voices raised in defiance of injustice. From the street corners to the courtrooms, from the Home Depots to the union halls, we are en la lucha.

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