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On June 6, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers carried out several lawful enforcement actions in Los Angeles. As day turned to evening, uniformed ICE officers came under siege from dozens of protesters outside the federal detention center in L.A.
The ICE agents, badly outnumbered, called for help from the LAPD. The crowd swelled to nearly 1,000 and surrounded the building and the agents. Still no LAPD support.
Finally, two hours after their first request, LAPD arrived to support the beleaguered agents.
Why the delay?
« Last night, over 1,000 rioters surrounded a federal law enforcement building and assaulted ICE law enforcement officers, slashed tires, defaced buildings, and taxpayer-funded property », DHS said in a press release on Saturday.
« It took the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) 2 hours to respond. »
The LAPD issued a statement on Saturday denying any delay.
« Contrary to the claim that LAPD delayed its response for over two hours, our personnel mobilized and acted as swiftly as conditions safely allowed », the statement said. « Our response time was impacted by significant traffic congestion, the presence of demonstrators, and, notably, by the fact that federal agents had deployed irritants into the crowd prior to LAPD’s arrival.
