Los AngelesFor around an hour on Monday, 90 soldiers of the California National Guard and dozens of federal cops in tactical gear were sent to a largely deserted park in a heavily immigrant-populated area of Los Angeles. Whether any arrests were made was not immediately apparent.
The troops and more than a dozen military vehicles were supposed to assist in protecting immigration authorities during a raid in MacArthur Park, according to defense sources.
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In the late morning, a small group of people, including Mayor Karen Bass, observed as police officers drove through a portion of the park before resuming their cars and leaving. The officers were filmed by several activists who had earlier issued evacuation warnings.
A news conference regarding the operation was scheduled by the mayor for the afternoon. Immigration and Customs Enforcement received messages asking for more information.
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights’ Jeannette Zanipatin witnessed the brief but noticeable arrival of federal officers and troops at the park. She stated, “I firmly believe it to be a source of intimidation.” We are aware that the Trump administration is attempting to use Los Angeles as an example.
According to defense sources, the operation, which took place in a big park approximately two miles west of downtown Los Angeles, involved 17 Humvees, four tactical vehicles, two ambulances, and armed soldiers. Following demonstrations over earlier immigration raids, President Donald Trump sent thousands of Guard men and active duty Marines to the city last month.
Trump has increased his efforts to carry out his campaign promise to expel millions of illegal immigrants from the United States and has demonstrated a readiness to utilize the country’s military power in ways that previous American presidents have generally avoided.
Nearby resident Betsy Bolte visited the park after spotting a military-style aircraft flying overhead. When she arrived, protestors and bystanders were yelling at federal agents as they rode across a grassy area.
Bolte said it was heartbreaking to see what seemed to be a federal show of power on the streets of a U.S. city, but he did not observe any arrests. She stated, “It’s terrifying and it’s tearing the heart and soul out of Los Angeles.” I’m still shocked, incredulous, furious, scared, and heartbroken.
Although defense officials told reporters that it was not a military operation, they admitted that the public would see it as such due to the Guard’s size and involvement. For this reason, the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity shared information about the raid that was not made public.
After the raid ended quickly and without explanation, one of the officials stated, “It’s just going to be more overt and larger than we usually participate in.”
According to that official, the service members’ main responsibility would be to defend the immigration enforcement officials in the event that an antagonistic mob assembled. According to the official, service members have the authority to temporarily hold citizens before turning them over to law enforcement, even though they are not taking part in any arrests or other law enforcement operations.
The operation took place at a park in an area known by local officials as the Ellis Island of the West Coast, which is surrounded with businesses with signage in Spanish and other languages and has a sizable immigrant population from Mexico, Central America, and other countries.
An amphitheater that holds summer concerts, a murky lake surrounded by palm trees, and sports fields where immigrant families congregate to play soccer on the weekends and in the evenings are all features of sprawling MacArthur Park. An east side thoroughfare is frequently packed with unlicensed food sellers offering tacos and other treats, as well as multilingual vendors selling inexpensive T-shirts, toys, trinkets, and household goods.
Encampments are regularly cleared by authorities, and homeless people are attended to by medical outreach teams.
Despite California Governor Gavin Newsom’s preferences, hundreds of U.S. Marines and more than 4,000 members of the California National Guard have been stationed in Los Angeles since June. The military said last week that roughly 200 of those soldiers would be sent back to their regiments to combat wildfires.
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Copp reported from Washington. This article was written by Associated Press journalists Julie Watson in San Diego and Christopher Weber and Eugene Garcia in Los Angeles.
