On Friday morning, federal agents conducted a raid at a home in Huntington Park, Los Angeles County, breaching the front door with explosive device and terrifying the mother and two small children who were inside. Jenny Ramirez received a call from a neighbor before 6 a.m. telling her that ICE vehicles were setting up a raid outside her house. As she was checking on the safety of her six-year-old son, holding her one-year-old baby in her arms, she heard what she described to NBC4 News as “the loudest blast of my life.” Footage from the report shows how the blast blew out the windows on the ground floor. Ramirez, her children, and her boyfriend who lives with her are all US citizens.
Ramirez’s doorbell camera reveals a massive show of force from federal authorities, with several cars and a military-style armored vehicle set up on the street in front of her house. More than ten agents – clad tactical gear and fatigues, carrying long guns – are seen entering the house after blasting the front door off its hinges with an explosive breaching device. Ramirez says that the agents did not attempt to knock before forcing their way in.
She says the authorities were there for her boyfriend, but would not tell her why when she asked. Ramirez believes that the raid on their home is connected to an incident that occurred one week earlier in Bell, where protesters squared off with ICE officers as they carried out raids in the area. Ramirez says she and her boyfriend were in a car accident with ICE agents when trying to leave the scene as a raid unfolded around them. She says a truck carrying the agents brake-checked their Jeep, causing a collision, and then began reversing into their vehicle. Agents then attempted to arrest her boyfriend on the scene before telling him he was free to go. No federal agencies or officials have issued any statements on the matter.
California has been the site of intense clashes between protesters and immigration authorities as the White House intensifies raids and arrests in service of their mass deportation policy. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem attended an ICE raid in Huntington Park on June 12th, where armed agents forced a mother of three out of her home before realizing they had the wrong name.
Last Saturday, Huntington Park Mayor Arturo Flores issued a statement directing local police to confirm the identity of federal agents conducting raids, who are usually seen wearing masks and civilian clothing, without any clear markers that they are law enforcement. On Friday, local police announced the arrest of a man in the area who is alleged to have been impersonating federal officers.
