Frightening images out of Pasadena show a plainclothes federal law enforcement officer at a stoplight jumping out of his vehicle and drawing his weapon on a person attempting to photograph his license plate.
Details are limited and the exact circumstances of the incident are unknown, but the potentially deadly confrontation occurred Wednesday morning at around the same time federal immigration agents carried out an operation at a bus stop near Orange Grove Boulevard and Los Robles Avenue.
Masked plainclothes agents donning bulletproof vests were seen questioning two men sitting on a bench at around 6:30 a.m., eventually arresting them and a handful of other day laborers.
Video of the operation captured by woman inside Dena’s Burgers, on the corner of Orange Grove Boulevard and Los Robles Avenue, shows the men being put into an unmarked minivan and taken away.
The woman, who did not want to be identified, told KTLA in Spanish that she knows one of the men and that he’s not a criminal.
Witnesses reported that the same group of federal agents returned to the corner at around 9:30 a.m., though it’s unclear if anyone else was arrested.
The random immigration operations have people in the community living in fear, according to reporting from KTLA’s Elina Abovian, who spoke to Fernando Banuelos, owner of Dena’s Burgers.
“I’ve lived in L.A. for 35 years already and I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said, adding that more than half of his Hispanic clientele are afraid to leave their homes. “Our business has been down I would say 60% to 70%.”
Asked for comment, city leaders in Pasadena said that they are aware of Wednesday’s arrests and the officer pulling his gun on a resident, saying in a statement:
“We at the City of Pasadena are deeply saddened and concerned by the events that have taken place in the region over the past several days surrounding the federal government’s immigration enforcement activities. Neither the City of Pasadena or the Pasadena Police Department participate in the enforcement of federal civil immigration laws, nor do we ask about an individual’s immigration status when responding to calls for service or when delivering City services.”
KTLA has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, which both Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection operate, for comment on the incident.
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