Surveillance camera footage allegedly captured Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents urinating on the grounds of a Pico Rivera high school in broad daylight.
The agents were seen urinating in the parking lot of Ruben Salazar High School, which is immediately adjacent to a preschool playground and an elementary school where summer classes were in session, according to the El Rancho Unified School District.
On Wednesday, the district called for a federal investigation into the “deeply disturbing” conduct of agents, who they say trespassed on school grounds and risked exposing themselves to minors on June 17.
“These actions raise alarming and pressing questions regarding ICE’s behavior and judgment, as well as concerns about the rights and well-being of those involved, including the ERUSD community,” wrote the district in a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons.
DHS and ICE did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.
L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who represents Pico Rivera, issued a statement echoing the call for a federal investigation.
“It’s not enough that they’ve spent weeks violently ambushing people, now ICE and CBP agents are allegedly entering school campuses, pulling down their pants, and urinating on playgrounds,” she said. “It’s a slap in the face to our communities — especially to our children.”
The incident took place on the morning of June 17, when eight to 10 marked and unmarked ICE vehicles were observed in Salazar High School’s parking lot, according to the district.
District staff made contact with the officers, who allegedly failed to provide any judicial warrant or legitimate reason for being on school grounds. Staff informed the agents that they did not have permission to enter the school and ordered them to leave the area, which they obeyed.
Immediately after the ICE agents left, staff told the district’s executive management they they had seen them urinating in public view while on campus.
A review of camera footage from 8:54 a.m. to 9:04 a.m. by the district revealed around 10 agents urinating near storage containers on the parking lot. The district posted a condensed version of the footage on YouTube for the public to view.
“Any reasonable person, of any profession, entering Salazar where the ICE agents were urinating would clearly recognize the surroundings to be those of a school where minors are taught,” wrote the district in the letter to ICE.
The district is requesting an immediate investigation; a report on the findings; and the names, titles, and badge numbers of everyone present at the incident as well as everyone who permitted “such unlawful behavior” to take place.
The letter was signed by Supt. Marco Villegas and all five members of the El Rancho Unified School District Board of Education. The letter also copied numerous elected officials including U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, Gov. Gavin Newsom, Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, as well as the ICE offices of professional responsibility and of the agency’s principal legal advisor.
The district issued a public statement assuring the school community that although ICE agents were on school grounds, they did not enter any classrooms or buildings. The reason for the agents’ presence on campus is currently unknown.
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