Dozens of Border Patrol agents, some on horseback and others in armored vehicles, raided MacArthur Park in Los Angeles’ Westlake district on Monday, deploying what Mayor Karen Bass called “a military operation in an American city.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and military vehicles arrived late Monday morning, with at least four white vans used to transport people to jails and detention sites, according to KTLA.
“It’s outrageous and unAmerican that we have federal armed vehicles in our parks when nothing is going on in the parks,” Bass said. “It’s outrageous and unAmerican that the federal government seized our state’s National Guard.”
About 90 National Guard troops were deployed to defend federal agents, the Associated Press reported.
City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez and Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson condemned the raid. Hernandez warned other cities, “What you saw happening in MacArthur Park is coming to you.”
Bass shared footage on social media of agents, including some on horseback, crossing a soccer field where “minutes before, there were more than 20 kids playing — then, the MILITARY comes through.” The children were attending a summer day camp, she said.
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The Los Angeles Times identified the agents as Border Patrol, and Bass spoke via phone with someone she identified as “the head of customs,” asking, “You’re getting ready to leave? Can you leave ASAP?”.
The LAPD said officers were present for crowd control but did not assist in the federal action.
Between June 6 and 22, over 1,600 people were arrested in Los Angeles under the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement plan.
It remains unclear if arrests were made Monday.
