Tensions flared outside LAPD headquarters on Tuesday as protestors accused the department of aiding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in an operation that led to the detention of individuals in downtown Los Angeles, despite the city's sanctuary status. According to KTLA, activists gathered after a video circulated showing LAPD officers keeping residents at bay while federal agents conducted arrests near East 9th Street and South Spring Street that morning.
The LAPD, in a statement from their news release obtained by LAPD PIO, stated they responded to a 9-1-1 call about a potential kidnapping, upon arrival they managed a "volatile situation" caused by a growing, agitated crowd in the busy corridor, and that they were not involved in detentions or arrests, which were carried out by federal agents who had not informed the LAPD of their plans. Critics, however, see this as complicit behavior; Ron Gochez from Unión del Barrio told ABC7, “Guess who protected the kidnappers who were kidnapping our people? LAPD officers.”
LAPD News: LAPD Responds to Kidnapping Call, Discovers Federal Operation pic.twitter.com/OfTBkYXME3
— LAPD PIO (@LAPDPIO) June 25, 2025
Hamid Khan of the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition highlighted what he believes is a false aura of sanctuary, stating at the rally, “We have to call out that the sanctuary city, the claim of that is a myth and a lie,” as reported by KTLA. Doubts regarding the LAPD's alliance with immigration authorities have been exacerbated by the evident lack of communication with federal agents before their enforcement action, according to the LAPD's statement.
The demonstration's potency was augmented by sentiments of betrayal among the city's residents who, along with the Unión del Barrio, view the LAPD's crowd control actions as evidence of their tacit support for ICE operations, despite the LAPD's proclaimed policy against participating in civilian immigration enforcement as detailed in their news release and echoed in a statement by LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, as Fox LA cites.
