On June 6, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers carried out several lawful enforcement actions in Los Angeles. As day turned to evening, uniformed ICE officers came under siege from dozens of protesters outside the federal detention center in L.A.
The ICE agents, badly outnumbered, called for help from the LAPD. The crowd swelled to nearly 1,000 and surrounded the building and the agents. Still no LAPD support.
Finally, two hours after their first request, LAPD arrived to support the beleaguered agents.
Why the delay?
"Last night, over 1,000 rioters surrounded a federal law enforcement building and assaulted ICE law enforcement officers, slashed tires, defaced buildings, and taxpayer-funded property," DHS said in a press release on Saturday.
"It took the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) 2 hours to respond."
The LAPD issued a statement on Saturday denying any delay.
"Contrary to the claim that LAPD delayed its response for over two hours, our personnel mobilized and acted as swiftly as conditions safely allowed," the statement said. "Our response time was impacted by significant traffic congestion, the presence of demonstrators, and, notably, by the fact that federal agents had deployed irritants into the crowd prior to LAPD's arrival. This created a hazardous environment for responding officers. Within 55 minutes of receiving the call, we began to disperse the hostile and riotous crowd."
That was Saturday. Why the LAPD didn't have alternate routes to get to the disturbance is beyond belief. A traffic delay? I guess the cops' gas masks were malfunctioning because the presence of "irritants" also delayed them.
Now the LAPD is saying that its response was delayed, but it was the fault of the Feds. LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell says his department wasn't informed of ICE enforcement actions and was unaware of any trouble at the detention center.
McDonell appeared to be more concerned about assuring illegal immigrants in the city that his department did not take part in immigration enforcement than in supporting ICE agents being threatened by a mob of protesters.
“We received an officer needs help call from our federal partners and responded to separate the parties to maintain order,” said LAPD spokesperson Jennifer Forkish. “We had nothing to do with the operation, but we do have an obligation to respond to any law enforcement agency requesting urgent assistance.”
Two hours isn't much of an urgent response.
Issa said in a statement regarding his call for investigation that, "We need to know if the political leadership of the City of Los Angeles, the State of California, or anyone else instructed the LAPD to stand down and not respond to the emergency requests of our ICE agents who were under attack by rioters determined to block them, burn them, or even kill them as they bravely carried out their sworn duties."
Democratic leadership in California has faced widespread criticism from conservatives for blaming President Donald Trump for the unrest and referring to the protests, many of them violent, as "peaceful."
While some protesters have remained peaceful, violence had taken place by the end of the day Friday and continued into the weekend, resulting in law enforcement officers being injured and attacked with projectiles and fireworks.
In addition to investigating the LAPD's slow response to calls for help from ICE agents, the actions of Mayor Karen Bass should also be scrutinized. Her outward support for rioters who are burning her city is extremely suspicious and may indicate a deliberate effort to expose federal agents to danger.
Editor's Note: Radical leftist judges are doing everything they can to hamstring President Trump's agenda to make America great again.
Help us hold these corrupt judges accountable for their unconstitutional rulings. Join PJ Media VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.