Several actions taken by local law enforcement since the start of the Los Angeles protests on June 6 have escalated criminal behavior and did not protect federal agents, according to former Sheriff Alex Villanueva.
The sheriff’s department policy, which has existed for decades, has always made it clear that deputies must assist peace officers who are under attack or in distress, the former Los Angeles County sheriff said.
“It doesn’t mean that you’re endorsing or participating in whatever enforcement action they’re doing, but by virtue that they are under attack, you’re going to go to their defense,” Villanueva said. “That is your job, literally, in law enforcement.”
On June 6, federal authorities with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted operations at several Los Angeles-area sites, serving warrants and arresting 44 illegal immigrants who were once deported but returned, which is a federal felony offense. The agents are targeting burglary tourists, murderers, rapists, and robbers, according to the former sheriff.
He said that some reports about ICE raids at local Home Depot stores were likely misconstrued.
“In one case, they were actually going after a target who was in the Home Depot parking lot—someone they had an arrest warrant for,” he said. “They go after where they find the target.”
In another case, he said, ICE officers were returning to their office, which is located next to a Home Depot in Paramount.
State and local officials—including California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass—immediately responded to the ICE operations by coming out in support of protecting illegal immigrants and the protesters.
The LAPD praised protesters who remained peaceful the following day.
The LAPD did not respond to the scene for two hours, despite several calls from ICE requesting help, the federal agency said.
“This was a very organized effort to try to basically block [ICE’s] ability to do their job,” Villanueva said. “As you can see, from that point on Friday, it only escalated further as more and more rioters decided to join the fray and inflict more and more damage.”
Villanueva described those engaged in violence as “professional agitators.”
“They’re not protesters,” he said. “Their goal is destruction.”
According to the former sheriff, many of the people on the streets are also there for fun, entertainment, and to make money from looting stores.
“They revel in anarchy, creating dysfunction. The more they can expose the government as being inept and incompetent ... they get a thrill out of that,” he said.
Villanueva said that local police and sheriff’s deputies are feeling the weight of the demonstrations and working around the clock.
Both departments were at crisis-level staffing, he said, and the agencies are missing about 4,000 sworn officers who have not been replaced.
Responding to the events each day are skeleton crews who are working double shifts, which are expected to increase to triple shifts, meaning that they could be working up to 20 hours a day, the former sheriff said.
Villanueva explained that the county sheriff is the mutual aid coordinator for Los Angeles and Orange counties and could have called up the National Guard on the first day, knowing that local departments were understaffed.
“Friday, at the hint of trouble, he probably should have ordered up the first 500 National Guard troops and started from there,” he said. “They would have been under his control, not the president’s. It would have been local control. They were so paralyzed by the thought of somehow supporting ICE agents that they didn’t want to commit themselves to doing anything.”
Overall, 157 people were arrested on suspicion of assault and obstructing law enforcement, which included illegal immigrants and U.S. citizens.
The illegal immigrant detainees will be deported, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
“I fiercely support the right to peacefully protest and to free speech, but my office will also fiercely prosecute those who decide to cross a line into criminal conduct,” Hochman said in a statement.
Villanueva told “California Insider” that he expected protests and riots to continue for a few more days.
“If you look at the history of riots, it’s going to go through probably another day or so,” he said. “There could be other events that kind of reignite the passion.”
Villanueva cautioned ICE to stay on its current mission of targeting criminals, not everyday gardeners or others who have been in the city for years, minding their own business.
“If they try to veer off into doing other things, or expand their search to someone else, that’s when you start losing support from the public,” he said.
