Video shows an ICE agent pointing a gun at a bystander during an apparent immigration arrest in North Hollywood on Friday morning.
Witnesses say immigration agents stopped a man while he was on a sidewalk on Ostego Street and that when a passerby had words with the agents, the situation escalated and a gun was seen pointed at that man.
Cellphone video shared with NBC Los Angeles shows a man on the ground shouting for help, surrounded by ICE agents — their clothing marked as such.
“This morning, I was out on my balcony, and I heard a bang,” witness Damari Butler said. “And when I looked over, I saw a guy walking down the street, and then I saw two ICE agents come and tackle him into the bushes.”
Butler took the video from his fifth-floor balcony around 8:20 a.m.
“They grabbed him,” Butler said. “They didn’t ask him for ID. They didn’t ask him for his name. They didn’t say anything to him.”
Rocio Gutierrez was among other neighbors who came out when they said they heard the commotion on their usually quiet street.
“They started tackling him,” Gutierrez said. “The guy tried to get away, and that’s where it began. They just started arresting him, holding him down the floor. The guy went into panic mode. He was yelling for help. He looked scared.”
Both witnesses describe another man who was walking his dogs at the time agents arrived.
“The guy with the dog, he actually, when he stepped in, another ICE agent actually came out with a gun and put it directly to his face while he was in the bushes,” Butler said.
Gutierrez said that man yelled at the agents, asking what they were doing.
The video taken by Butler also shows moments after what happened in the bushes. The man with the dogs is seen going into the street. He picks up an unknown item from the ground, and that’s when one of the agents runs toward him and takes out what looks like a pepper spray canister toward the man, who runs away.
A couple minutes later, the man who had been the focus of the agents was put in one of their cars.
It’s unclear where he was taken, as well as what preceded or followed the moments captured by Butler on his cellphone.
“It’s a very concerning thing, though, and especially to see people coming with masks on,” Butler said, later adding, “That could have been my son. My son walks out in the mornings, and it’s just worrisome. It’s horrible what’s happening right now.
NBCLA reached out to the Department of Homeland Security about what happened and did not receive an immediate response.
The neighbors say they do not know the man who was taken by the agents.
In a statement, LA Mayor Karen Bass called Friday’s incident “unacceptable” and said it would “not be tolerated” in the city.
“I’m engaging the Attorney General’s Office to investigate and prosecute any wrongdoing by these federal agents,” the statement read, in part. “Additionally, I referred this matter to the Office of U.S. Representative Robert Garcia, the ranking Democrat leading oversight on federal immigration enforcement abuses.”
Last year, California became the first state to ban most law enforcement officers, including federal immigration agents, from covering their faces while conducting official business. A federal judge blocked the law from going into effect, only requiring that they clearly identify themselves, their agency and badge number.
