Scenes Of 'Fear And Panic' Prompt Southland Mayors Call For ICE, Soldiers To Get Out

LOS ANGELES, CA — Dozens of Southland mayors banded together Wednesday to urge an end to the Trump Administration's immigration raids across Southern California and to the use of troops on Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids.

The calls come as shocking footage emerged from around the Southland showing dramatic arrests and aggressive tactics used by federal agents on city streets.

“I’m asking you, please listen to me, stop terrorizing our residents,” said Mayor Jessica Ancona of El Monte, who said she was hit by rubber bullets during a raid in her city.

In Los Angeles, City Council leaders accused federal officers in unmarked vehicles of brazenly 'abducting' people off the streets without warrants and based on racial profiling. Signs of terror and tension are palpable across the region.

On Wednesday, masked men grabbed a pedestrian in a church parking lot, and unmarked trucks rammed a car with a young family inside, engulfing a baby and toddler in smoke or tear gas. In Orange County on Wednesday, rumors of parents being deported spread through an elementary school, prompting the district to assure families that commencement and award ceremonies would not be open to the public or warrantless immigration raids. In Santa Ana on Tuesday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials positioned a rooftop sniper outside a federal building with a rifle trained down at a group of middle-school-aged protesters.

RELATED: Feds Train Rooftop Sniper On Anti-ICE Protestors As National Guard Arrives In OC

Pastor Tanya Lopez at Downey Memorial Christian Church experienced the fear firsthand.

She witnessed armed men in masks and unmarked vehicles arrest a man Wednesday morning in the parking lot of her church.

“I am a mother, a first-generation daughter of immigrants myself,” Lopez said. “This is not just an immigrant issue. Who knows if this man was a citizen? They were not letting him answer any questions, provide any identification. They surrounded him and just started to grab him."

“I am disheartened. My daughters were crying. I am completely heartbroken that this is how they started their summer break,” Lopez added. “Now I have to not just try to regulate my own mental health and own sudden rush of adrenaline and everything else. I have to now remind my daughters that everything is going to be okay because they told me that they were scared that (the agents) were going to shoot their mommy today.”

“They are coming, and they are relentless, and cruelty is the point,” Lopez said. “So we will meet that cruelty with love, with justice and compassion because we are non-violent.”

Her husband, a Reverend at the church, said he told the agents he didn't want this on his property and that’s when the agents told him “the whole country is our property.”

“When someone tells that to you with a weapon in their hands and on their body, that is a very clear message,” Rev. Al Lopez said. “As a man of faith, that is not allowed, that is not correct, and that goes against everything that our country stands for.”

Across the county in Boyle Heights, federal agents in unmarked trucks boxed in and rammed a sedan with a family inside, including an infant and toddler. Armed officers jumped out and deployed smoke or tear gas on the vehicle, and ordered out of the vehicle Christian Damian Cerno-Camacho, a protester suspected of punching a border patrol agent.

The dramatic arrest was caught on video and stirred outrage in the community, but Homeland Security officials defended their work of the officers.

Related: Video: Federal Agents Ram LA Driver With Toddler And Infant In Car, Arresting Him At Gunpoint

Homeland Security officials responded to Patch's request for comment about the crash with a statement by Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.

"This was no hit and run. This was a targeted arrest of a violent rioter who punched a CBP officer. When Homeland Security Investigations tried to arrest Christian Damian Cerno-Camacho for the assault, he attempted to flee," she said. "He was ultimately arrested and taken into custody."

“Our officers are facing a 413% increase in assaults against them as they put their lives on the line to arrest murders, rapists, and gang members," she added. "Secretary Noem’s message to the LA rioters is clear: you will not stop us or slow us down.”

Archbishop José H. Gomez on Wednesday called for peaceful demonstrations and also urged the federal government not to make ordinary families suffer.

"We all agree that we don't want undocumented immigrants who are known terrorists or violent criminals in our communities," Gomez said. "But there is no need for the government to carry out enforcement actions in a way that provokes fear and anxiety among ordinary, hardworking immigrants and their families."

Meanwhile, the commander in charge of the troops said about 500 National Guard soldiers deployed to the Los Angeles protests have been trained to accompany agents on immigration operations. And while some troops have already gone on such missions, he said it’s too early to say if that will continue, even after the protests die down.

Speaking alongside the other mayors at a news conference, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the raids spread fear at the behest of the White House.

“We started off by hearing the administration wanted to go after violent felons, gang members, drug dealers. But when you raid Home Depots and workplaces, when you tear parents and children apart, and when you run armored caravans through our streets, you’re not trying to keep anyone safe," she said. "You’re trying to cause fear and panic.”

Those who have been caught up in the nationwide raids include asylum seekers, people who overstayed their visas and migrants awaiting their day in immigration court.

RELATED Thousands Of Protesters Expected To Turn Out During 'No Kings Day' Rallies Across CA

The administration has cited the protests in its decision to deploy the military. Referring to the demonstrations, which have been mostly concentrated in the LA business district, the Democratic mayor added: “If you drive a few blocks outside of downtown, you don’t know that anything is happening in the city at all.”

The city leaders who joined the call for ICE raids to stop include:

• Paramount Mayor Peggy Lemons
• Huntington Park Mayor Arturo Flores
• Vernon Mayor Judith Merlo
• South Gate Mayor Maria Davila
• Ventura Mayor Dr. Jeannette Sanchez-Palacios
• Bell Gardens Mayor Jorgel Chavez
• El Monte Mayor Jessica Ancona
• Montebello Mayor Sal Melendez
• Santa Paula Mayor Pedro Chavez
• Santa Monica Mayor Lana Negrete
• West Hollywood Mayor Chelsea Byers
• Cudahy Vice Mayor Cynthia Gonzalez
• Fillmore Mayor Pro Tem Albert Mendez
• Paramount Vice Mayor Brenda Olmos
• Ventura Deputy Mayor Doug Halter
• Lynwood Councilwoman Lorraine Avila Moore
• Artesia Councilmember Melissa Ramoso
• Downey Councilman Mario Trujillo
• Paramount Councilmember Vilma Cuellar Stallings
• Pico Rivera Councilmember Andrew Lara
• South Gate Councilmember Gil Hurtado
• Vernon Councilmember Crystal Larios
• Vernon Councilmember Leticia Lopez

California's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, has asked a federal court to put an emergency stop to the military helping immigration agents in the nation’s second-largest city. This week, guardsmen began standing protectively around agents as they carry out arrests. A judge set a hearing for Thursday.

The military is now closer to engaging in law enforcement actions such as deportations, as Trump has promised in his crackdown. The Guard has the authority to temporarily detain people who attack officers, but any arrests must be made by law enforcement.

The president posted on the Truth Social platform that the city “would be burning to the ground” if he had not sent in the military.

But now, the protests have spread nationwide. Demonstrations have spread to Dallas and Austin in Texas, and Chicago and New York, where thousands rallied and more arrests were made. A nationwide protest is scheduled for Saturday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.