The Pasadena Police Department is actively investigating an ICE raid that took place Wednesday morning in their city involving a man in dark clothing wearing a mask who got out of his unmarked car in a busy intersection and pointed a gun at protesters gathered on the sidewalk.
A trace of the vehicle’s license plates came up cold, meaning all registration information, including the name of the owner, was blocked, explained Lisa Derderian, city spokesperson on Thursday, June 19. “The Pasadena Police Department has no identifying information from that license plate,” she said.
Most assume he was a federal agent or acting in some kind of law enforcement role, but the man did not identify himself nor state his agency, she said.
Two people waiting for a LA Metro bus at a bus stop outside the Winchell’s Donut House near the intersection of Orange Grove Boulevard and Los Robles Avenue were handcuffed and arrested by what appeared to be ICE agents, according to a video taken from inside the donut shop obtained by this newspaper.
About six people were arrested in the raid, according to The National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), who said they were immigrant workers. They may have been from the same group that helped Altadena residents clear their homes of burned out debris from the Eaton fire in January, said the group.
The number of arrests could not be confirmed. ICE did not respond to inquiries. Members of Congress who visited the federal building in downtown LA Wednesday to learn their identities and observe their treatment were turned away.
Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo said the city, and its police chief, have been trying for two days to get a response from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which have been conducting immigration-related raids in Los Angeles, Downey, Pico Rivera, La Mirada and Pasadena for the last week.
“We will continue our attempts to open the lines of communication with the federal government. And hopefully, they pick up the phone,” Gordo said.
While Derderian said the city is not attempting to interfere with federal agents, city officials are asking for information on the man who drove erratically through a busy city intersection and pointed a gun at residents protesting next to Dena Burgers, a crowded restaurant located in a busy shopping center. They were shouting “ICE out of our city” and at least one person was taking videos of the car and driver.
If it was a federal agent, his response was inappropriate, Gordo said. People protesting, even using phone cameras to take videos are not committing a crime nor interfering in federal enforcement activity.
Gordo lives three blocks from the intersection, he said, and drives through it every day.
“I am angry that an irresponsible agent would escalate the situation that put the public in danger where my family or I would go and drive. It was reckless. It was irresponsible and it was dangerous,” he said.
Luckily, the car missed incoming traffic, he said, “or a terrible accident might have occurred.” Also the gun was not fired. “Imagine if this agent accidentally pulled the trigger and shot into Dena Burger, or hit an innocent person there or on the sidewalk. That could’ve easily happened,” Gordo said.
Pasadena is certain ICE agents were involved in the arrest at the bus stop and were roaming the city. A video obtained by police shows agents in camouflage and police-like vests approaching cars on Colorado Boulevard near the Urth Caffe, at least a mile from the site of the arrests.
The city was able to slow the video down and identify an ICE patch on the uniform of an agent outside the very popular cafe on famous Colorado Boulevard, where the world renowned Rose Parade goes down every Jan. 1, Derderian said. Pasadena PD are searching through all videos and other social media posts for any clues to help identify the law enforcement agency that descended on the Crown City Wednesday morning.
“That is where we have concerns,” she said. “If they are not identifying who they are in their official capacity.”
Officials say anyone with a block on a vehicle registration, and a car with blue flashing lights, most likely is working for a law enforcement agency. But that has not yet been verified.
“I am told there may be individuals who are contracted by the federal government who are not law enforcement and may be arresting people under a citizen arrest,” Gordo said. “So it might be a federal agent or someone deputized and not trained as a law enforcement agent — someone cloaked by the federal government to act as a law enforcement agent who may not be trained to de-escalate.”
The man’s clothing was unmarked and appeared like police attire one can buy off the shelf or from e-bay, said Derderian. Also, Gordo said the man’s behavior would not be acceptable as a city police officer.
“If that had been a Pasadena police officer, I can assure you there would have been a robust investigation,” Gordo said.
The raids themselves are part of a massive federal immigration sweep across the nation, fueled by the Trump administration’s reported goal of 3,000 arrests a day. Trump officials say their sweeps are intended to make the nation safer from violent criminals. But local leaders and families say many of the hundreds of people being swept up in the raids are not the violent criminals that President Donald Trump pledged to deport.
Not knowing who pointed a gun at Pasadena residents, and what agency was on the streets of the city, is an issue that has not happened in the past. Usually, federal agencies inform the city and its police department of their presence, to be safe and avoid any friendly fire, Gordo said.
“It is very frustrating. As mayor, I am entrusted with the safety and welfare of residents in the city of Pasadena. It is both scary and unacceptable that our police department and city leadership do not know — and may never know — who this individual is and who they are working for,” Gordo said.