Did LAPD cooperate with immigration agents when responding to ICE protests?

When federal agents launched a series of immigration raids in Los Angeles last Friday, it wasn’t long before protests started, resistance grew and local law enforcement — the L.A. Police Department specifically — was called in to respond.

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell put out a statement that afternoon, saying the department was not involved in civil immigration enforcement.

“While the LAPD will continue to have a visible presence in all our communities to ensure public safety, we will not assist or participate in any sort of mass deportations, nor will the LAPD try to determine an individual’s immigration status,” the statement read.

But after days of confrontations among protesters, immigration agents, and local law enforcement — including the LAPD, county Sheriff’s Department and others — some observers wonder whether the police involvement constitutes cooperation with federal authorities.

On Tuesday, members of the L.A. City Council peppered McDonnell with questions about his agency’s response. Their concerns centered on whether the LAPD’s response in some cases gave the appearance of assisting immigration authorities.

The department has long been prohibited from enforcing immigration law for fear doing so would discourage immigrant communities from cooperating with officers.

Questions from the council

LAPD officers responded Friday to at least two locations where agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement were conducting raids in downtown Los Angeles. Tensions erupted quickly, and several confrontations between ICE agents and people at the scene (protesters, activists, individuals) were caught on video shared widely on television and social media.

There were some arrests, including labor union leader David Huerta, who was later charged in federal court with conspiracy to interfere with ICE officers.

Police officers can also be seen in those videos.

“Seeing LAPD appear to give safe passage to ICE on Friday does not help the situation,” Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez said at the Tuesday meeting. “It builds distrust from the community with LAPD.”

McDonnell said officers responded after ICE put out a call for help when they were confronted with protesters. He added that it's important for one law enforcement agency to assist another when needed.

“That is something to us that is sacred,” he said.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has backed up McDonnell when he made similar comments earlier in the week.

“When one branch of law enforcement says they need help, another branch of law enforcement is obligated to respond,” Bass told reporters on Sunday. She added that when protests spill out onto the streets, as they did when demonstrators assembled in front of the federal detention center, it becomes the LAPD’s problem.

“The minute that protest left the federal building, then that’s when LAPD was involved,” the mayor said, referring to a large Sunday that drew several thousand people to outside the federal Metropolitan Detention Center.

What’s happening during the protests?

Hundreds of LAPD police in full tactical gear showed up to clear demonstrators from the area.

While many of the people gathered there protested peacefully, others refused to leave after officers declared an unlawful assembly. A smaller group vandalized buildings with graffiti, smashed windows on storefronts, and carried stolen merchandise from stores.

Police responded aggressively, firing rubber and setting off flash-bangs.

There were many arrests. The LAPD said Monday it had arrested 50 people in connection with the protests over the weekend. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said it had made five arrests, and California Highway Patrol made 19 arrests.

On Tuesday, the LAPD said there had been another 113 arrests overnight — 96 on suspicion of failure to disperse in the downtown area, 14 on suspicion of looting, and one each on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest and vandalism.

According to the department, several businesses were broken in to and looted, and two officers were injured and were released later from a local hospital.

“To the public, we fully support your right to protest, but let me be absolutely clear, those who chose to incite violence, engage in vandalism or graffiti or attack officers will be arrested,” McDonnell said at a Monday news conference.

So is there cooperation?

Law enforcement agencies have long cooperated with each other when there is a call for help and under what’s known as mutual aid agreements.

“These mutual aid requests are a big loophole,” when it comes to the prohibition on cooperation, said Andrés Kwon, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union.

“The more they are seen as an auxiliary to ICE, the less legitimacy they have in the community,” Kwon said of local police.

McDonnell emphasized that his officers are not engaged in rounding up unauthorized immigrants.

“We don’t engage in civil immigration enforcement at all,” he said. “Our federal partners know that and for the most part respect that.”

ICE says ‘cops need to help cops’

President Donald Trump has denounced state and local laws that prohibit law enforcement from cooperating with ICE. He’s threatened to cut federal grants unless they do cooperate.

Tom Holman, ICE acting director, has also said local police should assist his agency in the enforcement of immigration law.

“Cops need to help cops,” Holman said recently.

But it’s not that simple, said Rachel E. VanLandingham, a Southwestern Law School professor

Immigrant communities need to trust local police enough to call them when there is a crime.

“Our community members need to be able to trust that they can call law enforcement for example a domestic disturbance,” she said.

At the same time, VanLandingham said LAPD was right to respond to ICE agents' calls for help.

“From what I’ve read and what I’ve seen is that the local law enforcement were simply protecting federal agents — fellow law enforcement agents — from being hurt,” she said.

McDonnell called ICE his law enforcement partners during Tuesday’s meeting.

Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson took issue with the characterization.

“If we know somebody is coming here to do warrantless abductions of the residents of this city, those people are not our partners,” Harris-Dawson said.

It’s unclear how much ICE will need the LAPD going forward. On Tuesday, California National Guard Troops were providing “perimeter” support as federal agents conducted more raids.

The Defense Department is also sending Marines to the area.

McDonnell said in a statement Tuesday that the department had not received any formal notification about military troops coming to L.A.

He said, “the possible arrival of federal military forces in Los Angeles —absent clear coordination – presents a significant logistical and operational challenge for those of us charged with safeguarding this city.”

Both Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom have objected to the National Guard being “federalized” and sent to L.A. in response to the protests, saying it’s unnecessary and causes more problems than it solves.

Newsom and state Attorney General have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, claiming the president and defense secretary unlawfully invoked a statute intended to prevent an invasion or rebellion even though that was not the case in Los Angeles.

LAPD use of force

On Tuesday, McDonnell was also questioned about the LAPD’s use of force during protests in downtown L.A.

Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez asked about a video that appears to show an officer targeting an Australian journalist with a rubber bullet.

McDonnell said it was too soon to make a judgment. At a news conference Monday, he said “we saw that and we are very concerned about that.”

Later, McDonnell went into closed session with council members.