Downey church community on edge after masked, armed officers detain man on church property

An incident at a church in Downey on Wednesday led to one person being detained and a man in a police vest pointing a gun at the church’s pastor, religious leaders said.

Faith leaders worry it’s a sign of immigration enforcement encroaching on places of worship.

What we know

About 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the head pastors of Downey Memorial Christian Church noticed law enforcement agents surrounding a man sitting in the shade of a tree on the far side of the church’s parking lot. Revs. Tanya Lopez and Al Lopez went outside to ask the agents to identify themselves and to ask what they were doing.

The Lopezes said the agents refused to identify themselves and told them they didn’t have a right to confront them in the parking lot. In a video provided by Al Lopez, five officers wear plain clothes, masks and camouflage bulletproof vests. Several have the word “police” on the front of their vests.

In the background of the video, Tanya Lopez can be heard shouting, “We are not OK with you being on our property.”

A still image from a video taken by Rev. Tanya Lopez in the parking lot of her Downey church shows two of the agents involved in Wednesday's incident.

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Tanya Lopez

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Tanya Lopez said the agents kept directing her to back up as she spoke to them, and one officer eventually pointed a large gun directly at her. At that point, she said, she backed away. The man who had been in the parking lot was eventually taken away in an SUV.

The Lopezes said they also called the Downey Police Department, but were told nothing could be done.

Downey Police, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.

Al Lopez later recounted the incident at a news conference.

The agents refused to identify themselves, he said. He told them, “We don’t want this on our property.”

What the agent said next will stay with him. He said one of the agents shouted: “The whole country is our property.”

“When someone tells that to you with a weapon in their hand, that was a very clear message,” Al Lopez said. “And as a man of faith, that is not ... correct, and that goes against everything that our country stands for.”

The context

Longstanding federal policy has prohibited immigration enforcement, including raids, at “sensitive locations,” such as hospitals, schools and places of worship. In January, the Trump administration rescinded that policy.

In response, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), filed a lawsuit to reinstate the policy.

In April, a federal judge, siding with the Trump administration, denied issuing a preliminary injunction, allowing immigration agents to conduct enforcement at sensitive places, including houses of worship.

What's next?

“We come out with courage of conviction, and we say that this is not the way," Tanya Lopez, one of the pastors of Downey Memorial Christian Church, said at a news conference Wednesday.

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Erin Stone

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LAist

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The Lopezes and other faith leaders called for an end to the raids Wednesday. They urged communities to report immigration raids and seek support from faith leaders and community groups.

Tanya Lopez said she hopes places of worship can once again become a safe space.

“ We're nonviolently meeting the moment because that is what historically we have been taught by our teachers, our rabbis, our pastors, our imams, that we do not come out violently,” she said. “We come out with courage of conviction, and we say that this is not the way.”

Read LAist’s guide to your rights and how to be prepared to interact with immigration authorities.