Protesters and immigration officials clashed again in Los Angeles County on Saturday as agents conducted raids at a Home Depot, local officials said, just a day after dramatic standoffs at similar workplace raids elsewhere in the area.
In Paramount, Calif., about 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, protesters squared off with federal immigration agents after at least two immigration raids took place on Saturday, including one at the Home Depot and another at a nearby meatpacking facility.
Video of the protests showed agents using what appeared to be flash-bang grenades to disperse the protesters. Immigrant rights advocates said that the agents, who were wearing riot gear, had also used some type of tear gas to break up the crowds. José Luis Solache Jr., a state assembly member, said on social media that he was among those who were hit with tear gas.
The standoff followed a series of immigration raids that swept through Los Angeles on Friday, which resulted in chaos outside a federal building downtown where people detained in the raids were being processed.
Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, said on social media on Saturday that the protests on Friday were “an insurrection against the laws and sovereignty of the United States.”
“What took place in Los Angeles yesterday was appalling,” said Todd M. Lyons, the acting director of ICE. He added that Los Angeles police officers took “over two hours” to respond to the unrest, “despite being called multiple times.” The Police Department has not responded publicly to Mr. Lyons’s remarks.
On Saturday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said that it was not involved in any of the federal operations and that its response was limited to traffic and crowd control.