Eyewitness News got a closer look at the Department of Defense’s role in Southern California immigration operations on Monday at MacArthur Park.
WESTLAKE, LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Eyewitness News went for a ride-along with the Department of Defense on Monday, working to see firsthand what the National Guard’s role has been amid immigration raids across Southern California.
During that ride-along, some National Guard troops responded to chaos in MacArthur Park as Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents conducted an apparent raid while children were at a summer camp nearby.
Video shows armed federal agents, some on horses, walking across a soccer pitch. Mayor Bass said minutes before, more than 20 kids were playing on the field.
More than 4,000 members of the National Guard have been federalized and are no longer under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s control.
Eyewitness News Reporter Kevin Ozebek ended up not spending much time with the National Guard on the ride-along.
What happened at MacArthur Park on Monday?
As soon as the Guardsmen Kevin rode with reached MacArthur Park, he saw a line of federal police on horseback already in the park, lined up.
Then, lines of DHS police on foot started moving in fast, crossing a soccer field at the park.
Some people in the area became livid. Protesters moved in just as fast as police did.
“You guys are separating babies from their families,” one protester said on a megaphone. “This is not fair!”
Moments later, Mayor Karen Bass arrived. She was on her way to see the governor, but instead diverted to MacArthur Park, trying to get information from DHS.
“I said they need to leave and they need to leave now,” Bass said to the media in the area.
For the most part, Kevin saw DHS police just standing there. From his vantage point, he didn’t see them making any arrests.
City leaders are now calling it a political stunt.
“Who were in the park today were children – it was their summer camp,” Bass said.
“This morning looked like a staging for a TikTok video,” said city councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson.
Witnesses captured video of federal agents cursing and telling people to back up.
“They pointed guns at us, they surrounded our van,” said a representative from nearby Saint John’s Community Health, who gives care to the homeless. “For a moment, I thought they were actually going to target us.”
Roughly 20 to 30 minutes after pulling up to the park, the federal agents started to pull away.
As Ozebek headed off with the National Guard, one Tesla owner made it clear he was no fan of the mission. He tailgated their vehicle, honking and swerving in anger.
What is the National Guard’s role in operations like what was seen in MacArthur Park?
Kevin noted that at no point during the ride-along did he see the National Guard do anything but stand back and watch from the perimeter of the park. The Guard cannot make immigration arrests.
A Department of Defense (DOD) official who spoke with Kevin made it very clear that DHS and the DOD have very different missions.
While we’ve seen DHS making immigration arrests for weeks now, the DOD said the only thing the National Guard can do during these operations is temporarily detain someone if they are posing a threat to a DHS police officer.
How many National Guard troops are still federalized in SoCal?
A defense official told Kevin that 4,200 National Guard troops are still federalized in Southern California. A few dozen of them took part in the operation at MacArthur Park on Monday.
The department said it’s yet to be determined when the troops will be put back under the control of the governor.
