Early Tuesday morning, federal agents were spotted staging in a parking lot co-owned by the L.A. Dodgers, on Stadium Way in Elysian Park, only one day after thousands of Dodgers fans celebrated the team’s back-to-back World Series victories.
A Los Angeles firefighter standing in the lot told L.A. TACO that he got a call from someone from the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) earlier this morning, saying that “some unwelcome people” had driven onto a parking lot that the fire department rented from the Dodgers for a seminar that they’re hosting today.
The parking lot in question (Lot 13) is directly adjacent to the Frank Hotchkin’s Memorial Training Center, where Los Angeles firefighters train.
The firefighter said that, as they were walking towards the parking lot, they saw three unmarked vehicles leaving the lot. The firefighter told us that the agents were not welcome on the property and were not involved in the seminar, which focused on training firefighters to put out electric car batteries and natural gas fires.
While standing at the entrance to the parking lot and speaking to L.A. TACO about this morning's presence of federal agents there, two drivers tried to enter the lot in unmarked cars with heavily tinted windows. The firefighter verified that they were not federal agents. It’s unclear how federal agents were able to access the parking lot earlier this morning.
Videos on social media show dozens of masked agents wearing tactical helmets and vests while standing around multiple vans and SUVs in the parking lot. The L.A. Times reported that eyewitnesses told them that approximately 100 agents were in the parking lot.
After the agents left, several rapid responders, a freelance journalist, and some curious neighbors arrived outside of the parking lot with questions.
A woman who said that she worked for the school district told L.A. TACO that schools in the area were concerned and trying to find more information about why the agents were there.
People's fears were further amplified after federal immigration agents carried out a raid today down the street from Elysian Park at a Cypress Park Home Depot parking lot that had been hit multiple times over the summer.
Early reports indicate that at least six people were arrested and one person was detained during that raid. Video footage circulating on social media from the raid shows agents surrounding a car that contained an infant in a baby seat.
When reached for comment, a spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) referred L.A. TACO to a general Department of Homeland Security (DHS) email address.
In a statement, Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said, "DHS law enforcement officers DID NOT conduct any immigration enforcement operations at Dodgers stadium. The location is outside the perimeter of the Dodger’s stadium perimeter and accessible by public streets."
Images of federal agents staging in a parking lot associated with the Dodgers organization reignites a debate that first kicked off this past summer that centered on the Dodgers’ stance on the immigration raids, as well as the team owners’ ties to detention centers and businesses that work hand-in-hand with ICE.
During this year’s historic season, many Dodger fans found themselves in the uncomfortable position of feeling unable to support the Dodgers after it was reported in June that federal immigration agents brought people that they had detained to a Dodgers Stadium parking lot following a raid at a Hollywood Home Depot.
The Dodgers organization denied that they were involved in the raid and pledged to donate $1 million to families affected by recent raids.
On Monday, Dodgers fans reflected on their complicated relationship with the team at the World Series parade through Downtown.
“You know it’s kind of heartbreaking ... you're a Dodgers fan your whole life and you want them to stand up for your community,” Griselle Rodriguez said during an interview with L.A. TACO while wearing a Dodgers jersey over an “ICE out of L.A.” t-shirt.
The lifelong Dodgers fan said that she had been kicked out of Dodgers Stadium for wearing the t-shirt. But that didn’t stop her from going to a World Series game with her father this year or attending the parade.
“I believe in the players, I believe in what baseball is, and our community, and what it gives to our community,” she said. “But I also think there are some things within the organization that need to be fixed and need to be called out.”
L.A. TACO multimedia reporter and social media editor Marina Watanabe contributed to this report.
