On September 27th, at approximately 8:45 a.m., Customs and Border Protection agents arrived at a Home Depot in Ladera Heights, located on Slauson Avenue and Fairfax Avenue. They proceeded to conduct their raid until a few moments later, when a Home Depot customer, who had chosen to remain anonymous, took notice of the agents holding a man on the ground.
Concerned, he says that he ran over to ask the man for his name and phone number so he could reach a family member.
While trying to assist, the customer was reprimanded by Border Patrol agents who told him he could not interfere with their operation. He nonetheless continued trying to provide aid for the man until the agents violently tried to arrest him.
He was tackled onto the pavement and was even tased.
As he was on the ground, Rachel, a H.I.L.L. Network community watch member, arrived at the parking lot as part of her usual shift and saw the customer getting assaulted while on the floor. She walked over and started documenting the arrest while asking the customer for his name and a phone number to reach a loved one, which is standard protocol for the organization’s volunteers.
In a video that she recorded and uploaded to her personal Instagram account, we can see Rachel establishing her 1st Amendment right to document what’s happening, alongside her attempt to provide aid to the customer. Border Patrol repeatedly stated that she is going to get arrested for interfering, despite her maintaining distance and simply recording. You can see the agents approaching her more aggressively and start to grab at her, moments before her video is cut short.
According to several testimonies, it is at this point that Rachel begins to be assaulted by Border Patrol agents.
She, alongside the customer, is shoved into the transport vehicle with the day laborers who were taken during the raid. They were then transported just down the road to 5701 Buckingham Parkway, where Rachel and the customer are separated from the detainees and from each other.
Unfortunately, several were taken from the Home Depot, including a tortilla maker who was just about to pack up to end her morning. The H.I.L.L. Network is still trying to identify them in order to reach out to their families.
Once at 5701 Buckingham Parkway, a bystander at a nearby building went downstairs to film the event. In her footage, we can hear Rachel’s screams for help.
The bystander who was filming is heard telling a woman with her to get “back inside” in Spanish as a Border Patrol Agent approaches them. The bystander is heard yelling, “We are U.S. Citizens!”
The agent is then heard questioning the status of the woman accompanying the bystander and asks, “Why is she running?”
The Home Depot customer then stated that he was forced out of the transport vehicle and repeatedly hit on his legs until he fell to his knees. He and Rachel were at different points in the lot by then.
Moments later, an ambulance arrives for Rachel, who is transported to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Marina Del Rey. Border Patrol agents followed her to the hospital. The customer was taken into custody for approximately eight hours before being released. He was on bed rest and given painkillers for a migraine he endured, confirmed by L.A. TACO.
At Cedar-Senai, Rachel received treatment momentarily. While protestors were seen arriving in the parking lot, Border Patrol agents were recorded gearing up, and the LAPD arrived to force the peaceful protestors out.
Without authorization from the hospital, Border Patrol forcibly removed Rachel and transported her to the Metropolitan Detention Center on Alameda in Downtown Los Angeles. She was eventually released around 5:00 PM.
Video footage shows ICE agents still following her around as she walks down Alameda Ave until approached by a community watch team offering her a ride home.
