For seven straight days and nights, a group of mostly strangers came together outside of the Federal Detention Center on Alameda Street in DTLA to gather food, water, and other supplies, while protesting the federal immigration raids and keeping tabs on the vehicles coming in and out of the building.
On Friday morning, the 24-hour protest came to an end, when police and sanitation workers used city laws that are typically used to displace and arrest unhoused people, to break up the encampment known as the “ICE Out of L.A. Camp.”
Police pulled up to the Federal Building at around 10 a.m. and quickly blocked off the entirety of Alameda Street between Temple and Commercial Streets with yellow tape.
City workers focused on several canopies shielding cases of water, boxes of snacks, megaphones, know your rights pamphlets, and art supplies from the sun and 80 degree heat.
By noon, everything was gone, minus some personal items that protesters were able to save.
“We lost lots of food and water,” a protester told L.A. TACO after the sweep “That’s all material stuff though, we’re not going to let that break us.”
When reached for comment, an L.A. Sanitation (LASAN) spokesperson said, "we will look into it."
Within minutes after the police drove away, a new folding table was set up and people began pulling up in cars with more donations.
“They can take our things, but keep your hands off our people,” Eddy told L.A. TACO. “They can take it and we will rebuild.”
Eddy described the 24-hour-a-day Ice Out of L.A. Camp “a resource for the community to express their First Amendment right to freedom of speech and express protests peacefully.”
“People want to go out on the streets, and we want to provide a location that they come to 24/7,” Eddy said. The group is intentionally conscious of people with non-traditional work hours, he said.
“Here we get to see the evil that comes in and out of this building,” Eddy continued. “And so this is a really crucial place for anyone that wants to feel and see what's happening. Once you see those vehicles come in, once you see those men in masks and women in masks, you can see the evil that’s happening here, and it activates you.”
In addition to providing resources to protesters, Eddys says that they also provide things like food and water to their unhoused neighbors looking for sustenance.
“There's different levels of activism and protesting,” Eddy said. “Online you see the horrific videos of DHS violently detaining our peaceful protesters … that’s what becomes viral, but the rest of the 23 hours and 30 minutes we’re here peacefully protesting.”
While protesters slowly rebuilt their camp, LAPD patrol cars circled the block.
Just before 1 p.m., while someone unloaded a brand new 10 x 10 canopy tent from a car, LAPD officers chased down a man who earlier briefly stood in front of an LAPD SUV, and handcuffed him. More than half a dozen officers responded to the scene. A police officer said that the man was being cited and released for allegedly obstructing a police vehicle.
Afterwards, protesters set up the new canopy tent and moved everything into the shade, as the sun beat down on Alameda Street. Down the block, LAPD officers in patrol cars monitored the group's activity.
At 1:37 p.m., a group of officers approached a woman who identified herself as Melissa. “Ma’am, did you set up that E-Z Up,?” LAPD Sergeant Claudia Avila asked the woman. “I’m going to give you a minute to bring it back down,” Avila warned.
Throughout the afternoon, officers cited two laws—LAMC 56.11 and LAMC 41.18—two penal codes more typically used to police unhoused people, barring people from leaving personal items in the public right of way, and setting up tents around so-called “sensitive sites.”
“When 41.18 passed, we said it was a slippery slope,” said Stephanie Caridad, a local activist who monitored Friday's sweep. “Criminalizing unhoused people would be the first step to limiting our constitutional rights."
In the case of the Ice Out of L.A. Camp, police at the sweep repeatedly claimed that the group was within 500 feet of a daycare clinic located at 255 East Temple Street. The address corresponds to the DTLA Veteran Affairs Clinic across the street from the encampment.
According to LAPD:
"Officers have been enforcing parking and 41.18 LAMC where no one can block a public sidewalk, sit, lie, sleep or store personal belongings. Officers provide a warning to comply and give them reasonable time to move their tents, EZ ups and property, etc. If they don’t then officers will return, cite/ arrest, and the property is either taken by sanitation or LAPD."
A minute after being warned, Melissa was in handcuffs.
“Viva la Raza, free the people!” she shouted as police loaded her into an SUV.
About an hour later, at 2:35 p.m., police walked up to the four corners of the E-Z Up, dismantled it, and carried it away, while protesters shouted them down on loud speakers.
But again, within minutes of them leaving, people began pulling up in cars with cases of water and other donations to replenish the camp with resources.
While the police continued to circle the block and keep a watchful eye on the protesters, Melissa walked down Alameda Street unfazed, with a glowing smile on her face as radiant as the sun.
During a brief interview with L.A. TACO, she said that police cited her for setting up a tent within 500 feet of a daycare before releasing her.
When asked if the arrest will deter her from protesting, Melissa responded: “I’m here again. My husband is [asking] me ‘what are you doing there?’ And I’m like hey, I gotta do it for our people, I gotta be here.”
