During an early Wednesday morning federal immigration raid dubbed “Operation Trojan Horse,” federal agents jumped out of an inconspicuous yellow Penske box truck, parked at a Home Depot on Wilshire Boulevard in Westlake, and began chasing after people who took off running.
The L.A. Times reported that as many as 16 people were detained during the operation.
The August 6 Westlake Home Depot raid comes almost a month after a federal judge barred immigration officials for stopping people without “reasonable suspicion” and from relying on four factors to make arrests including race or ethnicity, speaking Spanish or English with an accent, someone’s presence in a particular location like a bus stop, car wash, or agricultural site, or the work they do. It was the first large-scale raid seen in Los Angeles since the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) was granted on July 11.
Breaking: DHS arrives in Penske trucks at a Home Depot in McArthur Park area of LA for early morning immigration enforcement. The area was filled with migrants who scattered. DHS says MS 13 has a chokehold on this area, which is one reason they’re carrying out the highly… pic.twitter.com/hTskuM9Q4l
— Matt Finn (@MattFinnFNC) August 6, 2025
The Westlake raid comes just two days after a Home Depot in Hollywood was similarly raided, leading to questions about whether or not the feds are following the TRO.
On August 1, a federal appeals court denied the federal government’s motion to appeal the temporary order.
“For those who thought immigration enforcement had stopped in Southern California, think again,” acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli wrote on X shortly after the raid. “The enforcement of federal law is not negotiable, and there are no sanctuaries from the reach of the federal government."
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Fox News that one of the reasons why the raid was carried out was due to MS-13’s “chokehold” on the area.
The image of masked federal agents surrounding a yellow Penske truck is eerily similar to video footage of members of the White Nationalist group “Patriot Front” standing beside Penske trucks in Missouri during a pride event earlier this summer.
After this morning's raid, a spokesperson for Penske Rental Trucks told a Los Angeles Times reporter that the company is “aware of recent reports and videos regarding a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) operation in Los Angeles.”
The spokesperson said that the company was not made aware “that its trucks would be used in today’s operation and did not authorize this.” They emphasized that “Penske strictly prohibits the transportation of people in the cargo area of its vehicles under any circumstances.”
“Penske will reach out to DHS and reinforce its policy to avoid improper use of its vehicles in the future.”
L.A. TACO reached out to DHS for comment and will update this story if we hear back from them.
In a statement posted on BlueSky, the United Farm Workers of America said, "We are deeply troubled by apparent raids in Southern California, including one involving a Penske truck filled with agents descending on day laborers today. While more investigation is needed, we have serious concerns that the federal government may be in violation of the federal judge's July TRO."
"It appears to UFW, our co-plaintiffs and our co-counsel ACLU SoCal that the government may be unwilling or unable to fulfill the goal of racist 'mass deportation' without breaking the law and violating civil rights," the group continued.
"We ask community members to be cautious, vigilantly observe, and reach out to us or to the ACLU if they have any specific information on this raid or similar activity. We will continue to evaluate and will vigorously defend our communities against any further unlawful actions."
This is a developing story…
