Immigration raids in Los Angeles: Protestors clash with ICE agents, smoke grenades used | Here's what's happening

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Friday (June 6) carried out raids in Los Angeles stating that it is related to "harboring of people illegally in the country." The raids were supported by the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations. Labor leader and Service Employees International Union-United Service Workers West President David Huerta was also detained during the raids.

Protests erupted and protesters clashed with federal authorities as raids continued. Federal authorities used flash-bang grenades, smoke grenades and pepper spray on a crowd protesting the raid.

The raids were a part of Trump administration's larger crackdown on immigrants. Earlier this week, ICE Director Todd Lyons defended the raids, claiming that the agency is targeting "dangerous criminals" and that ICE is making an average of 1,600 arrests per day.

Here's all we know so far

1. At least 44 individuals across Los Angeles were arrested after raids were conducted. Yasmeen Pitts O'Keefe, a spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement said, “ICE officers and agents alongside partner law enforcement agencies, executed four federal search warrants at three locations in central Los Angeles.”

2. Similar raids also took place in San Diego and Minneapolis. Protests took place after federal agents in tactical gear conducted operations and said that they were related to criminal cases, not immigration enforcement.

3. As news of the raids spread, dozens of protestors gathered outside federal detention centers, demanding the release of those arrested. Chaotic scenes were seen outside a Home Depot parking lot, where federal agents escorted detainees to white vans, their hands tied behind their backs.

4. On the arrest of David Huerta, the union said that he was injured during the arrest and treated at Los Angeles General Hospital before being discharged and taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown LA.

"What happened to me is not about me; This is about something much bigger. This is about how we as a community stand together and resist the injustice that's happening. Hard-working people, and members of our family and our community, are being treated like criminals," Huerta said in a statement afterwards.

5. US Attorney Bill Essayli defended Huerta's arrest stating that he blocked the federal agents from doing their duty. "He was arrested for interfering with federal officers and will face arraignment in federal court on Monday. Let me be clear: I don’t care who you are—if you impede federal agents, you will be arrested and prosecuted," he said.

6. Meanwhile, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass condemned the raids, calling them a tactic to “sow terror” within immigrant communities. “As Mayor of a proud city of immigrants, who contribute to our city in so many ways, I am deeply angered by what has taken place,” she said. “These tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city,” he said in a statement.