A top California union official was charged with interfering with law enforcement operations after he was arrested during anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles, according to court documents filed Monday.
David Huerta, the president of the California division of the Service Employees International Union, is set to appear in court for an initial appearance on one felony charge of conspiracy to impede an officer after he was arrested Friday during protests over ICE raids. The protests lasted through the weekend, with President Trump announcing Saturday that he would be deploying the National Guard — over California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s objections.
According to a Homeland Security Investigation officer’s sworn affidavit, Huerta sat down in front of a vehicular gate to a staging ground for ICE operations that were ongoing nearby.
The complaint alleges he yelled to the protestors “stop the vehicles,” and “it’s a public sidewalk, they can’t stop us.”
The officer then says he asked Huerta to move from the gate so that cars could get in and out of the facility, and Huerta replied, “What are you going to do? You can’t arrest all of us.”
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After a law enforcement van attempted to get into the site through the gate that was blocked by protestors, Huerta, the officer says, was “being uncooperative” after being asked to move out of the path before the officer attempted to physically move him out of the way. The officer then says Huerta pushed back, and as a result, Huerta was arrested.
According to the union, Huerta was injured during the arrest and was hospitalized as a result.
After he was released from the hospital, Huerta said in a statement through the SEIU, “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. We all collectively have to object to this madness because this is not justice. This is injustice. And we all have to stand on the right side of justice.”
Newsom and other Democratic leaders denounced the arrest, with Newsom writing in a statement that Huerta is a “respected leader, a patriot, and an advocate for working people.” A large protest was held by SEIU officials Monday in Washington, D.C. in support of Huerta’s release.
An immigration raid was ongoing on Friday as a crowd of anti-ICE advocates and other protestors gathered and attempted to block federal agents at a store in Los Angeles.
The HSI official said that law enforcement served four search warrants that day, and ICE said that it arrested 44 undocumented immigrants during the worksite raids.
If convicted, Huerta faces a sentence of up to six years in federal prison.
