LOS ANGELES – David Jose Huerta, the President of SEIU California, is due to make his first court appearance at a Los Angeles federal courtroom at 1:30 p.m. Monday after he was arrested by federal agents Friday while protesting an immigration enforcement raid.
Huerta has been charged with conspiracy to impede an officer, a felony charge with a maximum statutory sentence of six years in federal prison and he remains in federal custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, Huerta's initial appearance is for a bond/bail hearing and he will not be arraigned on his charge and will not be entering a plea.
"We strongly condemn the detention of SEIU California and SEIU USWW President David Huerta by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while he exercised his constitutional right to peacefully protest ICE’s indiscriminate immigration raids in Los Angeles," read a statement from SEIU Local 503 President Johnny Earl and SEIU California Executive Director Melissa Unger about the arrest. "[SEI California] President Huerta has long championed immigrant rights, civil liberties, and economic justice. His arrest during a lawful act of civil disobedience is an attack on free expression and the labor movement. That he remains in ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] custody, even after being hospitalized, is both unacceptable and alarming.
The federal criminal complaint filed against the labor leader Sunday detailed that protesters -including Huerta- arrived during the execution of four search warrants at "business premises suspected of unlawfully employing illegal aliens and falsifying employment records related to the status of its employees" on June 6 of this year.
The search warrants were authorized by U.S. Magistrate Judge Margo A. Rocconi the previous day stated the criminal complaint, but have not been provided to the public.
On of the four search warrants was executed on June 6 in the 2400 block of East 15th Street in Los Angeles by personnel with clothing that identified them as law enforcement stated the criminal complaint.
According to Sunday's criminal complaint, an undercover officer in plain clothes noticed that a woman outside of the vehicle gates that are between the public sidewalk and the business being investigated arrived around 11:10 a.m. and began to use her phone including potentially filming officers executing the search warrant.
About 15 to 30 minutes after the woman arrived and began to use her phone, additional protesters arrived at the scene and a review of video surveillance captured by the undercover officer showed that Huerta arrived around 11:49 a.m. detailed the criminal complaint.
The image below from Sunday's criminal complaint shows protesters, including Huerta, at the vehicle gates of the 15th Street business during the immigration raid.
Huerta was quoted in the criminal complaint asking law enforcement officers at the scene to remove their facial coverings and explain their activities and coordinating protesters to join him in sitting down in front of the vehicle gate explaining, "it's a public sidewalk, what are they going to do".
Images inside of the criminal complaint show protesters, including Huerta, sitting in front of the vehicle gate as well as personnel in law enforcement uniforms with their faces covered on the other side of the fence.
The image below from the criminal complaint, allegedly shows that an unidentified person attempted to padlock the vehicle gate during the protest.
Huerta and protesters were informed by law enforcement at the scene that their actions were, "impeding law enforcement access into and out of the premises" to which Huerta is quoted as responding, "what are you going to do, you can't arrest all of us" shared the criminal complaint.
According to the criminal complaint, law enforcement informed the protesters that they would be arrested to which Huerta replied, "I can't hear you through your [expletive] mask" and other protesters were heard to be asking officers to remove their masks, reveal their badges, and identify themselves.
When a white law enforcement van arrived at the scene, protesters were told to clear the way for the van to enter and when they refused, a law enforcement officer approached Huerta as shown in the image below from the criminal complaint.
"Because HUERTA was being uncooperative, the officer put his hands on HUERTA in an attempt to move him out of the path of the vehicle," stated the criminal complaint. "I [the law enforcement official who submitted a statement as part of the criminal complaint] saw HUERTA push back, and in response, the officer pushed HUERTA to the ground. The officer and I then handcuffed HUERTA and arrested him."
Other protesters continued to block the van and had to be physically removed from the area noted the criminal complaint.
On Monday, Senators Adam Schiff, Alex Padilla and Charles Schumer issued a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pamela Bondi, and Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons.
"Mr. Huerta, a well-known and deeply respected community leader, was exercising his lawful right to observe the conduct of immigration enforcement personnel," stated Monday's letter. "In the course of doing so, Mr. Huerta suffered an injury and law enforcement personnel apprehended and subsequently arrested him. It is deeply troubling that a U.S. citizen, union leader, and upstanding member of the Los Angeles community continues to be detained by the federal government for exercising his rights to observe immigration enforcement."
The letter from California's Senators and Senate Minority Leader Schumer then explained the signers have a constitutional duty to conduct oversight and demanded a formal review to determine what happened during the arrest and clarification of the legal authority Huerta is currently detained under.
A formal response to those questions was demanded by Friday.
SEIU California President David Huerta makes first court appearance after his arrest while protesting federal immigration raid in Los Angeles Friday News Channel 3-12.
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