Federal prosecutors announced charges Wednesday against 12 people who allegedly impeded officers or engaged in violence during demonstrations against the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
The charges, some part of an effort dubbed “Operation Bridge Too Far” by federal authorities, largely centered on demonstrations that erupted on a freeway overpass near an immigration detention center in downtown Los Angeles on June 8, the first day the National Guard was deployed to the city.
What started as a small, peaceful protest on Alameda Street exploded into a series of tense clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement. After National Guard members and U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials used tear gas and smoke bombs to try to disperse a crowd outside the detention center, more protesters flooded the area.
A number of Waymo self-driving vehicles were set on fire near Olivera Street, and a group of California Highway Patrol officers on the 101 Freeway were pelted with items from protesters on the overpass above. At times, they returned fire with less-lethal rounds and tear gas. At least one protester had previously been charged in state court with throwing a flaming item at a CHP vehicle from the overpass.
Authorities announced that 10 defendants charged in connection with the protests were in federal custody this week. Another is in state custody and expected to be handed over to federal authorities, and one remains a fugitive.
Among those charged in connection with the June 8 protest are Ronald Alexis Coreas, 23, of Westlake; Junior Roldan, 27, of Hollywood; Elmore Sylvester Cage, 34, of downtown Los Angeles; Balto Montion, 24, of Watsonville; Jesus Gonzalez Hernandez Jr., 22, of Las Vegas; Hector Daniel Ramos, 66, of Alhambra; Stefano Deong Green, 34, of Westmont; Yachua Mauricio Flores, 23, of Lincoln Heights; and Ismael Vega, 41, of Westlake.
Prosecutors also charged Virginia Reyes, 32, and Isai Carrillo, 31, who they say are members of VC Defensa, an immigrant rights group that has been documenting raids in the region. The two have been charged with conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer connected to a raid in Camarillo. Authorities said Reyes is the fugitive they are seeking.
Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor for the Central District of California, accused members of groups like VC Defensa of obstructing and impeding immigration agents.
“As soon as they see agents conducting a law enforcement operation they activate people to show up, to harass the agents, to get in their way, to film them, try to identify them, that’s their purpose,” Essayli said. “When they take actions that cross the line into impeding … that becomes a federal crime and they are subject to arrest.”
On Wednesday afternoon, VC Defensa posted on Instagram calling the government’s statement about the group “completely false.”
“This is part of a witch hunt against anyone who uses their First Amendment rights to organize and speak out against ICE’s campaign of terror on immigrant communities,” the post read.
Yovany Marcario Canil, 22, of Boyle Heights was charged with assault on a federal officer for pepper-spraying members of an FBI S.W.A.T. team who were inside a government vehicle leaving the site of a raid in the downtown L.A. Fashion District on June 6.
A protester lobs a large rock at CHP officers stationed on the 101 Freeway below.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
“Acts of violence against the brave law enforcement officers who protect us are an attack on civilized society itself,” U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi said in a news release. “Anyone who engages in such disgusting conduct will face severe consequences from this Department of Justice.”
The FBI offered up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of 10 other unknown individuals accused of engaging in similar attacks from the overpass.
“A group of violent protesters threw rocks, pieces of concrete, electric scooters, and fireworks at officers and patrol cars” on the 101 Freeway, the FBI said.
Essayli has aggressively pursued charges against those who clashed with law enforcement during protests against the Trump administration’s immigration raids over the last few months. On Wednesday, Essayli said that his office has charged 97 people with assaulting or impeding officers.
Of those, Essayli said, 18 have pleaded guilty and 44 are set to go to trial. His office has taken two defendants in misdemeanor assault cases to trial, but both ended in acquittals.
“Every American has a right to peacefully protest. What is not constitutionally protected is a right to engage in violence or to impede federal agents by assaulting, doxxing or obstructing their operations,” Essayli said Wednesday. “Not only are these actions dangerous, they’re also ineffective. We have not and we will not stop our immigration enforcement operations. Nothing will stop us. Nothing.”
Earlier this year, a Times investigation found Essayli’s prosecutors have failed to convince grand juries to secure indictments in a number of protest-related cases.
Prosecutors face a much lower legal bar before a grand jury than they do in a criminal trial, and experts say it is rare for federal prosecutors to lose at that preliminary stage. Prosecutors in Chicago and Washington have faced similar struggles, court records show.
The defendants who have pleaded guilty in L.A. include a 23-year-old undocumented immigrant who hurled a molotov cocktail at L.A. County sheriff’s deputies during a June rally against immigration enforcement.
Times staff writer Ruben Vives contributed to this report.
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