LA County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman called the incident “unacceptable” in an office-wide memo sent Friday evening.
“A member of our agency was wrongfully detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). I am happy to report that our employee was released shortly afterwards and is safe,” Hochman wrote. “This incident is unacceptable. Our employee is a dedicated public servant who serves the people of Los Angeles County with professionalism and integrity. This disturbing situation caused great distress to our colleague, our colleague’s family and our entire Office family.”
The reason for the person’s detention was not immediately clear. A spokesperson for Hochman declined to comment further and referred questions to ICE. ICE representatives did not respond to questions from The Times. .
Two law enforcement officials with knowledge of the incident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly, said the employee was not a prosecutor. The employee was also not involved in any protest activities, officials said.
In the email, Hochman said he had personally contacted federal authorities on Friday to inform them of the situation and “urge them to show greater respect for the rights of those who live in our community and ensure that this unlawful behavior does not occur again.”
In the months since ICE and Border Patrol agents began carrying out President Trump’s sweeping immigration raids on American cities, civil liberties groups have repeatedly sued the Justice Department, claiming agents are making stops based on race rather than reasonable suspicion.
After ICE and Border Patrol agents raided car washes and Home Depot parking lots in LA County for months, a federal judge in October found enough evidence that agents violated the 4th Amendment by relying on the race, language and calling of the targeted individuals to constitute “reasonable suspicion” for arrest.
The American Civil Liberties Union recently filed a lawsuit on similar grounds against federal authorities over their conduct during chaotic and tense raids in Minneapolis. The Trump administration has insisted it is conducting targeted operations and only looking for the “worst of the worst,” but records show that many of the people arrested in the Los Angeles raids had no criminal records.
#ICE #wrongfully #detained #County #DAs #office #worker #Hochman