SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The San Diego Police Department addressed concerns about its role in a chaotic Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation Tuesday morning, emphasizing that officers responded to a 911 call and were not involved in immigration enforcement.
The incident occurred at the 47th Street trolley stop in Lincoln Park, where community members gathered to alert people about ICE's presence during what the agency described as a surveillance operation.
ICE called SDPD for crowd control after two of its agents were allegedly assaulted, according to police.
"What we received was a 911 call to the 911 dispatch center, the way any other person calls 911, identified themselves as federal agents," Commander Adam Sharki said.
Benjamin Prado, who livestreamed a part of the incident, disputed ICE's timeline of events.
"We didn't see any assaults. The person that they detained got there after we had shown up, so the timeline is inconsistent," Prado said.
Prado expressed concern about SDPD's response, which he also recorded during his livestream.
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"One police officer is seen pulling out his pepper spray, shaking it, ready to deploy against unarmed civilians," Prado said.
He also questioned the department's handling of a detained individual.
"We see an individual being detained. Handed to San Diego Police Department. He is clearly in San Diego Police Department custody. At some point he's transferred over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement," Prado said.
Prado reached out to the mayor's office, believing SDPD's response violated SB-54, the state law that limits cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.
Commander Sharki explained that officers witnessed an assault once they arrived on the scene.
"They saw a member of the public strike a federal agent in the face, is my understanding, and they went to effect an arrest for the misdemeanor battery," Sharki said.
The man was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations after officers legally parked his car because HSI wanted to press federal charges for the alleged assault, according to Sharki.
"In this case, they turned that person back to HSI, not for immigration, but for the assault on the federal officer," Sharki said.
The department maintains that it was only there to maintain order, not enforce immigration laws.
"It's not our job, responding to 911 calls, is our job," Sharki said.
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