Federal authorities charge California labor leader with impeding officer
LOS ANGELES — Federal authorities on Monday charged David Huerta, the president of the Service Employees International Union California, in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to impede an officer tied to an immigration enforcement raid last week.
Huerta, 58, has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown L.A. since Friday and is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court Monday afternoon. He is facing a felony charge that carries up to six years in federal prison, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in L.A.
California Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla sent a letter Monday to the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice demanding a review of Huerta’s arrest.
Huerta was detained and injured while documenting a workplace immigration raid in downtown L.A. on Friday. He was treated at a hospital and transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center.
Labor leaders around the country have called for his release.
According to the criminal complaint, on June 5, U.S. Magistrate Judge Margo A. Rocconi authorized four search warrants for four business premises “suspected of unlawfully employing illegal aliens and falsifying employment records related to the status of its employees.”
In an affidavit filed with the federal complaint, a supervisory special agent with Homeland Security Investigations, whose name was redacted, said news quickly spread about “ICE raids” taking place throughout L.A.
According to the complaint, Huerta arrived at the scene before noon, joining several other protesters.
“The protesters, including HUERTA appeared to be communicating with each other in a concerted effort to disrupt the law enforcement operations,” the agent wrote.
The agent wrote that Huerta was yelling at and taunting officers and later sat cross-legged in front of the vehicle gate.
“In addition to sitting in front of the gate, HUERTA at various times stood up and paced in front of the gate, effectively preventing law enforcement vehicles from entering or exiting the premises through the gate to execute the search warrant,” the agent wrote in the affidavit. “As far as I was aware, this gate was the only location through which vehicles could enter or exit the premises.”
The agent wrote that they told Huerta if he kept blocking the gate, he would be arrested.
The agent wrote that Huerta responded that he couldn’t hear the agent through his mask. Huerta used a curse word, the agent wrote.
According to the complaint, as a white law enforcement van tried to get through the gate, Huerta stood in its path.
Because Huerta “was being uncooperative, the officers put his hands on HUERTA in an attempt to move him out of the path of the vehicle.”
“I saw HUERTA push back, and in response, the officer pushed HUERTA to the ground,” the agent wrote. “The officer and I then handcuffed HUERTA and arrested him.”
Huerta on Friday released a statement through his union, saying: “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.”