Labor union says California university professor was taken during Camarillo immigration raid protest

Editor’s note: KTLA reached out to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for comment on this matter prior to publication. As of publishing, DHS has not responded. KTLA will update this article with any new information as it becomes available.

The California Faculty Association says one of the people detained during a protest over a federal immigration raid in Camarillo this week is a local university professor, and he hasn’t been heard from or seen since.

A crowd quickly started to gather outside the Glass House Farms marijuana grow facility on Laguna Road in Camarillo on Thursday and Friday while federal agents conducted an operation stemming from what the Department of Homeland Security said were criminal warrants against the company. Another raid involving Glass House Farms was conducted simultaneously in Carpinteria. 

As a result of the raids, more than 200 people were arrested, and officials said they found at least ten child workers during the operations. Glass House Farms is now under investigation for child labor violations, and the company says they are cooperating fully with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

During Thursday’s protests, Sky5 captured at least 30 people sitting against a wall in handcuffs with brown paper bags in front of their feet. More detainees were seen around the area; however, it was not clear whether they were protest-related or stemmed from the raid. 

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security later confirmed that four U.S. citizens were arrested for resisting or assaulting officers.

On Friday night, officials with the California Faculty Association (CFA) put out a social media post advising that a professor at California State University Channel Islands, Dr. Jonathan Anthony Caravello, was taken during the demonstrations on Thursday. 

Per the CSUCI staff directory, Professor Caravello is a philosophy and math lecturer.

CFA’s social media post says that the professor was “kidnapped” at 2:33 p.m. Thursday near Las Posas Road and Laguna Road – not far from the CSUCI campus.  

“Four masked agents dragged Jonathan away into an unmarked without identifying themselves, without giving the reason for arrest and without disclosing where they are taking him,” the post reads.

The professor has not had access to his medication since his disappearance on Thursday, the post elaborates.

Caravello has not been seen or heard from since then and as of 10 a.m. Saturday, was still unaccounted for.