Day laborer fleeing ICE raid in California was fatally struck by SUV, local official says

(KTLA) – Several dozen people gathered outside a Home Depot in Monrovia, California, on Thursday evening to protest federal immigration raids, including one that led to the death of a day labor hours earlier, according to witnesses.

Monrovia City Manager Dylan Feik said the man was fleeing an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid at the Home Depot on Thursday morning. Witnesses said they saw him run across the store’s parking lot and onto the eastbound 210 Freeway, where he was struck by an SUV and killed.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not respond to a request for more information from Nexstar’s KTLA. But a representative told the Los Angeles Times that the man was not being pursued by their agents when he ran onto the freeway.

Protesters at Thursday’s event, however, believed the man’s death was a direct result of ICE raids like the one in Monrovia.

“I was heartbroken,” said Selene Lockerbie, who attended Thursday’s protest. “I feel like Monrovia was violated … to know that a man lost his life today just trying to work. Just trying to take care of himself and his family.”

Karen Suarez, another demonstrator, said she consoled the victim’s daughter at the scene.

“I just went up to her and said, ‘I’m really sorry about your dad.’ She was so shaken up,” Suarez told KTLA’s Sandra Mitchell.

Immigrant advocates say 13 people were detained by federal agents during Thursday’s raid. Several were also injured, according to Pablo Alvarado from the National Day Laborer Union.

“They’re afraid of going to the clinics and hospitals, so we’re going to make sure there’s a doctor who comes to see them,” said Alvarado. “The first thing is humanity of people.”

The Trump Administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration in Southern California shows no sign of slowing, despite frequent protests and outrage expressed by local, state and federal lawmakers, largely Democrats.

Also on Thursday, approximately 100 federal agents conducted a sweep in L.A.’s Little Tokyo neighborhood where California Gov. Gavin Newsom held a news conference to promote his plan to redraw the state’s congressional districts in response to Texas Republicans’ plan to do the same.