‘Happy Halloween!’: DHS responds to federal agents wearing horror, toy masks in L.A. County

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.

Federal agents were seen wearing Halloween masks while driving to and from a Department of Homeland Security operational staging area in the Port of Los Angeles this week, according to volunteers with a local community patrol group.

The incident was documented Tuesday morning by the Harbor Area Peace Patrol, a volunteer organization that monitors federal immigration enforcement activity in the Harbor region. A community member who asked to be identified only as Phoebe told KTLA that several masked agents were spotted leaving Terminal Island, where DHS and ICE vehicles are often staged before morning operations.

“They slowed down, rolled down the window and stared directly into my camera wearing a Chucky mask,” Phoebe said. “Fifteen minutes later another agent drove out wearing a Momo mask and did the same. It just reaffirmed that they really have fun doing this type of work, terrorizing our communities.”

Phoebe said she and other patrollers regularly document vehicles entering and leaving the Terminal Island lot, which she described as restricted DHS property located near a public memorial. She said her group cross-references those vehicles with ones later seen at immigration enforcement operations across Los Angeles County.

While Phoebe provided footage showing agents wearing the masks as they left the facility, she said there is no indication the masks were used during enforcement actions later that day.

The Department of Homeland Security has not responded to KTLA’s request for comment.

The story was first reported on by L.A. TACO, an independently owned local newsroom that focuses on street-level coverage of Los Angeles communities. In its initial story, the publication said it received the following emailed statement from Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Public Affairs:

“Happy Halloween!”

The statement was first obtained and reported by L.A. TACO reporter Aisha Wallace-Palomares.

According to L.A. TACO’s report, one agent was seen wearing a “Chucky” mask around 7:23 a.m. Tuesday, followed by another wearing a “Momo” mask roughly 10 minutes later. The same van has allegedly been documented at multiple immigration raids across Los Angeles, including one in Van Nuys that same day.

According to Phoebe, the same white van seen leaving Terminal Island this week had been photographed several times before. On Oct. 20, the driver was seen wearing what appeared to be a “Mr. Potato Head”-style disguise — complete with glasses and a fake nose — as the vehicle left the DHS facility.

Phoebe said that although agents often conceal their identities, the masks this week appeared intentionally taunting.

“This felt different,” she said. “They went out of their way to make sure we saw them.”

KTLA has contacted both DHS and ICE for clarification on the incident and will update this story if a response is received.

Elizabeth Chapman contributed to this report.