DHS reportedly rams truck and takes U.S. citizen into custody, sparking protest in Oxnard
A spontaneous protest against immigration agents broke out after an incident in Oxnard on Thursday morning. A U.S. citizen was reportedly taken into custody by federal officials.
Video posted to Instagram shows an SUV ramming into the back of a pickup truck on South A Street.
There are unconfirmed reports that it was a Homeland Security vehicle that hit the truck before taking a person into custody.
A crowd of approximately 80 people quickly gathered at the scene.
Oxnard police said they got a call from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claiming that their vehicle had been rammed first.
They then sent in officers for crowd control at the protest and to "keep the peace."
The department confirms that DHS took someone into custody. The crowd eventually dispersed.
"The Oxnard Police Department had absolutely no involvement in what preceded our arrival on scene. The federal authorities asserted that the traffic collision was intentional, and because of that, it is under their jurisdiction. This means that this is a federal investigation, and not that of the Oxnard Police Department," the department wrote in a post on Facebook .
The organization VC Defense identified the man taken into custody as volunteer Leo Martinez.
The organization claims ICE agents intentionally struck Martinez's truck and blocked his exit as Martinez observed ICE activity.
"Leo, who is a U.S. citizen, is currently detained at the Metro Detention Center in Los Angeles. Leo was exercising his right to document the crimes ICE is inflicting on our communities, as he and many of our volunteers have done for years. This shameful escalation by ICE is nothing more than an attempt to intimidate those of conscience who are standing up against Trump's assault on immigrants. We will not be deterred, and we will continue to keep all of our communities safe," VC Defense wrote in a statement.
The organization plans to hold a press conference at 5 p.m. demanding Martinez's release from custody.
