Opinion: State violence hits South Central. Community self-defense is our response

This piece reflects on Ezequiel Andrade's experience as a community activist during an ICE raid that occurred at the Home Depot on Slauson and Western in South Central Los Angeles on 10/27/25. It captures the timeline of events of how an ICE raid is executed and the impact on the working-class immigrant families.

The working-class people of Los Angeles have every right to defend themselves against masked, unidentified gunmen in ICE uniforms. We have a right to collective self-defense against terrorism, discrimination and human rights violations carried out by a fascist, tyrannical government that seeks to keep its working poor in unjust economic conditions. It is a right we must continually remind our communities of if we want our organizing efforts to grow in reach and impact.

With the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) in July 2025, a staggering $170 billion of our tax dollars are being placed into the hands of DHS and ICE, funding racist immigration enforcement policies on a scale that surpasses most countries' military budgets. A bulk of these funds became available on October 1st, 2025, and are now being used to increase the amount of indiscriminate racial profiling raids, tear children from their families and operate mass detention centers controlled by capitalist oligarchs who profit from the suffering of the working poor.

As the government increases its funding and organizing efforts for these lawless paramilitary operations against its own people, so too must we create grassroots movements focused on strategizing, organizing and mobilizing for community self-defense. They forget that the numerical strength of the working class, our shared material interests and our ability to create diverse coalitions can lead to transformative revolutionary change.

This report documents my recollection of the events that took place during what we should recognize as a domestic terrorist attack, an ICE raid at the South Central Home Depot on Slauson and Western Avenue. Its purpose is to inform community members and coalition partners about the tactics used by ICE during this operation and to strengthen our collective preparedness for future incidents.

Timeline of what I witnessed:

08:40 AM

A white truck with Virginia state license plates entered the Home Depot parking lot through the Slauson and Ruthelen entrance (Entrance #1). The vehicle carried two unmasked white male passengers. A coalition member began tailing the truck due to its suspicious out-of-state plates.

At 08:41 AM

A gray SUV with California license plates (8WQN561) entered via the same entrance. Two unmasked Latino men occupied the vehicle, which parked along the western end of the lot. They placed a sunshade on the windshield, which caught my attention, so I began to walk towards the vehicle.

At 08:42-08:49 AM

As I approached the gray SUV with license plates 8WQN561, a jornalero suddenly yelled, “La Migra!” I turned around and within seconds, three more cars flooded the parking lot. Two entered through Entrance #1 and parked on the east side of Baskin-Robbins. Another car entered from Slauson and St. Andrews (Entrance #2) and stopped in front of the McDonald’s.

Panic spread quickly. The jornaleros that could run, ran for safety. Many jornaleros were caught off guard. I witnessed masked plain clothes men wearing ICE vests, without badges and without identifying themselves, indiscriminately and forcefully detaining workers and pushing them into unmarked vehicles. A few of the jornaleros were trying to plead with the masked assailants to garner sympathy, but were taken anyway.

As I watched all this play out, I was first overwhelmed with shock and fear, heartbroken as I saw the faces of these poor men fleeing in anguish. Then, I began shouting “La Migra!” to alert others. I fumbled my hands around my pockets in search of my whistle and phone, intending to record the scene. In the chaos, I forgot to hit record at first; by the time I did, several agents had already loaded people into vehicles and began to drive off.

I ran in front of the ICE vehicles, to try and stall their escape so that more community members could arrive and surround their cars. Around this time, more community members began to arrive. Employees from the surrounding shops, local residents and customers from the nearby stores began recording, shouting, honking their horns and positioning their cars to slow the agents’ escape.

The ICE agents got out of their cars and began yelling at the members of the public, “Get back! If you do not leave, you will be placed under arrest for impeding.” Eventually the ICE terrorists were able to find enough space to drive away.

By 08:50 AM, all ICE vehicles had exited the lot. My comrade and I began asking members of the public to share any videos and photos, or other details about the people who were kidnapped. Based on the accounts of the people that witnessed the ICE raids, we estimate approximately 12 people were taken.

Witness accounts and descriptions:

I personally witnessed five people being kidnapped by ICE. Two were kidnapped on the far west end of the lot and placed into the gray SUV that entered at 08:41 AM. One worker was pulled out of his red truck. Another, an older gentleman in his late 50s, attempted to run but was tackled to the ground and detained. Two other workers that I saw being kidnapped were placed into a light gray Ford Expedition with California license plates 9UMW370. There was a gray-green Jeep with license plates (8ZMS302) in which I saw another worker being apprehended near the Baskin-Robbins.

After speaking with community members, we learned that the vehicle that had been parked in front of the McDonald’s had taken three more workers. We also heard that another vehicle near the IHOP and Starbucks also kidnapped two people. We suspect that they entered using the entrance on Slauson and Manhattan (entrance #3) since we did not see when they pulled in. We also heard accounts that two people were kidnapped in front of the Home Depot / Food 4 Less.

This was a highly coordinated operation on their behalf with agents positioned at different entrances, and synchronized movements suggesting prior surveillance and planning by scouts. In total, an estimate that I believe to be accurate, plus or minus two people, would be 12 workers/community members. Upwards of six vehicles were used by the ICE agents during their terrorist attack.

Reflections:

As the lot cleared, a heavy silence set in, and I began to emotionally process what had taken place just moments ago. There was an overwhelming sense of loss knowing that so many of our community members had been taken. I wondered who they were, what they were leaving behind and who would now suffer in their absence. In the span of a few minutes, families were torn apart and loved ones will wait for their family who may never come home.

The jornaleros who remained slowly emerged from hiding, visibly shaken. Some began retelling the horrors that they had witnessed and others left the scene quietly. We began to gather the names of those who had been taken. The details of the people and the events that took place started to come together. I saw the jornaleros collecting the scattered belongings of their friends that had been kidnapped. One worker’s red truck sat abandoned with the doors open, his phone and diabetes medications still inside the car. Another, a young man who had only started coming to the Home Depot a week earlier to look for work, left behind a small backpack filled with a water bottle, a loaf of bread, an orange and work gloves. I couldn’t help but wonder what will happen to this man who is going to be sent to a modern-day concentration camp without his medications and with no one who can advocate on his behalf?

These men were not criminals. They had committed no act of violence, no wrongdoing. Their only act was seeking work, a universal and deeply human pursuit. What I witnessed was not law enforcement for the safety of the public; it was the violent disruption of working people’s dignity and livelihoods. They aren’t the so-called “illegals” whom we are propagandized to hate as a way of distracting us from the economic injustices that have been created by the billionaire elites. They are our neighbors, our friends and our family.

This is why today, I want to call it as I see it. What happened today was an act of domestic terrorism committed by ICE. They entered OUR neighborhood, kidnapped OUR neighbors and spread fear throughout OUR community. The ICE–police–military industrial complex exists to oppress the working class, to keep people subdued and forced into unsafe, exploitative working conditions! While communities like ours live in fear of raids, the billionaire class continues to exploit labor, hoard resources and pit us against one another.

We must continue to organize, to resist and to stand together at every step. We must demand more of our elected officials. They must do what they have pledged to do, protect all the residents of Los Angeles. Oppression breeds rebellion. We must resist. We must defend ourselves. We must rebel. And we must always be ready.