Armed and masked men leaping out of unmarked vehicles. Latino men taken from their places of work or while waiting for the bus. Street vendors roughly tackled to the ground and forcefully held down. Since early June, the streets of Los Angeles have borne witness to frequent and aggressive immigration raids that have seen people suspected of being undocumented migrants detained. Some have been rapidly deported.
Evident Media partnered with Bellingcat and CalMatters to gather and document social media and online footage of as many of the LA raids as possible. We collected videos of just over 100 incidents between June 6 and June 30, picking out what appear to be recurring trends and tactics used by officers.
The film builds off of previous CalMatters reporting: