California union leader David Huerta has been charged in federal court with conspiracy to impede an officer after he was arrested on Friday while protesting federal immigration enforcement efforts.
Huerta, the president of the California branch of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), is detained and slated to appear for a bond hearing Monday afternoon.
A Homeland Security agent alleged in a court affidavit dated Sunday that officers were trying to execute a search warrant at a Los Angeles establishment suspected of hiring people who had entered the U.S. without authorization when Huerta took several steps to “disrupt the operation.”
Huerta sat and paced in front of a gate, the federal agent wrote in the affidavit, and refused to move aside.
At one point, Huerta “refused to move away from the path” when a law enforcement van approached with its sirens blazing and tried to enter through the gate, according to the Homeland Security agent. Huerta, according to the federal agent, “instead stood in front of the vehicle with his hands on his hips.”
The agent said he then saw a law enforcement officer approach an “uncooperative” Huerta and “put his hands” on Huerta “in an attempt to move him out of the path of the vehicle.”
Huerta pushed the officer back, according to the agent, and “in response,” the officer pushed Huerta to the ground, handcuffed him and arrested him.
The incident has provoked outrage from Democrats.
California Democratic Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla joined Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday in a letter to several Trump administration officials “demanding answers” about Huerta, who they say “was injured, arrested and detained by federal officials while exercising his lawful right to observe the conduct of immigration enforcement personnel.”
“It is deeply troubling that a U.S. citizen, union leader, and upstanding member of the Los Angeles community continues to be detained by the federal government for exercising his rights to observe immigration enforcement,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter.
“As U.S. Senators, we are privileged and proud to represent Americans like Mr. Huerta, who are pillars of their community and stand up for the fundamental rights of all residents of our great state,” they wrote, noting they have a “constitutional duty to conduct oversight” of federal agencies and are requiring a response to a list of questions about the incident.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) also on Sunday attempted to speak to Huerta at the federal detention facility where he was being held, but she was blocked from entering, CNN reported.
SEIU members, meanwhile, rallied in several cities Monday in Huerta’s defense.
The California branch of the union on Friday said that Huerta was arrested and injured “while exercising his First Amendment right to observe and document law enforcement activity.”
“We are proud of President Huerta’s righteous participation as a community observer, in keeping with his long history of advocating for immigrant workers and with the highest values of our movement: standing up to injustice, regardless of personal risk or the power of those perpetrating it,” the group’s Executive Director Tia Orr said in a statement.
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