As tense anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles enter their fourth day, federal officers have ramped up law enforcement’s response – and have added one protester to the FBI’s Most Wanted list.
The unidentified demonstrator has been accused of assaulting a federal officer and damaging government property during Saturday’s protest in Paramount, a city 30 miles south of Los Angeles.
The suspect allegedly threw rocks at law enforcement on Alondra Boulevard around 3:30 p.m. Saturday, “injuring a federal officer and damaging government vehicles,” according to a press release from the FBI’s Los Angeles field office.
It was not immediately clear whether the officer was injured or the extent of the damage.
Photos shared by the FBI show a man wearing a patterned neck gaiter, a baseball hat, and a Zacatecas baseball jersey.
In some of the images, he is on a motorcycle, donning a helmet and reflective sunglasses. In one image, he is seen holding a Mexican flag, which has become a prominent symbol during the protests.
Another image shows the suspect wearing his motorcycle helmet, standing above a pile of garbage that is on fire.
According to the FBI, the man should be considered armed and dangerous.
The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the man.
The FBI’s Most Wanted list is a tool for helping the public identify dangerous fugitives. The agency has several Most Wanted lists, including the Ten Most Wanted, Fugitives, Terrorism and those they are Seeking Information on, like the suspect in the Los Angeles protest.
Protests in Los Angeles ramped up over the weekend as hordes of demonstrators took to the streets against the Trump administration’s immigration raids and deployment of the National Guard.
Protesters blocked off a major freeway Sunday and set self-driving cars on fire, while law enforcement used tear gas, rubber bullets and flash bangs to attempt to control the crowds.
At Trump’s order, 2,000 National Guard troops descended on the city Sunday morning, less than two days after protests first erupted, leaving California Governor Gavin Newsom urging the president to withdraw his order.
Newsom called the move “purposefully inflammatory” and said it would “only escalate tensions.”
Newsom later lambasted Trump for acting like a “dictator,” prompting the president to fire back that the governor and LA Mayor Karen Bass were doing an “absolutely horrible job.”
As many as 500 Marines were also at the ready to be deployed following an order by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Several dozen people were arrested throughout the weekend, including one on Sunday for throwing a Molotov cocktail at police. Another was taken into custody for ramming a motorcycle into a line of officers.
With reporting from the Associated Press.
