Video showed what appeared to be Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents descending on Los Angeles’ iconic Dodger Stadium, though the agency has denied the claim.
At least four Department of Homeland Security vehicles were spotted near the stadium in Los Angeles just after 10am local time Thursday, the LA Times reports.
It’s unclear exactly what kind of operation the agents are trying to carry out, but photographs captured at the baseball stadium show several masked agents staged near Gate E.
A Dodgers spokesperson confirmed the raid but offered no detail on its aim.
‘This morning, ICE agents came to Dodger Stadium and requested permission to access the parking lots,’ they said. ‘They were denied entry to the grounds by the organization. Tonight’s game will be played as scheduled.’
Federal agents were denied entry to the stadium grounds after they attempted to enter the parking lot, sources familiar with the incident told the Times.
In a post to X, however, ICE has denied that they were the ones at Chavez Ravine: ‘False. We were never there.’
A group of protesters also assembled outside the gate. Police have been asked to intervene, another insider claimed.
The incident comes just two weeks after anti-ICE riots wreaked havoc on downtown LA and spawned other demonstrations across the country.
The team was also expected to detail how they plan to support impacted immigrant communities in LA.
Dozens of federal agents, masked and wearing tactical gear, gathered at the stadium’s downtown gate around 10am Thursday to conduct a briefing.
The agents then dispersed to various locations in the area, but a small group of agents were still seen on the premises shortly after 11am.
Los Angeles City Council District 1 workers alerted LAPD of the ‘staging’ at the stadium, a local elected official told ABC 7.
Police notified the Dodgers organization of the situation, with the team allegedly telling the agents to leave the property, the official added.
But an LAPD source denied reports that officers received a request from the team to remove the agents from stadium grounds, according to the LA Times.
The Dodgers did ask police to intervene with a protest that broke out by the same gate, the source added.
Demonstrators were seen waving protest signs and chanting ‘ICE out of LA’.
Dodgers fans and activists alike began to boycott the team after it failed to speak out about the immigration enforcement raids occurring in LA.
The raids, which began on June 6, caused major uproar across the city, with demonstrators taking to the streets.
The baseball team was criticized for not commenting on the situation, especially since its fanbase is more than 40 percent Latino.
Second baseman Enrique Hernandez addressed the issue in a post on his Instagram account, saying he is ‘saddened and infuriated by what’s happening in our country and our city’.
‘I cannot stand to see our community being violated, profiled, abused and ripped apart,’ Hernandez, who was born in Puerto Rico, shared.
‘ALL people deserve to be treated with respect, dignity and human rights.’
Hernandez’s post comes just days after R&B singer Nezza performed the American National Anthem in Spanish at the start of Saturday’s game.
Nezza’s 90-second rendition of the Star Spangled Banner and a behind-the-scenes video she shared on social media of team representatives discouraging it beforehand, quickly went viral.
In her viral TikTok video, Nezza is shown speaking with an off-camera Dodgers employee who tells her, ‘We are going to do the song in English today, so I’m not sure if that wasn’t transferred or if that wasn’t relayed.’
But she opted to perform the song in Spanish any way as a sign of protest, resulting in a standing ovation from the crowd.
Nezza says her manager immediately received a call from an unidentified Dodgers employee saying their clients were not welcome at the stadium again.
But the baseball team said in a statement to AP: ‘There were no consequences or hard feelings from the Dodgers regarding her performance. She was not asked to leave. We would be happy to have her back.’
Nezza does not think she will return to the stadium, despite the Dodgers’ statement.