Councilmember reports arrest of Harbor Area volunteer; Port Police to investigate

Councilmember McCosker (Fifteenth District) addressed the Los Angeles City Council on Aug. 8 to report that a Harbor Area Peace Patrol volunteer was detained that morning while monitoring activity on Terminal Island where federal agents have been staging operations.

McCosker said the patrols had been “lawfully protesting and lawfully recording the movements of cars” near the Coast Guard station, which the councilmember said is being used as a staging point for large numbers of federal agents. He said one volunteer, a U.S. citizen, was “brutally, aggressively taken down and put into a vehicle and spirited away.” McCosker added other peace patrollers were confronted with guns drawn when they sought information from the agents.

The councilmember said Port Police — who have jurisdiction over Terminal Island — have been notified and are examining the circumstances of the arrest. “Port Police…is looking into all of the circumstances of the arrest,” McCosker said. He characterized the arrest as an apparent violation of a temporary restraining order the city obtained against federal enforcement practices, and said the patrols had been effective as community witnesses.

Council President (name not specified in the record) announced the council would continue a practice begun earlier: putting on the record, at the start of each morning meeting, reports about federal enforcement actions and community concerns. No formal council motion or vote on enforcement policy was recorded during the meeting.

McCosker urged continued civic attention and litigation efforts, saying the reported conduct by federal agents “appears to be permissible all the way to the White House” and that the city will remain firm in defending residents’ rights. Port Police and other agencies were identified as the official inquiry leads; the council did not record any administrative or disciplinary action during the session.