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By James Bickerton
News Reporter
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Footage has emerged of a masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent pulling their handgun on a dogwalker during the arrest of a suspected illegal migrant in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, on Friday.
ICE adopted more aggressive tactics after Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025 having vowed to crack down on illegal immigration during the 2024 presidential election campaign.
This period has coincided with a sharp decrease in illegal crossings of the U.S.-Mexico border, but has also seen a number of controversial ICE shootings of activists and suspected illegal migrants.
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Newsweek contacted ICE, the Department of Homeland Security and California Governor Gavin Newsom for comment on Saturday by email outside of regular office hours.
What The Video Shows
On Friday the Los Angeles Times published a video it said had been recorded earlier that day during an ICE operation in North Hollywood, credited to Damari Butler. It had been filmed from an elevated position, possibly a building, above the ICE agents, who are wearing tactical gear reading "ICE Police," and has since circulated widely on social media.
The footage begins with one ICE agent detaining a man who had been pinned down on the sidewalk, while a second aims a can of spray at a bystander with two dogs on leads who had stopped at the scene.
The dogwalker backs away commenting “I’m not bothering you” while an unknown party loudly shouts “ICE, ICE.”
It then cuts to two agents dragging the detained man, who is shouting in Spanish and appears to be moaning in pain, towards a vehicle. During the commotion a can of an unidentified spray is dropped by one of the agents, and the dog walker moves over and picks it up.
He is swiftly grabbed by an ICE agent and throws the can further down the road, after which a second agent pushes him into a bush and points a pistol at his head from a range of several inches. The dogwalker is released after which four ICE agents are seen dragging the detained man to a vehicle while the dogwalker once again approaches.
In the background repeated whistles can be heard, a tactic used by anti-ICE activists to warn people the federal agency is in the area. One of the officers again approaches the dogwalker, holding up what appears to be a can of spray, causing him to swiftly back off.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times Butler said they began filming the scene after the ICE agents bundled their suspect to the ground. Butler commented: “There was no asking what his name was, no ID, nothing. They just grabbed him.”
Referring to the dogwalker who had a gun pointed at him, Butler added: “The guy with the dog, I guess he moved the pepper spray out of the way, and then the other ICE agent ran over.”
Reaction
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass shared the Los Angeles Times story on X adding: “This is egregious and will not be tolerated in LA. I’m engaging the Attorney General’s Office to investigate and prosecute any wrongdoing by these federal agents.
Additionally, I referred this matter to the Office of U.S. Representative Robert Garcia, the ranking Democrat leading oversight on federal immigration enforcement abuses.
“We beat Trump and ICE in court, and new state laws have implemented accountability measures for ICE agents to protect our communities.”
LA City Councilmember Nithya Raman on X commented: “I am outraged by reports of violent ICE kidnappings in North Hollywood. LA is not a playground for the Trump regime’s inhumane operations, and Angelenos should not have to live in fear of going to work, taking their kids to school, or living their life.”
ICE Shootings
Since Trump returned to office in January 2025 over 20 people, both suspected illegal migrants and U.S. citizens, have been shot by ICE agents, with a number of these incidents being fatal.
ICE-involved shootings became particularly controversial in January when two anti-ICE activists, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Jeffrey Pretti, were shot dead in unrelated incidents in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In both cases federal officials argued they acted in self-defense but this was contested by local politicians.
Following the shootings hundreds of ICE agents were withdrawn from the city, a move described by former U.S. border patrol chief Greg Bovino as a “surrender.”
Earlier this week a federal immigration officer in Texas was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly deliberately driving an SUV into a fleeing man on October 10. The charges were brought against Mario Alberto Morales following the incident that injured Miguel Parra Hernandez, a 48-year-old Mexican national, who remains in ICE custody.
Initially ICE officials said Hernandez had run in front of the vehicle, but Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said this account was contradicted by video evidence.
Illegal Border Crossings Fall
According to data released by the Department of Homeland Security in October 2025 following the Trump administration’s illegal immigration clampdown unauthorized crossings of the U.S.-Mexican border fell to their lowest level since 1970.
In the 2025 fiscal year U.S. Border Patrol recorded just under 238,000 apprehensions of suspected illegal migrants attempting to enter the country, down from around 2.2 million in the 2022 fiscal year.
A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found 40 percent of registered voters believed Republicans have the better immigration policy against 38 percent for Democrats. This was a substantial decline for Republicans from January 2025 when they led on the issue by 26 percentage points.
Contact Newsweek editor on this story: Edward Pearcey.
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