LOS ANGELES — A federal detention officer was hospitalized after a group attacked him near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, police said.
The attack occurred around 10 p.m. on Aug. 8 as around 40 to 50 people protested outside the Metropolitan Detention Center on Alameda Street, the Los Angeles Police Department told NBC 4.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, protesters followed two federal detention officers toward their vehicles in a nearby parking lot before “suddenly and deliberately” attacking them and striking them multiple times.
The confrontation continued at a nearby parking garage. At least five people followed the officers into an elevator, where members of the group grabbed one officer by his backpack and punched him several times, police told NBC 4.
The employee who was attacked struck several people and then unholstered his firearm, police said. The group left the parking structure, and he followed with his firearm still drawn before losing sight of them near the larger protest on Alameda Street. No shots were fired.
LAPD told NBC 4 that the second federal employee was not injured. Authorities did not describe that employee’s actions during the confrontation.
The New York Post reported that video from the incident appeared to show protesters taking a federal employee’s clear bag and continuing to follow and record him after he drew his firearm.
Detectives are investigating possible felony and misdemeanor battery charges. LAPD did not release descriptions of the suspected attackers.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said attacks against federal officers could result in felony charges.
“As we’ve been saying for over a year, if anyone assaults or stalks a federal officer, they will be arrested and charged with a felony,” Essayli said in a statement to NBC 4. “Attacking an officer is not only illegal, it’s also extremely dangerous for all parties because officers are permitted to defend themselves with reasonable force.”
The Federal Bureau of Prisons told NBC 4 that it did not have additional information to release.
