On Wednesday morning, January 21st, in Willowbrook, California, a suspected human trafficker illegal immigrant resisted arrest and attempted to hit law enforcement officers with a car. Federal agents fired warning shots before eventually apprehending the individual. Upon hearing the news, a large group of anti-ICE activists rushed to the scene to demonstrate and verbally abuse law enforcement officers.
According to a report published on Wednesday by the Los Angeles Times, the Department of Homeland Security stated that the target of the enforcement action was William Eduardo Moran Carballo, a Salvadoran citizen accused of human trafficking. He also had two prior arrests for domestic violence. In 2019, an immigration judge issued a deportation order against him.
During the arrest attempt, Carballo tried to evade capture and used his vehicle as a weapon in an attempt to strike law enforcement officers. In concern for their safety, one agent fired defensively.
Carballo was not hit by the gunfire and managed to flee in the car, later crashing it due to reckless driving. He then abandoned the vehicle and attempted to escape on foot before being apprehended.
No injuries were reported on Carballo’s side, but a Customs and Border Protection officer was injured during the operation. Law enforcement agencies did not disclose further details about the incident.
Witnesses stated that the car crashed in a residential street. Local resident Andrew remarked, “It’s scary, the school is just a few hundred yards away. The kids around are very shocked and were immediately taken away by their parents.”
At the time of the shooting and arrest, many people recorded the scene on their phones and shared it online, attracting a crowd of onlookers and activists. By 9:30, over 30 people had gathered nearby.
Among the onlookers, a woman shouted loudly at the law enforcement officers, “Let us see your ugly face!” Another person in a car yelled, “Go to hell!” A man used a megaphone to curse at the immigration enforcement officers, while another person waved a Mexican flag at the scene.
Subsequently, federal law enforcement agencies responded massively to the incident and shut down the South L.A. community for several hours.