A rising tide of questions and in some cases anger are mounting over the Santa Ana Police Department’s response to protestors demonstrating against the federal immigration sweeps happening in Orange County.
There’s been stark comparisons to the City of Anaheim’s responses to mass protests – where city leaders issued statements of support early on, along with a police response that didn’t use rubber bullets on protesters and offered concrete information on dispersal orders from city leaders in real time.
During a Saturday protest that featured as many as 15,000 people, organizers said they had a good working relationship with local police, who were not visible anywhere near La Palma Park where the event took place.
[Read: Orange County Hits the Streets, Rails Against ICE Sweeps]
City officials said there were no arrests or disturbances at the event – a similar trend that happened at an impromptu protest earlier on Thursday that saw dispersal orders but no incidents between protesters and police.
It marks a very different vibe than what residents found during the week in Santa Ana – one where the local police force was highly visible but the city mayor was not.
“I think everyone’s mad – everyone’s mad that the response to people’s fear and personal suffering of having their loved ones separated is being met with a militaristic approach,” said Sandra De Anda, program coordinator for the OC Rapid Response Network, a coalition of young activists who have worked to inform residents about the sweeps.
“People don’t need that right now. People need resources,” De Anda said in a Thursday interview. “That sort of deployment of SAPD (Santa Ana Police Department), that cost money – that money could be going to mutual aid. People are just mad.”
[Read: Deportation Fears Persist in Orange County as ICE Protests Continue]
Scores of residents are expected to show up and give their thoughts on the issue at Tuesday’s city council meeting at 5:30 p.m.
There’s also increasing criticism from residents on Mayor Valerie Amezcua’s response to the immigration raids and resulting protests – with several council members saying she’s all but abandoned the city.
Since last Monday, there’s been continued demonstrations in the heart of Orange County – where Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices are housed at the federal building by Santa Ana City Hall.
Thousands of people took to Orange County streets over the weekend to protest against the ICE sweeps in places like Anaheim, Santa Ana, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach.
[Read: Orange County Hits the Streets, Rails Against ICE Sweeps]
In Santa Ana, there’s been numerous reports of police firing rubber bullets into a largely peaceful demonstration.
A recent social media video from the local news site, the Santanero, shows officers firing rubber rounds at demonstrators on Fourth Street and Main Street just after midnight on Thursday.
In a Friday phone interview, City Councilman Phil Bacerra said he was told by police officials that people were behind demonstrators who were “deliberately trying to instigate and provoke action from the police.”
“There are definitely agitators that were trying to stir the pot and create an unpeaceful situation there – that’s just something we’ve seen in a lot of instances,” Bacerra said.
A Protest, a Shattered Window and Scattered Residents
A host of downtown businesses are being impacted.
Alex Vargas, owner of the Vibes Boutique on Fourth Street in Downtown Santa Ana, said her window was shot out by a police projectile shortly after midnight on Sunday. It’s unclear which law enforcement agency fired the round as the local police have often tapped other agencies for help during the protests.
In security footage reviewed by Voice of OC, a group of people began running down Fourth Street towards Main Street as shots could be heard – with one seen going through the window. Vargas said it was a beanbag-type round that was removed by police officials on Sunday.
“I understand that the cops were doing their job,” Vargas said in a Monday interview outside of her shop. “But I don’t think that was necessary at all.”
She said Councilman David Penaloza reached out to her and came to her shop late Sunday afternoon and helped get a city worker to board up the window and expedite the repair process.
Vargas noted that nearby businesses are closing early due to a loss of foot traffic since the federal immigration sweeps began.
“It’s so freaking slow,” she said, noting she’s seen a roughly 80% drop in foot traffic.
She also noted that the nearby presence of the California National Guard at the Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse is keeping people away from Downtown Santa Ana.
“It makes you think that we’re in a war,” Vargas said. “People need to see we’re still here and still open.”
Councilwoman Jessie Lopez said she was at the Saturday protest and then went to the nearby Vacation Bar for a fundraiser aimed at helping impacted families.
“I actually saw – we all saw from inside the business – residents running,” Lopez said in a Monday phone interview.
“We saw the line of sheriffs that started to push everybody back. And we could hear them saying go home,” she said. “The question is why is everybody being kicked out of the downtown area when we’re trying to fundraise money for families impacted by this.”
Debating Police Protest Tactics
A majority of Santa Ana City Council members told Voice of OC that they’re open to debating a de-escalation policy for the police department, with each council member taking a different approach.
Although it’s not on Tuesday’s agenda, a policy discussion could soon be coming.
Councilman Johnathan Hernandez, who’s routinely been at the protests, is critical of the police response.
“Like ICE, the SAPD is a rogue department,” Hernandez said in an interview last week before a June 10 news conference at the Old Orange County Courthouse.
In a follow-up phone interview on Thursday, the councilman said it’s time for city council members to examine the police department’s response to the protests.
“What we’re seeing is a pattern in the mistreatment of the public,” he said.“I’m going to be talking about the department’s policies and I’m going to highlight their use of force policy, but their lack of de-escalation policies.”
Hernandez said residents have been concerned about the police department for years.
“We know we are living in a police state,” he said.
City officials haven’t answered questions about the issue.
Mayor Amezcua hasn’t returned calls or emails seeking comment about a host of issues stemming from ICE raids, protests and the de-escalation policy proposal.
At one point, she directed Voice of OC to use her “city phone” through a text message – yet she’s never responded to calls on that line, so far.
Councilman Penaloza said discussions about the police department have been happening in closed session talks as the city council finalizes the police oversight committee.
“These are conversations that are already happening,” Penaloza said in an interview at the Saturday protest in Anaheim’s La Palma Park.
He said council members like Hernandez could’ve raised this issue years ago, saying they’re “politicizing” the issue.
Penaloza also said he supports having a debate about the issue.
“I’d be very supportive of de-escalation,” Penaloza said, adding that the police department has improved under Police Chief Robert Rodriguez.
Councilman Bacerra said he couldn’t comment on any potential de-escalation policy proposal because he hasn’t seen anything concrete on it from the other council members.
But Bacerra commended many of the protestors for de-escalating other demonstrators.
“There are people that said hey we want to express ourselves but we are not trying to cause a situation that’s not peaceful,” Bacerra said in a Friday phone interview.
Councilwoman Thai Viet Phan said she’s open to debate a police de-escalation policy proposal.
“I’m always open to anything that will improve our policies, our practices, our department and how we’ll handle anything here in our city. Nothing’s off the table,” Phan said in a Friday phone interview.
She also said the video of police firing rubber bullets at demonstrators from the Santanero blog “sounds very disturbing and we should look at it for sure.”
Councilwoman Jessie Lopez – who’s also routinely been at the protests – said it’s time for a public debate about de-escalation.
“I’m always going to be open to having a public conversation – I think transparency is important. I also think learning from what we’re seeing is important,” Lopez said in a Monday phone interview.
Councilman Ben Vazquez said he’s open to debating a de-escalation policy.
“It’s clearly time to revisit the policies,” Vazquez said, adding that he thinks the Santa Ana police department has been too focused on protecting property instead of residents.
“We should not have to value one over the other,” he said in a June 13 phone interview. “Do not fire bullets indiscriminately into a crowd of people.”
Santa Ana Mayor Faces Increasing Criticism
Mayor Amezcua has been facing mounting criticism for her response to the protests over the past week.
In a June 9 Facebook post, Amezcua accused council members who went to the protests of “condoning this destruction” in the city.
Yet downtown looks largely the same after a week of protests, with the exception of a handful of boarded up windows, tagging and the presence of National Guard barricades.
Amezcua’s approach stands in stark contrast to Anaheim, where Mayor Asheligh Aitkin and Councilman Carlos Leon issued a supportive statement to residents when the city saw its first protest on Thursday – something that took Santa Ana’s city manager and police chief more than four days of protest to post.
So far, Santa Ana’s mayor hasn’t held a news conference and instead released a three-minute video message after an official silence that lasted days.
“I do not support the ongoing immigration raids or the militarized escalation by the federal government in our streets. Protesting is not a crime, it is your fundamental right under the First Amendment,” Amezcua said in a June 11 social media video.
The next day after Amezcua’s post, she was again critical of some of her fellow council members in an interview with ABC 7.
Without naming anyone, Amezcua seemingly criticized Councilman Hernandez for being in the protests.
“I’m not about photo ops. I’m not going to stand up and raise my arm and give my Chicano – you know – fist pump because it makes me look good. I don’t represent just one group of the community,” Amezcua told ABC 7.
Hernandez said the mayor’s handling of the situation show’s she’s not connected to the city.
“What we are seeing from the mayor’s response is a complete disconnect from our Santa Ana community,” Hernandez said. “We are a community of impacted people.”
But Councilman Bacerra defended Amezcua and pointed to her electoral victories in 2022 and 2024 as proof that Santa Ana residents back her.
“There are some people in Santa Ana that do not like the mayor and will never be satisfied with anything she says or does,” Bacerra said. “There will always be some – not all – some people that will never express support for her.”
“Mayor Amezcua can announce that she found the cure for cancer and the same people will still criticize her,” he said.
After 6 p.m. Monday, Amezcua posted a social media video with her and two local pastors calling for unity and saying she’s going to have some sort of event at what she described as a public area or a local park.
Scores of people are expected to show up at Tuesday’s council meeting to criticize her response to the ICE raids and concerns about how the police department responded to demonstrators.
“It’s disappointing that she did not rise to the occasion. She does not understand her position as mayor is to protect all people. Should be fighting injustice that we have seen against our residents, against our family members. Instead of pointing fingers, she should be out here with us,” Councilman Vazquez said.
Councilman Penaloza – who often sides with Amezcua on the dais – said she should’ve acted sooner.
“Should she have responded sooner? Absolutely.” Penaloza said, adding that “a lot of the heat is manufactured by my colleagues.”
The swing vote on the dais, Councilwoman Phan, stayed away from the criticisms.
“I don’t really comment on other people’s choices. Everyone leads differently,” Phan said. “I think everyone has a different view of how we address this issue. I do believe we have to speak out against this racism.”
Councilwoman Lopez echoed similar sentiments as Hernandez and Vazquez.
“I think the mayor’s response has been a betrayal to our community and our residents are rightfully expressing that disappointment,” Lopez said. “She has abandoned our community and she’s made that very clear to us.”
Editor’s note: Ashleigh Aitken’s father, Wylie Aitken, chairs Voice of OC’s board of directors.
Spencer Custodio is the civic editor. You can reach him at scustodio@voiceofoc.org. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerCustodio.