Downey pastor recounts takedown of man by immigration officers on church property

DOWNEY, Calif. (KABC) -- Reverend Tanya Lopez is still rattled after witnessing what she believes were federal immigration enforcement officers taking a man into custody earlier this week on church property.

"By the time I saw him, he was already on the ground with three armed, masked, unidentifiable men surrounding him," she said. "It's heartbreaking, but I let them know they were not welcome, and they did just responded, 'The whole country is our property.'"

The incident took place in the parking lot of Downey Memorial Christian Church where Lopez is a senior pastor.

"I decided to engage, just trying to keep asking questions, asking people to identify themselves, and to tell me why they were taking him," said Lopez. "Where was the warrant? How can he identify himself? It was unfortunate that I didn't get any answers, and they did end up taking the man away."

The reverend said the men only identified themselves as police. She said they tried to stop her from asking questions.

Lopez said she asked the man questions in Spanish, trying to find out if he had any family members she can get in contact with.

"This man was alone. I tried to imagine what it'd be like if that was happening to me by myself," she said.

California Congressman Robert Garcia urges residents to stay alert and protect one another.

"It is unacceptable to go onto church property and take someone from that church and then basically not identify themselves, not say anything and cause real, real harm," he said. "People in this community should know what their rights are, and that's inclusive of any space that's not a public space."

Downey Memorial Christian Church plans to give churchgoers options this weekend if they want to worship while ICE raids continue.

"I don't know what the turnout will be," said Lopez. "We will not be locking our doors. We will not let fear stop us from providing care and giving people the spiritual care that they need at this time."

She also said the service will be streamed on Facebook and said there are also options to watch via Zoom.