An immigrant rights advocate was hospitalized Friday morning after being attacked outside the John Moss Federal Building in downtown Sacramento — a building that houses Department of Homeland Security agents and other federal employees.
Demonstrations have regularly been held outside of the employee parking lot ever since deportations of immigrants attending immigration court ramped up last summer.
The victim was using his phone to record employees entering the building from a public sidewalk.
Witnesses said the suspect — who has yet to be named — initially drove up to the building and dropped off a passenger who went inside. The driver then circled the block before getting out of his car to assault the victim and take his phone.
The victim, whom we’re calling Bill for his safety, is an immigration court watch volunteer with NorCal Resist, a nonprofit that assists immigrants at risk of deportation.
Bill said he routinely documents who enters the building. He suffered a broken nose and bruising around his eyes.
“I think that people are emboldened to take the law into their own hands by this entire situation that the president calling people like me enemies of the state,” Bill said. “It goes all the way to the top.”
According to Bill, DHS agents detained the suspect before he could drive away. A spokesperson for the Sacramento Police Department said the man was arrested and charged with battery and robbery.
Bill, a former Marine, said attacks like these are happening around the country and are meant to create a chilling effect for people who support immigrant communities.
“All the people in support of ICE want to intimidate the populace and I’m not going to be intimidated, and I encourage others not to be either,” he stressed.
Despite the attack, Bill plans to return to court watch next week and expects to volunteer even more.
Giselle Garcia, program director for NorCal Resist, condemned the attack and praised Bill’s resilience and determination.
“Bill is the epitome of what community resistance looks like and what we hope folks will be inspired by, and join in these efforts to not allow government action and abuse to intimidate us,” Garcia said.
DHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment about either incident.
Sacramento Councilmember Phil Pluckebaum, who represents the downtown area, said he was dumbfounded and embarrassed by the events unfolding outside the federal building.
“That we are having conversations at this point about really fundamental rule of law kinds of concerns is beyond troubling and shameful,” he said. “We fundamentally need to figure out how to be kinder to each other with the decency and the respect that everyone deserves.”
Pluckebaum added that the city is considering symbolic resolutions to signal that Sacramento does not support increasingly violent immigration enforcement, both locally and nationwide.
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