Photo courtesy of Twitter
By CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA | Reporter
Councilmember for the 11th District Mike Bonin was arrested on Monday, July 2, at an immigration rally in Downtown Los Angeles.
After a small crowd gathered outside of the Metropolitan Detention Center to protest families being separated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, police arrived to disperse the crowd. After refusing to disperse, police began arresting protesters, including Bonin.
After President Trump signed an executive order to keep families together while being detained at the border, protesters are demanding the thousands that remain separated be reunited immediately.
Shortly after being taken into custody, Bonin was released and given a notice to appear in court, according to Bonin’s Deputy Chief of Staff David Graham-Caso.
After his release, Bonin’s office issued a statement to all news outlets standing by his decision to protest.
“The news, the images, and the sounds of the Trump administration’s cruel and sadistic zero tolerance policy have wrenched my heart,” the statement read. “As an American, I am appalled. As a father, I am sick and angry. When the government rips kids from their parents’ arms, opens baby jails and throws families seeking asylum into internment camps, our common humanity is at risk. How does a parent not risk arrest?
“What’s happening is not normal. It is sick and evil, and treating it like a mere policy disagreement is absurd and complicit. For our kids, for our country and for our humanity, we need to roar and to resist—with our voices and with our bodies. It is an urgent act of love, and a necessary act of patriotism.”
Bonin’s office confirmed the councilmember had been released shortly after, and given a notice to appear in court. The arrest is not expected to affect his gubernatorial standing.
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