The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is being forced to deny that it helped Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a raid after police officers held back an angry mob trying to interfere.

As a so-called “sanctuary city,” L.A. prohibits local law enforcement from assisting federal immigration law enforcement. Amnesty activists are trying to stop ICE raids through physically confronting ICE agents.

As local ABC affiliate KABC-7 reported, LAPD officers responded to a report of a “kidnapping” in downtown L.A., but arrived to find an ICE raid in progress instead, surrounded by an unruly mob trying to stop it.

KABC reported:

The LAPD released a statement that said officers were simply there after responding to a call of a possible kidnapping in progress, but once they realized it was an immigration operation, they began assisting with crowd control. LAPD said they did not arrest anyone.

“Initial comments of the call indicated that several individuals were attempting to detain people without identifying themselves, prompting concerns from bystanders,” the statement read.

“Upon arrival, the officers and supervisor saw that the crowd was growing increasingly agitated and spilled into the street, creating a volatile situation and a significant public safety hazard due to traffic and congestion in the busy downtown corridor,” the statement continued. “Officers requested additional units to manage the escalating scene and ensure the safety of pedestrians, drivers, and those involved in the operation. At one point, a partially handcuffed woman approached and stood near a LAPD officer. After several minutes, a Federal agent approached and assumed control of the woman. LAPD was not involved in her detention or arrest.”

The Los Angeles Times reported that the LAPD is being forced to defend its actions by proving that it was not there to help ICE, i.e. federal law enforcement:

According to the LAPD, the incident began with officers responding to a report of a suspected kidnapping near East 9th Street and South Spring Street around 9:10 a.m. The report specified that people were trying to kidnap others without identifying themselves.

…

“The Federal agents did not notify LAPD of their planned enforcement activity in advance,” the release said. “The Department responded based solely on the initial radio call reporting a potential kidnapping. No arrests were made by LAPD.”

The department said that officers stayed at the scene to “de-escalate tension, move pedestrians out of the roadway and allow emergency vehicles safe passage.”

Local officials, all Democrats, have called for the ICE raids to stop.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of Trump 2.0: The Most Dramatic ‘First 100 Days’ in Presidential History, available for Amazon Kindle. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.