ICE assaulted a Long Beach resident, causing serious injuries, family says
Ricardo Gonzalez, a U.S. citizen born in California, was reportedly hit by an unmarked federal vehicle, tased twice and then handcuffed while face down in the gutter screaming that his arm was broken.
On Sunday morning, scraped and bruised, Ricardo Gonzalez put his arm in a sling to go to the park to watch his son’s soccer game. The day before, he sustained those injuries after being assaulted by federal agents during an immigration enforcement operation.
“He’s just in pain. He can’t really sit down, it hurts when he gets up,” Leslie Gonzalez, his daughter, told the Watchdog in an interview Sunday. “He’s just trying to get out of the house and move around. He didn’t just want to sit in the house and dwell all day.”
Gonzalez was riding an e-bike near Elm Avenue and 56th Street in North Long Beach when federal agents struck him with their unmarked vehicle, according to Leslie. Agents then tased him twice.
“My Dad is one of the hardest working men out there. Because of him, I have a roof over my head and I have all the opportunities around me,” Leslie wrote on a GoFundMe she set up to support her dad. “Our family is everything because of him. We ask for your support and prayers during this awful time.”
Video taken by Sherman Austin, founder of stopice.net, shows agents handcuffing Ricardo while he lays face down in the gutter yelling that his arm is broken.
In a separate video posted by @gustavo.gonzalez890 on TikTok, an ICE agent can be seen going through Ricardo’s wallet. The agent said he was looking for an ID, which was still in Ricardo’s pocket. Leslie told the Watchdog that her dad’s ID and Meta glasses were not returned to him.
Leslie organized the GoFundMe to raise money to cover the cost of Ricardo’s hospital bills as well as any legal expenses that may arise as a result of the incident. As of noon Sunday, the campaign had received $8,100 in donations, exceeding its initial goal of $6,500.
“As his madrina (godmother), Ricardo is not just my godchild; he is part of my spiritual family, someone I love, care for, and feel a deep responsibility to protect and support,” Wendy Rodriguez wrote in a post on Instagram. “Seeing him go through something like this is heartbreaking.”
Gonzalez, 40, is a U.S. citizen born in Hanford, CA, according to Leslie. For the past eight or so years, Gonzalez worked for the city of Long Beach — first in the health department and then the utilities department, a position he left in September, Leslie said.
Outside of work, Leslie said Gonzalez enjoys watching TV, playing video games on his Playstation and repairing the family’s cars, a skill he picked up from his father, a Mexican immigrant.
“He loves riding his e-bike,” Leslie said. “He loves to take the time to be out and take his little rides by himself.”
Leslie added that her dad is a people person, who loves making new connections wherever he goes.
“My dad just gives off that vibe that he’s super nice,” she said.
In another video recorded by Austin, masked agents can be seen handcuffing a woman and placing her in the back of an unmarked vehicle. A man, who identified himself as her husband, is shouting at the agents that she is a U.S. citizen.
Long Beach Police Department officers can be seen interjecting themselves between the agents and the man in an apparent attempt to deescalate the situation. In a video posted @oc_inside on Instagram, a large crowd surrounded the agents’ vehicle and demanded they release the woman. At one point, she can be seen running down the street and an agent opts not to immediately pursue her.
ICE and the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.
Numerous videos show LBPD vehicles blocking streets, with numerous people asking why the police department is assisting in a federal immigration operation, which is against city and state law.
The department, for its part, released a statement clarifying its presence, saying ICE personnel “requested emergency assistance from LBPD and LBFD due to vehicle vandalism taking place and a subject in need of medical aid.”
According to the LBPD, an officer located Ricardo, handcuffed, bleeding and detained. Fire department personnel were unable to reach the scene due to trash cans — placed there by residents to obstruct federal vehicles, videos show — blocking the street, so LBPD officers transported Ricardo to a nearby fire station, where they removed the handcuffs.
LBFD personnel then took Ricardo to a local hospital.
“LBPD left the area and some ICE agents followed LBPD personnel to a secure parking lot in the police station,” the department continued. “The ICE agents were subsequently directed to leave the station. They were later advised that if they wanted to file a vandalism report, they could contact the City of Long Beach Communications Center and an LBPD officer would respond to their location to take a report.”
The department said it made no arrests and added that, while it does not assist in immigration enforcement, it also “cannot legally obstruct or interfere with federal enforcement operations.”
Hours after the incident, multiple Long Beach officials condemned the operation, including Mayor Rex Richardson, who said “our residents shouldn’t have to be put in these situations, families shouldn’t have to live in fear in their own neighborhoods.”
“To our immigrant communities, you’re a part of this city,” Richardson said in a video posted to social media. “You belong here and you belong to feel safe here.”
Richardson went on to note the timing of this latest push for immigration enforcement in Long Beach and across the state as potential voter intimidation. He said the city is coordinating with election officials to ensure safe access to the polls.
Councilwoman Tunua Thrash-Ntuk, who represents the 8th District where the incident took place, also commented, saying agents need to keep their “hands off our people!”
“In a free country, no one should be riding their bike in their own neighborhood only to be subjected to an unprovoked assault by a government agent,” Thrash-Ntuk wrote in a statement, adding that Ricardo is an American citizen and a former employee of the city.
“ICE has no place terrorizing our streets or subjecting our residents to random stops and harassment simply because of the color of their skin,” Thrash-Ntuk continued. This lawless chaos demands our universal condemnation.”
In the aftermath of the attack, Leslie said she couldn’t believe how many organizations and people reached out to her family. The support at the scene of the incident as well as everything that has come after has been overwhelming and the family is thankful, she said.
“I wouldn’t have believed in a million years that this would ever happen to my family,” Leslie said. “But that’s just a bad mindset to put yourself in because it could happen to anyone.”
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