U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is drawing attention to a tense incident from earlier this summer in which two senior agency executives were confronted by anti-ICE protesters who breached a federal building in Los Angeles.
In a video shared to ICE’s social media accounts, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons describes receiving a phone call from a staff member as the situation unfolded. “I have to go. They just breached the building,” the staffer said before ending the call.
According to Lyons, the protesters outnumbered ICE personnel at the scene by a margin of four to one. The clip shows him recounting the experience as a stark example of the challenges ICE employees can face in the line of duty.
“ We just did not have enough people. We were outnumbered by four to one, and we did put that call out to LAPD for assistance… But the time delay, I’m really bothered with. Anytime that a fellow law enforcement officer and agency puts out a call for help, anyone should just drop what they’re doing and respond. But the problem is ICE is such the political football right now that it’s even seen evil to work with ICE.” Lyons said in the video.
ICE Officers Outnumbered 4-to-1 by ‘Mostly Peaceful’ Protesters with Molotov Cocktails
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons recounted a harrowing situation from earlier this summer when two senior executives for the U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement Agency had to face off… pic.twitter.com/7GyWTVV6XS
— The Daily Signal (@DailySignal) August 7, 2025
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