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EL MONTE, Calif. () — Newly released body camera video shows the moments leading up to federal agents breaking a car window during a confrontation in El Monte with a woman who was livestreaming the encounter as she sat in the driver’s seat.
The Jan. 30 confrontation ended with federal agents detaining Maria Santay, a U.S. citizen and community observer. Her video quickly spread online, drawing intense criticism of both the federal agents involved and the response from El Monte police officers, who did not intervene as federal agents detained Santay.
El Monte Police Chief Jake Fisher said his officers could not interfere when federal agents made it clear they were going to detain Santay.
“Once we were notified of that, our officers pulled back and the federal agents completed what they were out to do,” Fisher told Eyewitness News.
Body camera video released by the department shows officers approaching Santay’s vehicle moments before the window was smashed. An officer identifies herself as El Monte police and asks Santay to roll down her window, assuring her that she would not open the door.
The officer explains that they responded because Santay had been following the federal agents.
“Let me tell you the reason we got called out here. It’s because you’re following them. That’s the only reason we get called out,” the officer tells a visibly scared Santay. “Otherwise, we don’t care about anything else. We don’t. But you can’t follow them. Because otherwise they’re going to call us, and we don’t want to get involved in it.”
The situation later escalated when federal agents used a hammer to break Santay’s window.
The bodycam video only shows a portion of the interaction and doesn’t show the agents taking Santay into custody.
Santay previously told Eyewitness News that she feared for her life during the encounter.
Santay was later released hours after being detained.
Community frustration continued to build this week. At Wednesday’s city council meeting, residents rallied outside to demand stronger protections for immigrants, and Santay was among those protesting.
Santay also spoke to City Council members during the meeting.
“You guys are so lucky that you’re not at a (expletive) funeral right now because that rifle should have never been in my face,” she told the City Council.
Mayor Jessica Ancona said she believes more needs to be done to ensure people feel safe in the community.
On Tuesday night, community members gathered outside police headquarters for a prayer vigil, calling for unity, healing and peace as tensions rise following recent federal immigration raids.
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