Los Angeles police on Thursday launched an investigation into a riot involving hundreds of immigration detainees at a county-run facility.
The riot, which broke on Tuesday, prompted guards to use tear gas grenades to restore order. Two detainees were badly injured, according to a Los Angeles Times report.
The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department has contracted with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to house about 900 detainees awaiting deportation at the Mira Loma Detention Center, according to sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore.
Those who instigated the riot may be prosecuted on criminal charges, authorities said.
"Any incident not only puts the lives of the detainees but also the lives of the sheriff's officers and department personnel in harm's way," said Virginia Kice, a Los Angeles regional spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). "We are committed to doing everything we can to ensure safe, secure and humane conditions for those in our custody."
Tuesday's riot started as a morning fight between two detainees from rival gangs, then escalated by 1:30 p.m. into a "melee" in the detention center's outdoor yard, authorities said.
Additional deputies came to the detention center from nearby stations to assist the guards with separating detainees, and the riot was diffused "within minutes," Whitmore said.
Two detainees suffered serious, though not life-threatening, head injuries during the riot and were taken to a local hospital, Whitmore said. About 20 other detainees suffered minor injuries and no deputies were injured, Whitmore said.
Source:Xinhua
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