Los Angeles restaurant owner helps tear gas police, protesters during anti-ice chaos
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Los Angeles – A restaurateur outside Los Angeles is opening up her decision to tear-jerking police officers amid a June 7 riot outside the business.
Elizabeth Mendoza, the owner of the El Salvadorian restaurant La Ceiba in Long Beach, told Fox News Digital that she welcomed police and protesters who entered the business for help after being promoted by pepper that Saturday afternoon.
“I feel sad because my city…it’s a good city,” she said. “My staff are honest. My people have to work a lot. I’ve been here for 14 years. I know my people and I feel sad… When I meet the police. The police also need my help because they are humans like me. They feel everything like me.”
“They have to… work,” she said.
Capture from the camera
Elizabeth Mendoza, owner of the El Salvadorian restaurant La Ceiba in Long Beach, told Fox News Digital that she welcomes police and protesters who were asked by businesses for help after being promoted by pepper on June 7. (Derek Shakes Fox News Numbers)
Mendoza initially said her restaurant suffered as immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) raids and police presence in the area made people “fear” walking around. But now, her business is booming due to the positive attention she has received for officials across the country.
She has lived in the United States for more than 30 years and is a legal citizen of the United States.
The business owner said the recent riots and ice raids have made her “sad” because immigrants like her want “peace” and “work.”
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Mendoza said her restaurant suffered as immigration and customs enforcement attacks and police presence in the area made people “fear” walking around. (Derek Shakes Fox News Numbers)
While outsiders respect what she calls the “wall wall” restaurant, Mendoza calls on protesters to condemn violence against other local businesses.
“Everything is good. I want to say protest is OK,” she said. “But no[t] Bad stuff – street, windows. Please, don’t do that. ”
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Mendoza said she thanked the police for their helping the officer who was peppered on June 7. (Derek Shakes Fox News Numbers)
Protests escalated in the Los Angeles area starting on June 6 and June 7, when ice raids began throughout the county, resulting in arrests of hundreds of illegal immigrants. The Department of Homeland Security shares information with Fox News about the most violent criminals arrested by ICE in the past two days.
Riots broke out on Friday on the evening of June 7, when agitators burned down cars, threw things and fireworks at police officers, blocked traffic, graffiti, graffiti, and windows at the Los Angeles Police Department’s downtown headquarters destroyed public buildings.
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A policeman’s face was covered in pepper spray after an immigration raid protest was followed by a policeman’s face outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles on June 8, 2025. (Jae Hong)
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The riots continued until the weekend and the weekend that followed.
