Federal agents detain multiple people at gunpoint in Van Nuys, video shows

VAN NUYS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Video captures the moment federal agents surrounded a car and detained multiple people at gunpoint in Van Nuys late Tuesday morning.

The tense confrontation unfolded around 11 a.m. at a strip mall parking lot near Sherman Way and Kester Avenue.

Bystander video shows several masked agents with weapons drawn approaching a red muscle car. Four of them stand on the driver's side of the vehicle, and at least one shouts, "Get out of the car now."

As the door begins to open, agents appear to pull someone out and onto the ground. On the passenger's side, an agent holding a handgun then points it at a woman seated in the car.

The woman can be heard in the video shouting at the agent, "If you touch me, I'm suing you." She then steps out of the vehicle.

Moments later, video shows two people on the ground who are then taken into custody. It's unclear which agency carried out the detainments.

A witness, Luis, said he began filming the encounter from a distance. He described seeing chaos.

"The girl was there screaming, like, 'Why are you guys pulling guns on us? We're not doing anything,'" Luis said. "That's when they got close. They break the window. They drag the guys out. Then the female, she said she was pregnant... all these guys gang up on her."

LAPD was also on scene. Police said Homeland Security was detaining people in a car who were reportedly not complying.

Police said they were monitoring the situation.

A man who identified himself as a friend of some of the people in the car did not want to go on camera, but he said the two men are lawful permanent residents and the woman is a U.S. citizen.

The friend says the woman was released and that the two men are in immigration custody, adding that one of them had fled a construction site after spotting the agents and fearing being kidnapped.

There have been ongoing lawsuits arguing recent immigration sweeps are unconstitutional. The Supreme Court this week lifted a temporary ban on so-called roving patrols.

Eyewitness News reached out to the Department of Homeland Security to ask which agency was in Van Nuys, why the individuals were targeted and what if any warrants they had.