Ventura County, California – Federal officials are offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a man suspected of firing a gun at immigration agents during a chaotic protest Thursday in Camarillo, a small agricultural city northwest of Los Angeles. The incident marks a dramatic escalation in tensions surrounding a series of controversial federal immigration raids across Southern California.
The U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, Bill Essayli, announced the reward Thursday night, hours after federal officers clashed with demonstrators at Glass House Farms, a cannabis grow operation in Ventura County. Tear gas and less-than-lethal rounds were deployed into the crowd after protesters blocked both lanes of Laguna Road near the farm, which had been targeted for an immigration enforcement action.
The man in question was captured on aerial news footage from KABC, apparently pointing a handgun toward federal officers at 2:26 p.m., moments after tear gas filled the area. No injuries were reported, but the FBI now considers the act an attempted assault on federal law enforcement…