The pastor of a church in West Los Angeles has spoken out after members of his congregation were taken into custody by federal officials on Tuesday. During the course of their detention, one of the individuals encountered a medical emergency.
During the time that Ara Tororsian was seeing federal officials abduct members of his church, he said how it brought back memories of the terror he had experienced while growing up in Iran.
Tororsian, the pastor of Cornerstone Church in West Los Angeles, said, “In a single instant, I had the sensation that I was walking down the street in Tehran, surrounded by fear and with a dictatorship taking over.”
He made the difficult decision to cancel church service because his congregation, many of whom are members of the Iranian community, are now afraid. He made this decision because of the current situation.
“With lots of pain, I called them and said, ‘Please don’t come to the church,'” said Tororsian in response. “I will miss them, and hopefully I can hug them and love them and preach for them again.”
A serious panic attack was experienced by an Iranian woman during the operation that took place on Tuesday. The woman had observed her husband being arrested. As the woman saw her panic episode progress into convulsions, she summoned her pastor, Torosian, for assistance in intervening; however, he was unable to do anything as he tried to help her.
According to Tororsian, the couple is a refugee seeking asylum and that they fled Iran in part because they were being persecuted for their Christian religion. The two individuals do not have any relatives living in Los Angeles, so their initial thought was to contact their pastor.
On social media, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) made a post about the incident, indicating that the couple had been identified as topics of national security interest.
The agents instantly alerted emergency medical services and accompanied the individual to the hospital when she encountered a medical emergency. The primary purpose of the agent’s presence at the hospital was to provide protection for the individual who was receiving medical treatment, which is a usual practice in situations where an individual who is in the country illegally requires medical attention. “The female has since been discharged, and both individuals are currently in the custody of the ERO,” the Department of Homeland Security stated on X.
It was reported by the pastor that the agents informed them that they had a warrant to detain the couple, but they did not deliver the warrant when he requested to view it. According to him, the couple has not been involved in any illegal activity and has been attending his church for more than a year.
Tororsian further claims that this week, federal authorities have abducted a total of five individuals from his flock, one of which is a family with a girl who is three years old.
