Feds charge illegal migrant who allegedly threw firebombs at L.A. officers

An illegal immigrant who took part in the Los Angeles protests and threw Molotov cocktail firebombs at officers has been arrested and charged with attempted murder, federal authorities said Wednesday.

Homeland Security identified the man as Emiliano Garduno-Galvez, a Mexican with a criminal record and a previous deportation from the U.S.

They say he’s the man caught on video wearing a hooded sweatshirt and mask who ignited a lighter and tossed a firebomb toward uniformed officers on Saturday.

He was arrested Monday.

“Emiliano Garduno-Galvez is a criminal illegal alien from Mexico who threatened the lives of federal law enforcement officers by attacking them with a Molotov cocktail during the violent riots in Los Angeles,” said Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary at Homeland Security. “These are the types of criminal illegal aliens that rioters are fighting to protect.”

Homeland Security said Mr. Garduno-Galvez had been arrested by local police in California for grand theft and DUI in 2024.

Earlier this week, the FBI said it was looking to arrest Elpidio Reyna, whom they accused of hurling rocks at police vehicles during the weekend’s unrest.

“We will find him. Only a matter of time,” Bill Essayli, the acting U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, said on social media.

Authorities released video of the rock-throwing attack, showing a man wearing a motorcycle helmet standing on the side of a road pelting rocks at close range into the windows of Border Patrol vehicles as they convoyed by him.