Several students were detained just as they were about to graduate from an arts conservatory program. They were allegedly walking to grab coffee when police surrounded them.
Saturday, March 28, 2026 1:39AMSeveral students in Boyle Heights were detained just as they were about to graduate from an arts conservatory program. They were allegedly walking to grab coffee when police surrounded them.
Nearly a dozen students set to graduate from their program at the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory on Thursday evening were detained by police. Video from the scene shows a swarm of officers in the area, with several young men handcuffed. It happened after a group of students and staff from the conservatory walked across the street from the school to get coffee on Thursday afternoon. The students are paid interns, and they were working when they were suddenly surrounded by Los Angeles police officers from the Hollenbeck Station. "To be at work and being detained and actually going to the station and being in there for however long, it's like an eye opener of just like, wow," student and intern Zachariah Lewis said. The Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory has been at its location at Cesar E. Chavez Avenue and Mott Street for nearly 10 years. The arts program gives young men a second chance at life through media and visual arts. Carmelita Ramirez-Sanchez is the conservatory's executive director. She said all of the men detained were due to present a video they were working on as part of the Thursday evening graduation ceremony. "How can we sit here and tell our young men, 'If you do X, Y, Z... the outcome will be different,' when the outcome was the same? I don't know what our young men could have done different. I really don't know how to train our young men to go on coffee breaks and not be detained," Ramirez-Sanchez said. LAPD says officers were called to the scene to deal with a large group of people blocking a sidewalk. Two students who were taken to the police station were reportedly detained for refusing to identify themselves. In the end, all of the young men were released. What helped was when some people in the neighborhood told the officers that they were all good people. "We interact with the community a lot. Knowing that they're there to support us and have our backs, knowing we did nothing wrong," student Jacob Trujillo said. After what happened on Thursday, the young men all returned to the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory to continue the work of rebuilding their lives through the arts."Graduation should be a moment of pride and possibility -- not fear. I was contacted directly by Boyle Heights Arts Conservancy when LAPD arrived at their ceremony and staff were unsure how to respond. I went to the scene to help deescalate and support the students and organizers. I'm seeking answers about what occurred, and this underscores the need for stronger relationships between law enforcement and community organizations so moments like these are protected, not disrupted."
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