Hundreds of union members and Angelenos gathered at Gloria Molina Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles on Monday to demand the release of labor leader David Huerta and call for an end to immigration raids in L.A.

Huerta, the president of Service Employees International Union California, was injured and detained by federal immigration officials on Friday during a protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions.

The union leader appeared in Los Angeles federal court on Monday after being charged with a federal count of conspiracy to impede an officer. He was released on $50,000 bail, with conditions to stay away from federal officers and operations.

“David Huerta was arrested while standing up for immigrants’ rights,” SEIU said in a Monday statement. “Today, a judge set him free after federal authorities attacked, injured, and unjustly detained him since Friday. We are relieved that David is free and reunited with his family.”

Huerta is accused of coordinating with other protesters to “disrupt the law enforcement operations” at 2415 E. 15th St., Los Angeles, on Friday, according to the criminal complaint filed against the labor leader. Huerta is also accused of sitting and pacing in front of a “vehicular gate,” the complaint said, effectively preventing law enforcement vehicles from entering or exiting the premises through the gate to execute the search warrant.

Supervisory Special Agent Ryan Ribner, who wrote the federal complaint, said he instructed Huerta to move, but he declined, even after the labor leader was told he would be arrested if he remained.

When a law enforcement officer tried to physically move Huerta from the gate, Ribner wrote, Huerta pushed back. The officer then pushed Huerta to the ground and handcuffed him, the complaint said.

SEIU California, in a Friday statement, said Huerta was injured during the altercation. He was treated at a local hospital.

“What happened to me is not about me; this is about something much bigger,” Huerta said in a statement SEIU California released Friday. “This is about how we as a community stand together and resist the injustice that’s happening. Hard-working people, and members of our family and our community, are being treated like criminals. We all collectively have to object to this madness because this is not justice. This is injustice. And we all have to stand on the right side of justice.”

As for Monday’s rally, the morning began with hundreds of people holding up signs, including many that said “Free David Huerta,” at around 11 a.m. Before speakers began their remarks, musicians on stage led the crowd in song and dance, including to tunes like “La Bamba.”

“We are gathered here today to send a peaceful and powerful message,” said Christian Ramirez, policy director with SEIU United Services Workers West. “We are demanding that our brother, David Huerta, be released from detention immediately.”

Ramirez also said that the rally was to demand that ICE raids, which have been causing “so much chaos and so much hurt to our community,” come to an end and for the National Guard, which arrived on Sunday, to put down their weapons and leave the city.

Organizers intended the rally, and a march down the downtown streets later, to remain peaceful, Ramriez said. He also shared a message from Huerta to the crowd, saying that the union president was in “good spirits,” encouraged people to continue fighting for what was right, and was grateful for the support being given to him from across the country.

A protest grew outside the FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., over the arrest of Huerta as well.

In L.A., leaders of other unions, organizations and cities spoke as well. They included SEIU President April Verrett, labor and civil rights icon Dolores Huerta, Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis, NAACP President Derrick Johnson and Anton Farmby, vice president of SEIU-USWW.

“David Huerta is my brother. I know his soul, I know his heart. And what he would say is, ‘Use this moment; use me,’ ” Verrett said. “What he was doing on Friday, he was doing what Huerta has done for Los Angeles for the past 30 years: He was standing up for what was right.”

While there was much union representation in the crowd, there were also people who wanted to speak up for those who were too afraid.

“As a daughter of immigrants, I fortunately have the ability to stand up and speak up for those that cannot, so living that is what really brought me here today,” said Maria Hernandez, 36, of Commerce, “the ability that I can speak up for my family and other members of my community.”

At the end of the rally, people were asked to disperse peacefully. Police presence included helicopters overhead and about eight L.A. County sheriff’s deputies watching the crowd.

City News Service contributed to this report.