In San Diego on Friday, an angry crowd grew outside the Buona Forchetta restaurant as about 20 heavily armed ICE agents handcuffed and interrogated employees inside, arresting four of them.

Residents shouted at the federal agents, surrounded and hit their vehicles, and tried to prevent them from leaving. The ICE agents threw flash-bang grenades to disperse the crowd and make their escape.

Video of San Diego residents yelling “Shame! Shame!” and forcing heavily armed and armored agents out of their neighborhood went viral.

A GoFundMe to raise money to support detained Buona Forchetta employees stood at over $122,000 (more than twice its goal) as of Wednesday morning.

Elected officials responded angrily as well. San Diego City Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera called it “state-sponsored terrorism” in a post on Instagram.


Last Wednesday, the New York Police Department arrested 23 protesters who were attempting to block the path of two ICE vans. ICE agents were using the vans to transport immigrants detained that day when they arrived for scheduled appointments at immigration court and an ICE office.

Protesters gathered peacefully outside the courthouse loading dock. After they refused to disperse, police tackled them.

Video journalist Sandi Bachom captured the scene. “I have to say I’ve been in some violent situations that were provoked, but this was a peaceful, LAWFUL demonstration,” Bachom wrote. “Observers and activist groups gathered to protest the ICE arrests earlier inside the immigration court at 201 Varick, and it escalated into the most intense, brutal arrests, out of nowhere! This is Trump’s America. Homeland Security and NYPD Rapid Response officers. Take care out there my friends. Know your rights. Keep each other’s backs.”


On Tuesday, a massive raid by heavily armed agents on a Minneapolis taco restaurant sparked angry protest from neighbors, although federal officials said it wasn’t actually an immigration raid.

A photographer for the Minnesota Reformer captured the federal agents spraying mace at protesters who had tossed traffic cones and trash cans to block vehicles from leaving.

According to KARE TV, the FBI claimed the activity as its own – but ICE didn’t deny its involvement. An ICE spokesperson called it a “groundbreaking criminal operation,” and said it was the first in Minnesota “under the Homeland Security Task Force umbrella — marking a new chapter in how we confront complex, multidimensional threats.”

No arrests were made.