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Jun 9, 25
Filed under: Action, Featured, Immigration, Repression, Solidarity, The State, US
The Trump administration has federalized and sent in hundreds of National Guard soldiers to Los Angeles, CA, following ongoing popular protests against a series of violent ICE raids on June 6th and 7th which detained and imprisoned multiple workers from various job sites in military style operations.
This is the first time since the LA rebellion in 1992 that the US government has federalized National Guard troops against the domestic population, however the National Guard have been used by both Democratic and Republican governments in the recent past to target popular social movements, such as at Standing Rock and during the George Floyd Rebellion in the summer of 2020.
solidarity with those on the ground in los angeles today resisting ICE! 🏴🖤🔥
— No Future Distro (@nofuturedistro.bsky.social) 2025-06-07T05:49:24.306Z
The recent deployment of National Guard troops is coupled with increasing calls from the Trump administration to also bring in active duty Marines, which are currently “prepared to deploy if needed,” to further police the city and put down demonstrations, as Trump officials call for arresting Democratic officials, invoking the Insurrection Act, and suspending habeas corpus.
California National Guard with riot shields pushed the protesters into the streets. Tear gas deployed and pellets exploded on the street. Didn’t see any arrests, though there was some shoving back and forth with the shields.
— James Queally (@jqwritesstuff.bsky.social) 2025-06-08T20:08:53.264Z
The ensuing demonstrations in Los Angeles, which saw hundreds mobilize outside of a downtown federal detention center, led to fierce clashes with law enforcement on June 6th, erupting again the next day, when ICE began tear-gassing community members outside of a Home Deport during another immigration raid in Paramount, CA.
During the ongoing clashes, multiple people and journalists were injured, including David Huerta, leader of the Service Employee International Union (SEIU) in California, who still remains in police custody.
We refuse to stay silent while ICE terrorizes working class communities. We are turning out and standing united in solidarity with @seiuca.bsky.social calling on the release of SEIU President David Huerta!
— California Federation of Labor Unions (@californialabor.bsky.social) 2025-06-07T00:57:14.053Z
According to TruthOut:
A video posted by Essayli alongside his statement appears to show the moment Huerta is pushed over by ICE agents amid a chaotic scene on a sidewalk where officers are clearing an area in front of a gate for an approaching van.
Separate footage from a different angle shows Huerta going down backward due to a forceful push by the officers and landing with his neck and head on a hard concrete curb.
In a post on social media, SEIU California said: “Let’s be clear: ICE injured and detained the president of SEIU California for peacefully observing. ICE picked the wrong side. The wrong state. The wrong person. and the wrong union. David Huerta stood up. And 750,000 SEIU workers are standing with him.”
The police advanced and threw tear gas. They then started firing at point blank at people.
— Joey Scott (@joeyneverjoe.bsky.social) 2025-06-09T02:47:31.906Z
Demonstrations continued on into the night on June 8th, after thousands of people again converged on the federal detention center, clashing with heavily armed federal agents, National Guard troops, and the LAPD. Demonstrators then blocked a major freeway and have continued marching through the streets late into the night.
National Guard troops are expected to remain in Los Angeles for upwards of 30 days for continued “ICE enforcement.” According to PBS, the troops have been place in “three separate locations in the greater Los Angeles area.”
Police come back to stop the protesters. Causing more protesters to face them. Heavy presence of cops under overpass. Cars honk to support protesters.
— LorennaCleary.bsky.social (@lorennacleary.bsky.social) 2025-06-08T23:12:31.103Z
These recent events take place amid a growing chorus of action and anger in the streets against heavily militarized ICE raids over the past week, as the Trump administration has ramped up its push for mass deportations. In response, communities have mobilized in opposition, facing off with heavily armed federal agents and local police, who in many instances, have shown up to put down growing protests, often despite so-called sanctuary laws. These actions have lead to multiple confrontations, violent arrests, and angry locals pushing ICE and other federal troops out of various neighborhoods.
Impossible to post all of the videos from today but here’s LAPD unloading dozens of rounds at the barricade. They did this for over an hour.
— People’s City Council – Los Angeles (@pplscitycouncil.bsky.social) 2025-06-09T05:11:40.403Z
The Trump administration under the direction of white nationalist Stephen Miller, is pushing for an increase in deportations: upwards of 3,000 people a day, while also working with tech-right companies like Planatir to carry out surveillance, revoking the protected status for hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers and refugees, and rolling out a new Muslim Ban.
A demand for increased deportation numbers is forcing ICE officials to cut corners and make an authoritarian show of force within the wider public. This reality has lead to an rise in viral instances of mask wearing ICE agents targeting working-class people, often those going through the legal motions of the asylum process, such as attending court hearings.
As Vanity Fair reported:
That’s been a point of frustration for Stephen Miller, the administration’s resident anti-immigration zealot. Unsatisfied with the pace of deportations thus far, he has demanded recently that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement make no fewer than 3,000 arrests a day—and threatened to fire officials who hold them back from meeting that quota. They haven’t quite hit that, but ICE this week recorded its most detentions in a single day, according to NBC News, arresting more than 2,200 people Tuesday—the result, it seems, of more aggressive tactics by authorities.
Indeed, in recent days, there have been reports across the country of migrants enrolled in alternative to detention programs being arrested after appearing at ICE offices for check-ins. In one instance, on Wednesday, at least 10 were arrested in downtown Chicago, apparently after receiving text messages instructing them to check in with ICE; in a chaotic scene, masked agents loaded detainees into vans as community members, and elected officials, protested.
The escalation comes after Trump officials directed immigration authorities to “turn the creative knob up to 11” and “push the envelope,” as the Guardian reported: “If it involves handcuffs on wrists,” one official said, “it’s probably worth pursuing.” It also came as Trump issued a new travel ban Wednesday evening, restricting nationals from 12 countries—Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen—from entering the United States. “We don’t want them,” Trump said in a video announcing the ban.
More demonstrations are planned on Monday, June 9th, with members of the SEIU labor union rallying in defense of David Huerta and more protests and rallies being called in solidarity with those in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, protests against ICE facilities, demonstrations in solidarity with migrants in detention, rallies calling for freedom of individuals targeted for deportation, school walkouts in solidarity with detained students, and campaigns demanding that corporations such as Avelo Airlines drop their contracts with ICE, have all increased. Here’s a roundup of some of the major confrontations that have taken place in the US in the past week.
Tacoma, WA
Reminder that farmworker labor organizer Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez Zeferino remains imprisoned by ICE and the labor movement and wider community continues to call for his release and the closure of the horrific Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, WA.
— It's Going Down (@igd.bsky.social) 2025-06-05T07:01:24.172Z
Demonstrations have remained ongoing outside of the Northwest Detention Center, demanding the closure of the facility which regularly sees hunger and work strikes by detainees and ongoing protests in solidarity outside. Recent demonstrations have demanded the freedom of Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez Zeferino, a farmworker labor organizer targeted by ICE and imprisoned at the facility.
Ongoing protests have resulted in some victories, including the release of Lewelyn Dixon. From one recent report:
On May 29, 64-year-old Washington permanent resident Lewelyn Dixon was released from the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC). Dixon was met by hundreds of cheering supporters who had relentlessly campaigned for her release. Dixon had spent three months in incarceration at NWDC. She was apprehended by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Feb. 28 while returning from a visit to the Philippines.
Dixon’s case galvanized members of the labor movement to forge deeper connections; her release came after months of relentless organizing and mobilization by Filipino community members, her labor union SEIU 925 and other allies. The high-profile arrests like Dixon’s have sparked many Filipino American organizations to form a new alliance, the Tanggol Migrante Network (TMN). Dixon’s with immigration justice networks like TMN. Members of the network visited Dixon on a weekly basis, providing crucial emotional support amid conditions that she described as “hell.”
Portland, OR
6-3-25 Portland, Oregon protesting the deportation of a Mexican woman here legally with a valid asylum case. OJM is a TransWoman escaping drug cartel threats. OJM was arrested in the PDX Courthouse by ICE.(Tomorrow, people are protesting at the federal courthouse where she was apprehended).
Protests in the Portland area are demanding the release of “OJM…a 24-year-old transgender woman from Mexico, where she was abducted and raped because of her gender identity and sexual orientation “at the hands of a dangerous cartel…”
— John Thelefty (@johnnthelefty.bsky.social) 2025-06-08T06:35:31.069Z
On June 4th in Portland, OR, demonstrators were detained by ICE officials after reportedly attempting to block ICE vans. According to The Oregonian:
Federal officials detained three protesters Wednesday at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in South Portland after they attempted to block a van they believed was headed to Tacoma, according to video and witness accounts.
Protests in Portland remain ongoing outside of the local ICE detention building, the scene of a large scale ‘Abolish ICE’ encampment in 2018.
San Jose, CA
‘Build power, not panic’: San Jose community marches to protest ICE arrests https://trib.al/9hpjjIA
— East Bay Times (@eastbaytimes.com) 2025-06-06T23:07:48.069887Z
Anti-ICE demonstrators marched on an ICE office, demanding that it close down following raids. From Yahoo:
The initial rally started outside the immigration office in the 400 block of Blossom Hill Road. Participants then marched east on Blossom Hill about a half mile and entered a building housing an ICE office.
Anti-ICE chants of “shut ICE down!” echoed through the cramped hallways and stairways as the group made its way to an upper floor of the building in the 300 block of Blossom Hill. Dozens of community organizers and neighbors were determined to close a South San Jose Immigration and Customs Enforcement office.
“There’s 146 seniors that live here. We don’t want them here. They just got here a couple of months ago,” said neighbor Irene Madrid Morales, who lives in a senior center next door to the ICE office.
San Francisco, CA
Recent protests have also taken place in San Francisco outside of the local courthouse, following arrests by ICE.
The Bay Area shows up tonight outside of the ICE building in downtown SF in solidarity with LA and all our immigrant neighbors. #MeltICE #ChingaLaMigra
On June 8th, a demonstration in solidarity with the ongoing protests in Los Angeles also took place, clashing with police, leaving graffiti messages, and breaking the windows of banks.
Los Angeles, CA
It’s the people vs the pigs. ALWAYS. We outnumber them.
— People’s City Council – Los Angeles (@pplscitycouncil.bsky.social) 2025-06-08T23:05:30.176Z
Demonstrations exploded against ICE on June 6th, following a series of military styled-raids by various federal agencies. As the World Socialist Website reported:
The raids, which began Friday morning, targeted numerous sites in downtown and central Los Angeles, including the Fashion District, the Westlake District, South Los Angeles and Cypress Park, all areas known for their large immigrant populations and labor-intensive industries…ICE officials were also seen near a school in Koreatown, sparking fear and confusion among students and families.
In downtown’s Garment and Fashion district near 9th and Towne street, workers were dragged away and thrown into unmarked white vans. Activists in trucks read instructions over a loudspeaker to those detained inside Ambiance Apparel‘s warehouse, informing them of their rights. Demonstrators attempted to block the convoy of vehicles from leaving, eventually being cleared by pepper spray. Agents are seen in video footage riding on the back of military vehicles as protesters shout for them to leave, throwing objects and denouncing the agents as “fascists” and “pigs.”
In South Los Angeles a demonstration sprang up at 15th Street and Santa Fe Avenue in response to the detention of workers from Ambiance Apparel. Officers with the LA Police Department (LAPD) established a skirmish line and agents in riot gear attacked the crowd with pepper spray and flash-bang grenades to disperse protesters who were blocking vehicles from leaving with the detained immigrant workers. At least one protester received medical treatment for being pepper-sprayed after being tackled to the ground and forcefully detained.
The raids quickly provoked protests which grew to some 500 people who gathered in front of the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Federal Building, which are adjacent to each other. Federal agents and riot police were called in to disperse the crowd.
Crowds of brave people have surrounded the ICE detention centre in Los Angeles. They are trying to liberate victims kidnapped by Trump’s regime forces.Victims were abducted and thrown into the basement of the building without due process. #3E
— Anonymous (@youranoncentral.bsky.social) 2025-06-07T04:03:05.306Z
A report from the ground on CrimethInc. went into greater detail about the demonstrations happening as crowds grew in size outside of the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC):
On social media, the news spread that ICE was raiding several spots in downtown Los Angeles, Highland Park, and MacArthur Park. Agents had begun to raid a building in the flower district when a spontaneous mob trapped them inside. People blocked every side of the building, every single entrance, so the agents couldn’t get out. They had detained a lot of people in the building already and hadn’t expected a swarm of 50-100 Angelenos to trap them.
Apparently, they expected to be able to conduct a visible raid in downtown Los Angeles without a response from the neighborhood. They were wrong. Of the six or more locations that they raided, that one was in the area with the densest population, just blocks from skid row and a few steps from the Piñata district.
A large number of people were at the front entrance blocking ICE from leaving the building. Caught off guard by the crowd, the ICE agents were visibly trying to figure out how to evacuate. Family members of the detained were crying at the doors and the gates, wondering what was going to happen to their loved ones.
The federal government had declared war on Los Angeles.
ICE ordered in an armored truck with three dozen federal riot police and a fleet of vans in tow. The entrance they wanted to come into was the one being blocked by an SEIU sound truck and they began threatening to tow it. SEIU complied and moved their truck, even going so far as to use their sound system to yell “Get on the sidewalk!” at the crowd. Half of the people listened to them and half didn’t, but it was a small enough crowd that that made a significant difference. As a consequence, the armored truck and the vans were able to make it up to the gate.
Federal agents in riot gear began trying to push everyone out. The small group who had refused to leave continued to stand their ground, twisting their little riot shields and mocking them. The agents were visibly rattled by the resilience of this group that had somehow assembled within fifteen minutes. In a desperate push, the FBI agents began to throw tear gas canisters into the crowd. Everyone was screaming at the fascist mercenaries as they tried to push back the line. Amid the confusion, the agents managed to clear a path for the vans to enter through the gate.
The feds put the detained workers into the van and began to drive out. The crowd tried to stop them but the FBI escalated—snatching protesters and shooting pepper balls and rubber bullets at everyone. One of the vans sped up and struck the president of the California branch of the Service Employees International Union, injuring him. He was then arrested.
The crowd got more rowdy, lighting fireworks and throwing debris, water bottles, and cabbage at the mercenaries. The FBI responded with a barrage of flash-bang grenades and rubber bullets and more pepper balls.
While that fight continued, someone followed the ICE vans to the Burbank airport, where agents had reportedly claimed that they were bringing a “hockey team.” People have been attempting to track the flight and see where it went since.
The other detainees were taken to the MDC* (Metro Detention Center) which triggered an action to be called for a couple hours later.
Into the afternoon, the crowd continued to grow outside of the MDC building. The report from CrimethInc. went on to state:
People started amassing at the Metropolitan Detention Center. A press conference took place involving Union Del Barrio, the SEIU, and the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. Peace policing caused fights between the paid activists and the crowd. The activists ended up leaving and the crowd stayed—tagging everything, smashing windows, breaking things, and being ungovernable. Someone had brought a sledgehammer and was breaking the concrete pillars so that people could use the pieces as projectiles to throw at the police. Someone used a swivel chair as a barricade; another person showed up in a dinosaur suit.
The feds were scrambling, throwing everything they could back at the crowd. People were tear-gassed several times, but were neutralizing the effect by putting ice and water on the canisters as well as traffic cones like they did in Chile. Some people were also throwing the canisters back to the Department of Homeland Security agents that were responsible for them. The crowd was extremely lively and brave. Some right-wing internet streamers tried to get into the area, but they were spotted and promptly dealt with.
DHS couldn’t control the situation. The feds were overwhelmed and begged the Los Angeles Police Department to come save them. Despite LA mayor Karen Bass saying she was “appalled” about the presence of ICE in Los Angeles, the LAPD still showed up in large numbers. A low-flying helicopter was telling people that they would be arrested and issuing dispersal orders as LAPD pushed people away from the building over the next four to five hours. Everyone left covered in pepper ball dust and tear gas.
A message circulated to the effect that ICE was spotted staging for a raid in Chinatown. (Later, it turned out that they were planning to hold that parking lot for a press conference for Thomas Homan, Trump’s “Border Czar,” at 7 am the following morning—a press conference that was apparently cancelled.)
Hundreds of people started trickling in, strobing flashlights in the eyes of the federal agents and yelling chants and insults at the riot line.
Even though people had been at actions all day, the energy was high, attracting passersby and random Dodgers fans to join in. The crowd took the street and blocked the entrances once again as things started getting rowdy. This time, LAPD wasn’t present, so the federal agents prepared to try to push the people out themselves.
Participants in the crowd tagged the armored ICE vehicle and begin jumping up and down on it while an LRAD was blaring. Someone tagged “FUCK ICE” and spray painted the cameras on a Waymo self-driving car. No organizations were present except a strong contingent from the Los Angeles Tenants Union, who were present for every action in the course of the day.
The federal agents decided that the parking lot was too difficult to hold and began to retreat. The crowd seized the opportunity to block them off, throwing fireworks and rocks, bottles, and, somehow, ceramic plates. The FBI threw a few flash-bang grenades and tear gas canisters in response, but the spirits of those standing up to them remained high.
People began to smash the windows on the feds’ cars. At that point, ICE decided to leave, and a celebration began in the street. More fireworks were set off in a jubilant atmosphere. People partied momentarily before drifting home, heartened by a small victory after a horrifying and dehumanizing day in the so-called United States.
The protesters have turned on the Waymos
— James Queally (@jqwritesstuff.bsky.social) 2025-06-09T00:22:09.049Z
The next day, demonstrations again kicked off in Paramount, CA, after ICE began an operation outside of a Home Deport and began shooting projectiles at community members in the area. As the World Socialist Website reported:
Federal agents have shot hundreds, if not thousands of tear gas canisters throughout the neighborhood, blanketing the area in white clouds of stinging smoke that are causing residents to evacuate their homes. Several people have suffered serious injuries due to tear gas and rubber bullets fired by agents.
The multi-hour stand-off between protesters and agents began Saturday morning after immigration Gestapo attempted to seize a group of day laborers outside the Home Depot.
In the course of the ongoing raid and protest, federal agents, including US marshals and CPB agents, have fired thousands of rubber bullets, pepper balls and tear gas grenades at overwhelmingly peaceful protesters, bystanders and observers. Despite the violence meted out by the police, protesters continue to stand their ground in opposition to militarized, masked government agents seizing workers, family members and friends.
Many Border Patrol vehicles and other unmarked cars just exited the anti-ICE protest area in Paramount, California. They were met with fierce resistance from protesters, with a number of vehicles being visibly damaged.
— Jeremy Lindenfeld (@jeremotographs.bsky.social) 2025-06-07T19:08:55.092Z
Clashes in Paramount continued for hours, with ICE finally retreating from the area under a barrage of rocks from local community members.
I was watching this live on a livestream, absolute warfare in the streets. Urban guerilla warfare.
— Ⓐutonomy Lover📙🏴☭ (@hicnihil161.bsky.social) 2025-06-09T06:42:33.316Z
The next day as the National Guard began to deploy to the MDC, thousands again mobilized to march on the facility, calling for ICE and the National Guard to leave, and for those arrested by DHS to be released. Clashes erupted against when police and the military attacked with projectiles, leading to more back and forth engagements. Demonstrators then began to block the 101 freeway, and police cars were also pelted with rocks. Reportedly, multiple Waymo driver-less taxis were also vandalized and set on fire. Clashes with police lasted into the night. Demonstrators also rallied outside of a local hotel where ICE agents were staying at, pushing the establishment to expel the agents.
Here is the entire start to finish video of how we kicked ICE out of the AC Hotel in #Pasadena on 6/8/2025 – #NoIce #Pasadena #Protest CC: @maddow.msnbc.com
— Michael Washington (@adefwebserver.com) 2025-06-09T01:49:17.962Z
San Diego, CA
More from San Diego where ICE attacked US citizens confronting them, they shot smoke bombs at people, as they fled to their vans.
— Anonymous (@youranoncentral.bsky.social) 2025-06-03T15:44:48.543Z
On May 30th, ICE agents and local police in San Diego, CA deployed flash bang grenades against community members who surrounded them and blocked ICE vans, when agents attempted to arrest several workers at an Italian restaurant.
Pedro Rios reported on BlueSky:
ICE discharged 3 flash-bang grenades. The people, even more determined, then pushed ICE agents out of their neighborhood with anti-fascist slogans forcing them to retreat. This is the way it should be everywhere.
Local news outlet KPBS reported on the confrontation:
A large crowd began to gather and witnessed one individual being placed into a federal vehicle. Cody said agents then started taking people out through the back of the restaurant to avoid the crowd.
The crowd surrounded the agents, yelling profanities and calling them fascists. Many people recorded the agents and the license plates of their vehicles.
At one point, a group blocked an unmarked vehicle carrying agents from leaving the intersection at 30th and Beech Streets. After activating the sirens multiple times without success, agents used what appeared to be a smoke device to disperse the crowd.
The following day, community members mobilized to hold a protest against ICE and state repression.
Veterans are mobilizing – against the police state."Demonstrators, including military veterans, gathered outside Camp Pendleton on Sunday to protest the potential deployment of active-duty military personnel to Los Angeles following recent immigration raids…" www.cbs8.com/article/news…
— It's Going Down (@igd.bsky.social) 2025-06-09T05:35:42.431Z
Also of note, on June 8th outside of Camp Pendelton, protesters including veterans, organized a rally decrying deployment of military personnel in Los Angeles. As CBS reported:
Demonstrators expressed support for the military while opposing the use of active-duty personnel against civilians. Patrick Saunders, another veteran who organized the demonstration, urged Marines to consider the legality of potential orders.
Read the full report here.
Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis to Feds: “Get the Fuck Out”An array of federal agencies attempted to carry out a coordinated raid in Minneapolis on June 3. Locals surrounded them, forcing them to retreat.We share two firsthand accounts of these events and some strategic reflections on how best to resist such raids.
— CrimethInc. Ex-Workers' Collective (@crimethinc.com) 2025-06-04T10:08:56.403Z
On June 3rd, hundreds mobilized in Minneapolis, after ICE, FBI, and a phalanx of other federal agencies were reported staging outside of a local Mexican restaurant. As Unicorn Riot reported:
Dozens of federal agents in a newly minted federal task force raided a business on East Lake Street in South Minneapolis on Tuesday morning (June 3) and were quickly met with a raucous crowd amid toxic smoke conditions from Canadian wildfires. The crowd of up to 200 people grew through the day under the impression an immigration raid was underway, at times blocking federal vehicles from vacating alleys and streets. Federal agents responded violently by shooting pepper balls and unleashing pepper spray; personnel from the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Special Response Teams (SRT) were filmed shoving people. Mobilized community members eventually pressured the federal agents out of the neighborhood, while Minneapolis police officers provided crowd control.
Inside the new “Homeland Security Task Force” (HSTF) network, the lead agency is Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), one of two divisions inside ICE. The other division of ICE, Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) – which targets immigrants for deportation – was also involved, according to Jamie Holt, HSI’s acting special agent in charge in Minnesota. Holt said this was the debut action of the HSTF in the state.
Some had labels on their gear that caught people’s attention such as name patches that only said “The Others” and a Special Response Team badge with a Viking compass design called a Vegsivir. Such Nordic designs are sometimes associated with racist and neo-nazi beliefs like those of Asatru Folk Assembly. A recent Valknot tattoo spotted on an ICE agent during an immigration raid in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts raised similar concerns.
Read the full report here.
we have more new unreported info on Unicorn Riot about "homeland security task forces". @unicornriot.bsky.social unicornriot.ninja/2025/ice-led…
A report posted on CrimethInc. discussed the community response, which saw hundreds surrounding law enforcement, chanting, “Get the fuck out!,” writing graffiti slogans on their vehicles, and eventually pushing them out of the neighborhood, leading to violent attacks from police and clashes with the crowd. From one account:
This raid took place four years to the day after a federal Justice Department task force conducted a raid on a parking garage in the south Minneapolis neighborhood of Uptown, shooting and killing Winston Smith.
A crowd quickly formed outside the restaurant, including trained observers from immigrants’ rights legal activist groups and independent media—and also local politicians1 intent on de-escalating the situation. The federal agents were assisted by Hennepin County Sheriffs Officers and Minneapolis Police Department officers, despite verbal assurances from the city government that Minneapolis is a “sanctuary city” and will not assist in federal immigration enforcement operations or deportation operations. MPD and HCSO eventually left the scene, leaving the federal agencies on their own to deal with the growing angry and confused crowd—confusion being the word of the day.
By the time I arrived, the federal agents had already left, chased away by the angry crowd. One person had apparently been detained but eventually released. Videos posted to social media show that a couple projectiles were thrown at the retreating feds, but nothing sustained, and none of them hit the intended targets. We heard a rumor of police using an irritant dispersal agent or chemical weapons, and this was eventually confirmed: federal agents apparently shot pepper balls at the crowd that was chasing them away.
A few moments after I arrived, a small group of people decided to attempt to block the intersection of Bloomington Avenue and Lake Street where the raid had taken place.
In short, it was a confusing and harrowing day involving upsetting events but also moments of inspiration and potential. A raid similar to this one just took place in San Diego, California with an almost identical response. Federal agents arrived, conducted their operation, miscalculated how the crowd would react, escalated with crowd control munitions (in that case, flash-bang grenades), then retreated when those measures had the opposite of their intended effect.
The most powerful weapon the authorities wield against us is fear, intensified by the fog of war and the confusion of having to process so much unverified information at once. Whatever happens, we should remain calm, analyze what is happening, verify information that is circulating, assess the situation, and tailor our response to it. We have to resist efforts to provoke us, lest we play into their hands. At the same time, the most positive aspect of today’s events was how quickly so many people were able to mobilize, forcing the feds to turn tail and run. Here’s hoping we never have to deal with this again—or that, if we do, we come back twice as hard.
Another account posted to CrimethInc. reported:
On a few occasions, the federal agents and Hennepin County Sheriffs Officers deployed pepper-ball munitions and pepper spray. I did not see MPD do so. A woman fainted and fell on Bloomington and was later transported to the hospital. I didn’t see the exact circumstances that led to that. As the bulk of the feds were working away from the scene, [MPD police chief Brian] O’Hara arrived. After the federal agents extricated themselves, MPD rapidly left as well, leaving the crowd milling about in a stunned state. After accounting for my people as best I could, I departed at 1:20 pm. I did not see anyone from the business detained and I did not see anyone in custody taken from the scene.
My working assumption is that this was a pretext to launch a large militarized display of force on Lake Street. I’m unsure if they understood how provocative the location was or whether they anticipated the degree of resistance they encountered. They were not prepared to carry out a large number of arrests or to do effective crowd control and frankly put themselves in a vulnerable situation. I also can’t say how aware MPD was of the operation. They did not seem like they were prepared to do crowd control either. In conclusion, it was a mess.
Read the full report on CrimethInc. here.
Chicago, IL
It was a frantic day for Chicagoans yesterday as ICE operations in the city escalated. Agents abducted a longtime organizer at an ICE check-in site, and separated families inside immigration court. City council members and activists tried to halt the vans.CPD was there:
In Chicago, clashes took place between ICE and community members who mobilized after reports of state officials detaining individuals in the South Loop. Unraveled reported:
The spontaneous check-ins were reportedly part of ISAP (Intensive Supervision Appearance Program), an ICE-led case management initiative designed to provide an alternative to detention for individuals determined to be a low flight risk.
Rapid response protesters were joined by elected officials in an attempt at civil disobedience, but were eventually shoved aside by masked ERO/ICE agents in body armor to make way for unmarked white vans.
Agents brandished collapsible batons at the crowd, and one carried what appeared to be a dispenser for less-than-lethal rounds.
Journalists recorded Chicago police officers at the scene early on. It’s unclear when and how they first arrived, but a CPD spokesperson claimed it was in response to an “officer assist” call.
These actions could reasonably be interpreted as a violation of the Illinois TRUST Act, which prohibits police departments statewide from “providing on-site support to federal immigration agents, including by coordinating arrests in public facilities, transporting any individuals or establishing a security or traffic perimeter.”
At one point during the hearings, agents nearly arrested a court interpreter in a case of mistaken identity. They separated a husband from his wife, who is an American citizen. She said he has been living in the United States for over two years, which disqualifies him for expedited removal. ICE also told an attorney who asked to see their warrant and tried to speak with her client she was “interfering with law enforcement.”
Read the full report here.
Grand Rapids, MI
Also not covered by local news yet – apparently ICE was in place to arrest people showing up for their check-in appointments at a small office near downtown Grand Rapids. Reddit was all over it, community response warned people about what was going down, and had success. ICE and GRPD backed off?
— wizardkitten (@wizardkitten.bsky.social) 2025-06-07T10:02:41.626Z
On June 4th, community members mobilized in support of people threatened by ICE in Grand Rapids. As one local report documented:
On Wednesday, GR Rapid Response to ICE received a call from someone who was accompanying an immigrant to their ICE check-in appointment, only to find out that ICE had arrested the person.
People who attended a GR Rapid Response to ICE training began arriving around noon. There were people standing outside the building to let people who were coming for an appointment know what was happening, plus several people went inside the building and into the ISAP office to alert those waiting that ICE was taking people.
Because GR Rapid Response to ICE members refused to leave, the ISAP office manager then said that everyone needed to leave. In this instance people complied and they promptly locked the door behind us. This provided those with GR Rapid Response to ICE an opportunity to speak with those who came for appointments, provide them with out ICE Alert phone number and other ways we could support those who were being threatened by ICE.
For the next 2 hours the community that had shown up to the call to defend members of the immigrant community, continued to be vigilant and see if any of the people who had earlier appoints in the ISAP office would be released. One by one people who had earlier appointments walked out the front door, where they were greeted with applause and hugs. Several of the people who were released felt that their release was due to the fact that GR Rapid Response to ICE was present with numbers.
Not everyone was fortunate on this day. We found out that on Wednesday morning, people who had earlier appointments were taken by ICE, most likely to the Calhoun County Jail in Battle Creek. You can see video here of ICE agents taking someone just as GR Rapid Response to ICE was arriving.
Read the full report here.
Milford, MA
Coverage of student walkout in support of Marcelo Gomes, the high school junior that ICE kidnapped on his way to volleyball practice Saturday morning. I'm pulling the photos out in the comments bc I want to make sure you guys can see the signs & shirts that these kids made.
— this corrosion (@roguesecunit.bsky.social) 2025-06-03T05:05:04.484Z
In Milford, MA, students held a series of protests and walkouts to demand the release of Marcelo Gomes, after he was abducted by ICE on his way to volleyball practice. After escalating outcry and protests, Silva was released back into the community.
New York, NYC
NYC/06/07While all eyes were on LA this happened in NYC. Several protesters were arrested outside 26 Federal Plaza after clashes with NYPD during an anti-ICE demonstration. The protest targeted recent immigration enforcement actions and arrests inside federal courthouses. This continues today…
— MadGreek 🧿 (@madgreek2024.bsky.social) 2025-06-08T19:41:58.445Z
Protests have been ongoing on New York, after a series of ICE actions led to a blockade of ICE vans and arrests of up to 20 protesters. Students at “two dozen high schools across the city walked out of class…in a protest of federal policies that they said threaten their and their classmates’ futures.” On June 7th, police arrested several people after a crowd of over 100 mobilized in an attempt to block ICE vans from entering a federal facility.
