Officials at a federal agency have taken the unusual step of using social media to attack a congressman who was at one of last week’s ICE raids on the South Coast, accusing him of trying to incite violence.
ICE agents blocked Casitas Pass Road to keep demonstrators from reaching the scene of their raid at Glass House Farms. When Democratic Rep. Salud Carbajal of Santa Barbara tried to reach the raid, he was denied access. Instead, he stood between the crowd and the armed agents, talking to reporters and protesters.
On social media, ICE posted that the congressman was part of a “violent mob of protesters,” calling them “rioters.” The ICE post struck a political tone, saying that the congressman’s constituency should remember he chose violence over the rule of law.
The protesters yelled at the agents but didn’t physically challenge them. While tempers were hot among some of the 150 members of the crowd, there wasn’t a riot, as the ICE post claimed.
When the officers were leaving, they deployed smoke grenades to cover their departure. Some people initially thought tear gas had been deployed before realizing it was smoke. A few water bottles and rocks were thrown at their armored vehicles. One ICE employee suffered a minor injury.
Carbajal told KCLU News that the ICE post was a blatant attempt to distort what happened in Carpinteria. In a statement, he said ICE used a disturbing level of force, at one point throwing a stun grenade into the crowd and causing minor injuries. He added that peaceful protesters had gathered to defend their neighbors.
