Five people were taken into custody, and federal agents deployed flash bang grenades to hold back demonstrators during an ICE raid in Oxnard early Wednesday.
Dozens of ICE agents conducted a raid at a home on North “A” Street in the downtown Oxnard area.
Leonardo Martinez, with the immigrant support group VC Defensa, said volunteers rallied to the scene when they heard that agents had arrived at around 5:30 a.m.
“When we pulled up, the streets were already roped off. There was a multitude of vehicles, so many vehicles that filled in this part of the street. So, we assumed they called in a favor to do this show of force,” Martinez explained.
Four people in the house and one protestor were taken into custody.
Martinez said the agents didn’t leave quietly.
“When they retreated, they retreated with tear gas, they retreated with flash bang grenades (to cover their departure),” said Martinez.
He added that four men with no known criminal records were taken into custody.
Federal prosecutors, however, allege that one of the detainees was arrested for violence against federal agents and vehicles during July’s ICE raid in Camarillo.
