ICE Officers Drive Through Protesters Trying to Stop Arrest at SF Immigration Court

Federal officials drove through a group of protesters outside San Francisco’s immigration court on Tuesday after violent clashes between the officers and demonstrators at the downtown office building.

In videos captured by protesters and journalists, about a dozen protesters faced off with immigration enforcement officials trying to move a man who had been detained inside the courthouse into a van waiting outside. When they appeared to try to block the van from driving away, it accelerated through the group, dragging one protester who was clinging to the hood.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials were not immediately available to comment.

Over the last month, immigration officials began making frequent appearances at the city’s immigration court on Montgomery Street and arresting people after court-mandated asylum hearings. About 25 people have been detained there since May, according to Milli Atkinson, the director of the Immigrant Legal Defense Program at the San Francisco Bar Association.

In response, protesters have made a habit of gathering outside the building, where there have been multiple altercations between immigration officials and community members, including one that led the court to shut down early one day last month.

One of the most violent altercations to date came after about 10 ICE officers arrived in unmarked vans at the Montgomery Street courthouse around 11:20 a.m. Tuesday, according to Mission Local. They tried to enter the building to aid another group of officers inside who were blocked by a group of protesters after detaining a man, the local news nonprofit reported.

In videos, the protesters can be seen standing in front of the glass doors and using bikes to block the sidewalk between the building and waiting vehicles.

The officers, wearing masks and green “ICE Police” vests, yell “Get back” and “Fuck you” at protesters as they try to push through the crowd and clear the path to the front doors, grabbing onto multiple people’s bicycles and pushing others away from the doors. Protesters can be heard shrieking and yelling, “Shame on you.”

After about a minute, the ICE officers who were inside exited the building, surrounding a man in handcuffs. As they lead him to one of the waiting vans, protesters grab at the group, with one even reaching for the man in handcuffs, trying to pull him away from agents.

After the man is forced into the back of one of the waiting vans, video footage shows protesters continuing to yell and bang on the doors and sides of the vehicle. Officers try to pull them off the van, shoving one person with a bicycle and throwing another onto a non-ICE vehicle stopped in the next lane.

As the van pulls away from the courthouse, at least half a dozen people stand in front of it and jump on its hood to block its path. After most of the protesters clear the lane, one person continues hanging onto the van’s hood as it breaks away from the crowd. In videos, the person can be seen falling from the side of the vehicle seconds later as it crosses an intersection about half a block away from the court.

Atkinson, the Immigrant Legal Defense Program director, confirmed the arrest made on Tuesday, adding that an attorney with the Rapid Response Network was meeting with the person.