A mob of masked agitators shouted profanities at officers while blocking the roadway as well as throwing objects at an unmarked van leaving an immigration court, per the New York Post. Uniformed Department of Homeland Security officers worked to move the agitators aside to allow the vehicle to pass through.
Footage obtained by Freedom New TV showed the anti-ICE activists clashing with the police. They were seen moving barricades, traffic cones, and even a dresser taken from a nearby dumpster onto the street to obstruct the van’s path.
Officers managed to clear a route for the vehicle within about two minutes, but nearly 40 New York Police Department and federal officers continued to clash with protesters, resulting in at least five arrests. An NYPD spokesperson said officers responded to a 911 call about a disorderly group and observed individuals sitting in the roadway blocking traffic, the Post reported.
This incident is part of a growing pattern nationwide of agitators attempting to disrupt federal immigration officers as they work to detain illegal immigrants for eventual deportation. Another confrontation occurred Saturday in California, where anti-ICE activists clashed with officers near a staging area for an operation near a Home Depot. Tensions escalated when law enforcement reportedly used crowd control munitions to disperse the unruly crowd of demonstrators.
DHS released a statement on Saturday in which it addressed similar protests that took place on Friday in Los Angeles, noting that ICE officers are facing increased amounts of assaults and doxxing from the agitators.
"Last night, over 1,000 rioters surrounded a federal law enforcement building and assaulted ICE law enforcement officers, slashed tires, defaced buildings, and taxpayer-funded property," DHS said. "Our ICE enforcement officers are facing a 413% increase in assaults against them. Disturbingly, in recent days, ICE officers’ family members have been dox[x]ed and targeted as well."
