Hundreds of protesters in Bend, Oregon, swarmed and blocked two unmarked Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) buses in a hotel parking lot after ICE arrested two illegal aliens with criminal records, according to a series of videos and tweets.
The two men were reportedly detained in the morning and after news of the arrests spread, protesters reportedly drove from all around Oregon to surround the buses carrying the men. Bend police reportedly showed up in SWAT gear they were wearing while training at the time, but later wore standard uniforms.
Acting Deputy Department of Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli tweeted that the two detained men were “criminal aliens presenting a danger to public safety” and “each had a history of criminal violent behavior.”
He tweeted:
The law enforcement activity in Bend, Oregon is part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s mission to arrest criminal aliens presenting a danger to public safety and take them off the street. The two individuals arrested each had a history of criminal violent behavior. While ICE respects the rights of people to voice their opinion peacefully, that does not include illegally interfering with their federal law enforcement duties. ICE will take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of its officers and detainees, and will vigorously pursue prosecution against anyone who puts them in harm’s way.
Bend Mayor Sally Russell issued a series of tweets, saying that she did not support ICE, but also said the detained men had warrants out for their arrest and that it was not a “sweep for undocumented immigrants.”
After hours of protest, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz notified protesters that federal law enforcement officers were arriving “to ensure the safety of their employees.”
The standoff between protesters and Customs and Border Patrol agents lasted more than 10 hours and ended just before midnight, after federal agents took the two men off a bus, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting journalist Emily Cureton.
Hours later, Mark Morgan, the senior official performing the duties of the commissioner of CBP, tweeted, “CBP stands ready to support any law enforcement agency who needs assistance. Proud to support @ICEgov in Oregon.”
Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel said he attended the protest to “broker a resolution with DHS, to no avail.” After the protest ended, he tweeted, “I’ve never been so disgusted by my government and so proud of my community.”
Cureton tweeted earlier in the day that a Presbyterian pastor said the crowd would buy time for the American Civil Liberties Union to file paperwork on behalf of the detained men.
Bend, Oregon, is a small town in central Oregon that has become a hotbed of far-left activism. It is local several hours away from Portland, where Antifa has rioted nearly every night for the last several months, attacking a federal courthouse and clashing with local and federal law enforcement.
On Wednesday evening, they burned a pig head, a Trump flag, and launched fireworks, rocks, bottles, and eggs at police.
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