Federal immigration officers clashed with protesters in downtown San Francisco on Wednesday after an arrest at an immigration court escalated into a street confrontation. At least one demonstrator was detained, while both a protester and a journalist were pepper-sprayed. The confrontation highlighted mounting tensions over ICE arrests at court hearings and sparked fresh criticism of federal enforcement tactics.
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Arrest Sparks Confrontation
The incident began outside the immigration courthouse on Montgomery Street, where officers arrested a man inside before leading him to a waiting van. As they moved him out, protesters shouted at agents, with one yelling, “Why are you disappearing our community?” The crowd followed the officers on foot as they transported the man to ICE’s field office on Sansome Street, setting the stage for the clash.
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Protest Escalates to Field Office
Outside the ICE field office, tensions grew. Roughly a dozen protesters who marched from the courthouse gathered at the site. One protester was tackled, zip-tied, and taken inside the building. Minutes earlier, an officer had used pepper spray on both a demonstrator and a reporter documenting the scene…