Federal agents and police clash with large crowd in St. Paul neighborhood, chemical irritants deployed
Federal agents and city police in St. Paul, Minnesota, clashed with a crowd Tuesday afternoon in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood, where law enforcement deployed chemical irritants onto the gathering protesters.
The crowd started to gather around the residential street near Maryland and Payne avenues late Tuesday morning. Masked federal agents, as well as St. Paul police officers, were at the scene.
A WCCO crew filmed several people as they surrounded a white van at the intersection, and the driver of the vehicle deployed the spray into the crowd. WCCO’s Conor Wight said tear gas canisters were deployed as St. Paul police cars tried to get away.
People from the crowd threw items at officers, Wight said, and law enforcement responded by deploying pepper balls. St. Paul police also deployed chemical irritants, he said.
City Councilmember Hwa Jeong Kim, who represents the the area said she was “horrified.”
“This is completely unacceptable,” she said. “The St. Paul Police Department work for us, every single person on this street, that’s who they work for. Their job is to keep us safe.”
Kim said that she, along with other elected leaders, were tear gassed by St. Paul officers.
“I think residents should be infuriated by this action today,” Kim said.
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter came to the scene and said he too, had questions about the events that unfolded.
“We’re going to have to get to the bottom of this, and we will,” he said, adding that every officer in a St. Paul uniform was wearing a body camera.
WCCO
WCCO has reached out to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as St. Paul police for more information.
St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry said in a WCCO interview last week that the city’s police force does “not do anything that is solely immigration focused.”
Henry said the officers would not go and assist a federal immigration-only detail, but would help federal agents if a situation escalated and people were committing crimes surrounding the incident.
“I’ve been very clear since January, if you see a St. Paul badge or a logo, it’s not an immigration detail but also, if a federal agent gets on the radio and screams for help, we are going to help,” Henry said. “Our separation ordinance very clearly says we cooperate with our federal partners.”
Last week, federal agents raided Bro-Tex, Inc., a paper distribution company in St. Paul and arrested 14 people on “immigration operations.” The U.S. Department of Homeland Security declined to say what charges the 14 people face.
WCCO cameras captured a physical confrontation between federal agents at the Bro-Tex facility, some of them wearing FBI and DEA regalia, and protesters. Agents deployed a chemical irritant on the crowd, and physically removed some community members who were blocking four federal vehicles from leaving.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Conor Wight
contributed to this report.
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