ICE agents use tear gas after crowd blocks vehicles in NE Salem, police say
Aerial view of downtown Salem looking west toward West Salem on March 31, 2017. File photo for location context; not from the Oct. 10 incident. Oregon Department of Transportation, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Federal immigration agents used tear gas Saturday morning to clear roughly 30 people who had surrounded their vehicles and blocked them with cars in northeast Salem, according to the Salem Police Department.
Around 9:30 a.m., Salem police received a report that people had boxed in Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicles near Lancaster Drive NE and Sunnyview Road NE, OPB and KPTV/FOX 12 reported, citing police. While officers and fire crews were still en route, agents told police they had used tear gas to disperse the crowd and drive away. 911 callers soon reported eye irritation and breathing trouble — reactions commonly linked to riot-control agents.
Salem Reporter and OregonLive/The Oregonian likewise reported that federal agents left multiple people needing medical care after the confrontation. First responders treated people at the scene, and detectives began collecting witness statements and evidence, according to police accounts carried by those outlets.
It was not immediately clear what ICE agents were doing when the vehicles were blocked, or whether anyone had been detained, OPB reported. The Department of Homeland Security’s Seattle office did not respond to emails seeking comment Saturday, OPB and OregonLive said.
Witnesses describe confrontation
Jose Garivey and Martha Vitela told FOX 12 they were at the scene. “I’ve been here almost forty years in Salem, Oregon, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” Garivey said.
The couple said an ICE agent was driving a black SUV. In video they shared with FOX 12, they said the agent can be seen slamming the vehicle into another car before tear gas — and, they said, rubber bullets — were used on the crowd. “They just came over and start throwing the smoke canisters and pepper spraying,” the couple told the station.
Garivey also told FOX 12: “They were shooting rubber bullets. They had the opportunity many times to leave, but they didn’t do it. It was like they wanted to create chaos.” Vitela described agents’ demeanor as taunting: “They’re just sending hearts. Making heart signals, throwing kisses at them, laughing at the people surrounding them.” Both said they did not like the violence, and that some people found it hard to stay calm when they felt agents were antagonizing them. Those claims come from the couple’s account to FOX 12 and have not been independently confirmed by Willamette News.
Police and congressional responses
Salem police said federal agents had left before officers arrived. Community engagement officer Mark Jantz, quoted by OPB, and a fuller department statement carried by FOX 12, stressed that city officers were not involved in the immigration operation:
“Salem Police Officers had no prior knowledge of the activity in this incident and did not coordinate in any way with Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” the department said. “Our officers respond to disturbances such as this solely to de-escalate, provide medical aid when necessary, and collect evidence so that the appropriate oversight agencies can conduct their review.”
Police said documentation from the investigation will be independently reviewed by the Oregon Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security.
U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Ore., condemned the agents’ actions in a Saturday statement. In language reported by FOX 12 and OPB, she called the operation “reckless” and said it “needlessly endangered innocent people,” alleging that agents used pepper spray, pepper balls and smoke canisters against elderly people and children. “They followed and harassed U.S. citizens, and they drove recklessly with a blatant disregard for the safety of other drivers,” Salinas said. “At one point, they shut down 99E and nearly caused several accidents.” She also said she was “deeply concerned about their use of force and their impulse to escalate the situation against Oregonians,” and that she would continue to challenge ICE operations and hold the Trump administration accountable in Congress.
The clash comes amid a recent rise in federal immigration arrests in Oregon. OPB reported earlier this week that nine people were detained Tuesday in the Portland metro area, according to the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition, and that monthly immigration arrests in the state peaked at 484 last November during “Operation Black Rose.”
Sources
OPB — Federal agents tear-gas Salem protesters after group blocked ICE vehicles, police say (Jireh Deng)
KPTV/FOX 12 — Agents use tear gas after community members block ICE vehicles in NE Salem (Vince Ybarra and FOX 12 Staff)
Salem Reporter — ICE agents deploy tear gas on group gathered in NE Salem (Madeleine Moore)
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