Editor's note: This is a developing story. More details will be added as they become available.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents made multiple arrests Friday afternoon at Buona Forchetta, an Italian restaurant in San Diego's South Park neighborhood.
A Homeland Security Investigations special agent, who didn’t want to be identified, confirmed the arrests.
“We’re executing a criminal search warrant at the location that we just completed, so we’re getting out,” the agent said.
The restaurant's assistant manager and manager declined to comment to KPBS.
On Saturday morning, the restaurant put out a statement on Instagram.
Claire Cody, a worker at Buona Forchetta, said she arrived for work at 4:30 p.m. and saw vehicles and men in U.S. Homeland Security uniforms. Cody was in tears while describing the incident.
“Ten (federal agents) came into part of our restaurant. And they handcuffed my manager, saying they have a search warrant, and I just started crying because I knew what was happening,” Cody said.
Cody said “about three or four” employees were arrested by federal agents.
A large crowd began to gather and witnessed one individual being placed into a federal vehicle. Cody said agents then started taking people out through the back of the restaurant to avoid the crowd.
The crowd surrounded the agents, yelling profanities and calling them fascists. Many people recorded the agents and the license plates of their vehicles.
At one point, a group blocked an unmarked vehicle carrying agents from leaving the intersection at 30th and Beech Streets. After activating the sirens multiple times without success, agents used what appeared to be flashbang smoke grenades to disperse the crowd.
According to a statement from San Diego Police Department's Lt. Dan Meyer, SDPD responded at approximately 6:07 p.m. to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's "urgent request" for backup near the 30th and Beech Street intersection.
"The nature of their involvement at the time of the request was unknown to us," read the statement. "SDPD was not involved in the operation beforehand, nor were we involved in any immigration enforcement. Federal agents had left the area prior to our arrival, and our officers did not ultimately provide any assistance or take enforcement action.
For details regarding this incident, please contact the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.”
Cody and other workers, who didn’t want to be identified, said the restaurant would be closed for the remainder of the day.
“You always see this anywhere else, but then you experience it," Cody said. "And I’m just thinking about my coworkers and thinking about their families, and this is just very unfortunate and very sad. I’m just praying that they’re OK. I’m OK. And I just feel for them.”
