SAN ANTONIO — An activist is facing federal charges after a protest turned chaotic in front of the planned ICE processing center on the city’s East Side.
In a video provided to us by Right to Rebel SATX, you can see what appears to be protesters and law enforcement pushing each other while sirens blare. Shortly after, multiple officers come out from behind a fence and appear to surround and arrest an individual.
Pepper balls can also be heard being fired during the confrontation.
A representative with Right to Rebel SATX, who wanted to stay anonymous, spoke with us about the incident.
“I think ICE was trying to target individuals that they saw were the loudest, basically as a way of intimidating future protesters,” the representative said.
Right to Rebel SATX called on people to join the protest, which started at 6:00 p.m. Friday. Its goal was described as “keeping the pressure on ICE” and protesting plans to convert this warehouse into an ICE processing facility.
The representative says agents behind the gate accused a protester of pushing the fence into them.
“And then agents come out and open the fence back up and say you assaulted a federal agent,” the representative said.
The representative claims the fence was flimsy and easily blown around in the wind.
“For them to claim the fence being moved around is assault on a federal officer is absurd and obvious political oppression,” the representative said.
We are working to find out if the protester was a member of Right to Rebel SATX or another member of the community who joined during the demonstration.
Right now, it’s unclear what crime the individual has been charged with, but we have confirmed they are being held in the Karnes County Jail.
We also reached out to the department of homeland security and the FBI. Immigration and Customs Enforcement who tells us they are looking into the incident and will get back to us.