ICE raid shakes South Park, generates national attention
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South Park bystanders surrounded ICE agents and protested their enforcement action Friday. Photo: Keith Berkeley
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid Friday at Buona Forchetta restaurant shook the South Park neighborhood and grew into a national controversy through the weekend.
Why it matters: Three employees at the restaurant were taken away when they couldn't show identification, after armed ICE agents cuffed the entire staff at 4:30pm Friday.
- Videos of the incident quickly went viral, after a crowd confronted the agents, screaming at them and blocking their vehicles, before agents used flash-bang grenades to scatter the scene.
State of play: Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera posted a message on Instagram with the word "terrorists" written over the armed agents in combat gear.
- "This isn't a war zone — it's a neighborhood in our city," he wrote. "This isn't safety — it's state-sponsored terrorism."
The other side: "We are living in the age of leftwing domestic terrorism," Trump aide Stephen Miller wrote on X in response to Elo-Rivera, accusing him of encouraging violence against law enforcement.
- The official Department of Homeland Security X account wrote that it was "sickening" to compare ICE agents to terrorists.
Flashback: In the days before the raid, Miller demanded in a tense meeting that immigration officials begin arresting 3,000 people a day, in pursuit of the administration's mass deportation agenda, according to two sources familiar with the meeting.
Between the lines: Buona Forchetta's entrance became a show of support for the restaurant and detained employees, with neighbors stacking flowers and signs.
- Nearby businesses posted statements of support, and one pledged to donate part of its weekend proceeds to the employees.
Context: Albert Einstein School, an elementary school a block away, evacuated its after-school programs, out of its rear entrance, away from the enforcement action.
What we're watching: Mayor Todd Gloria said in a statement Saturday that he approached DHS leadership directly with concerns over the enforcement action.
- "Federal actions like these are billed as a public safety measure, but it had the complete opposite effect," he said. "What we saw undermines trust and creates fear in our community."