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Federal immigration agents were running immigrant sweeps in Ventura County on Thursday, prompting conflict between authorities and immigration rights groups.
The video shared on social media shows almost 12 agents using almost deadly ammunition to a crowd gathered near the intersection of Laguna and Wood Road, just outside the two locations in the 600 block of Laguna Road, according to an Instagram post by 805 Inm Terming Coalition.
In the video, people curse their agents while coughing from the gas, plagued by a non-fatal round of ammunition.
Volunteer organisation Angel Marie and the 805 Immigration Coalition said in a telephone interview that about 500 people gathered near the farm to protest.
“There are reports of US citizens being detained,” Angel Marie said. “Everyone who worked in the warehouse is being detained by federal agents. It’s a huge factory and there’s a huge presence here right now, as many people living in the area have families working here.”
At least one person was held at muzzle after pulling out a phone and attempting to record the attack, Angel Marie said.
Protesters blocked roads inside and outside one of the farm, and at one point federal agents drove through the fields. Multiple ambulances have come and go to the facility, but it is unclear whether anyone has been injured, Angel Marie said.
Sarah Armstrong, an outreach chair with Americans for safe access, said it appears that Homeland Security and the US National Guard were at the spot where protesters were firing tear gas and rubber bullets. She was warned of the attack as one of the properties, one of the Glasshouse Farms, connects to the cannabis industry. It was not immediately clear to her whether the officials had given the operator a search warrant.
The Farm Community in Ventura County has been the subject of repeated immigrant raids over the past few weeks. Numerous videos on social media have appeared of agents chasing farm workers and mass arresting them on the farm.
This is an developing story and will be updated with more information
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