Federal agents raided a Carpinteria cannabis business Thursday, and a large crowd formed in the area to protest and call for them to leave without detaining workers.
The crowd gathered on Casitas Pass Road and Foothill Road near Glass House Farms, which operates cannabis greenhouses in the area.
Farm staff said 10 people reportedly had been detained in the immigration enforcement-related operation, which was first reported around 11 a.m.
At 1:10 p.m., the federal agents deployed smoke grenades near the crowd, estimated at 100-200 people.
They appeared to use the projectiles, which caused people to cough, so they could leave the area.
At the scene, there were several dozen people associated with federal agencies, some wearing military-style camouflage uniforms and bulletproof vests, and others wearing T-shirts and jeans under their vests.
Many of them were wearing masks covering their faces.
Some agents identified themselves as being with Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) which is a branch of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Congressman Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, joined the crowd and asked to get through to the greenhouses, while people chanted to “let him through!”
Agents did not let him through.
“This is ridiculous, this is military theater,” Carbajal told Noozhawk. “Look at this, militarized agents on domestic soil acting like military.”
He said he came to the scene as soon as possible to observe what was happening.
“Clearly this is overkill and ridiculous,” he said.
Carbajal added that it seemed like a coordinated operation, with another one happening in Oxnard at the same time.
“Look, If they want to deport criminals that’s one thing; this is not deporting criminals,” Carbajal said. “This is going after everyday, hardworking immigrants…”
This area of the Carpinteria Valley has always long been part of the agricultural industry, and in more recent years many greenhouses have been converted from cut flowers to cannabis growing businesses.
Carpinteria Councilwoman Mónica J. Solórzano, who was in the crowd, was pushed to the ground and injured when agents used flash bang grenades earlier in the operation, she said.
The law enforcement agents “were trying to push the crowd back, so they threw a flash bang grenade right at our feet and it exploded,” she told Noozhawk. “They started pushing into the crowd and they didn’t care if anyone fell, and I fell and cut my arm, and they kept pushing forward.”
She said the grenade throwing was “indiscriminate.”
“They threw it right into the middle of where people were,” she said. “They didn’t tell us they were moving or anything like that.”
The Carpinteria City Council already had a special meeting scheduled Thursday night to discuss potential responses to federal immigration activity in the community.
Solórzano said she was impressed with the size of the crowd that came out to support local workers.
“It shows the people in Carpinteria care about people who are being affected by all this,” she said.
Santa Barbara County First District Supervisors Roy Lee, a former Carpinteria councilman, Carpinteria Mayor Natalia Alarcon, and Carpinteria councilwoman Julia Mayer also joined the crowd Thursday afternoon.
Federal agents also deployed large military vehicles to the scene and shut down Casitas Pass Road during the operation.
Some cars were parked, purposefully blocking the road, according to California Highway Patrol incident reports, and one Homeland Security vehicle “has all four tires slashed.”
The Coastal View News reported that the agents also set up vehicle checkpoints at Casitas Pass Road and Highway 192/Foothill Road, and Highway 150 and Foothill Road/Highway 192.
Noozhawk photographer Peter Hartmann reported a “mixed group” of federal personnel at the scene including National Guard and ICE.
“I got jostled by National Guard people” while asserting rights for access as a member of the media, he said.
Hartmann estimated the crowd at 100-200 people, which included locals looking for their relatives who worked in the area. He heard of people being pulled out of their vehicles by agents, but that could not be confirmed.
ICE agents also raided a Camarillo Glass House Farms facility Thursday, the Ventura County Star reported. A crowd gathered to protest the operation at 645 Laguna Road and faced off with federal agents. In that incident, agents fired multiple projectiles into the crowd, including gas canisters, and local fire agencies declared a mass casualty event for the injured, the Star reported.
“Today, we are witnessing masked National Guard troops with rifles and armed military vehicles aiding immigration officials in raids and checkpoints in Carpinteria and Camarillo. These actions are terrorizing to our communities – documented or not,” State Senator Monique Limón said in a statement Thursday.
Representatives for ICE and Glass House Farms did not respond to Noozhawk’s requests for comment Thursday.
Noozhawk staff writer Rebecca Caraway and Noozhawk photographer Peter Hartmann reported from the scene.
