Several arrested as protesters block federal agents at Manhattan garage during raid

Several protesters were arrested Saturday amid clashes with police officers at the entrance to a parking garage in Lower Manhattan, where dozens of federal agents appeared to be gathering for a nearby immigration raid, according to police and witnesses.

The confrontation highlighted the many challenges facing the federal government when attempting to carry out operations of this kind in a densely populated city such as New York, which offers a great deal of resistance.

What happened

The altercation began shortly after 11 a.m., when a handful of people gathered outside a garage on the edge of Chinatown, at Centre and Hester streets, where U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were. When the agents' vehicles attempted to leave, protesters blocked them by forming a barricade with their bodies and piling garbage bags on the sides.

By early afternoon, nearly 200 people had gathered in the street, shouting slogans against the officers, who watched from inside the garage. Police arrived quickly, detained several protesters and set up metal barricades, but the tension did not abate, according to a report the New York Times.

Chaos

Around noon, the standoff erupted into chaos: federal vehicles sped out of the garage and protesters chased them down Canal Street throwing flower pots and trash cans. At one point, a protester stepped in front of one of the moving vehicles and a masked agent sprayed an irritant from the window. On the street, the scuffle continued between police and protesters in the middle of traffic.

For its part, the New York Police Department (NYPD) confirmed that arrests were made but did not specify the number.

The garage is part of a federal building and is just a few blocks from the site of a major ICE raid on Canal Street last month, in which more than 50 agents arrested nine people, mostly West African men, in an area known for selling counterfeit goods.