DETROIT (Michigan News Source) – An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation in Detroit erupted into chaos Monday, June 30, when activists attempted to block the arrest of a twice-deported illegal immigrant from Honduras. Footage shows protesters swarming agents while a gray pickup truck abruptly cut off a federal vehicle, nearly causing a crash before fleeing the scene.
The driver, Roman Gomez-Ocadiz, was later arrested and has been charged with forcibly resisting, opposing, interfering, and impeding an officer, according to the Detroit Free Press.
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The targeted arrest of illegal immigrant, Marcos Fabian Arita Bautista, occurred near Joy and Livernois on Detroit’s west side, where ICE agents surrounded a home. According to the Detroit Free Press, protesters were tipped off through a hotline run by the People’s Assembly, a local activist group that fights for immigrant rights. About 30 or 40 protesters flooded the area chanting “Let him go!” and shouting at officers: “You all terrorize our community” and “You should be ashamed of yourselves.”
Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison confirmed three arrests: the immigrant, and two protesters. Despite denials that his department works with ICE, officers were on scene. Bettison said in a statement, “A federal agency requested the Detroit police presence to keep the peace as they were executing a federal search warrant for a wanted individual.”
Bettison continued, “We support peaceful protesting but won’t tolerate endangering officers or the public. The Detroit Police Department does not engage in immigration enforcement. Our mission is public safety for both law enforcement and the public. We support peaceful protesting but will not tolerate any action that puts officers or anyone else in danger.”
Apps, alerts and organized interference.
Ambushes like this going on around the country are reportedly coordinated via apps like ICEBlock and the MigraWatch hotline, tools used by activists to disrupt immigration enforcement. Critics say these efforts effectively aid obstruction of justice.
Nationwide escalation: from threats to sabotage.
Detroit is just one piece of a growing anti-ICE movement spreading across the country. In Los Angeles, the radicalized “Tenants Union” is organizing “community defense centers” aimed at undermining ICE operations. It’s gone far beyond protests – activists are sharing videos online that support the violence. One clip openly calls for the murder of ICE agents. Others show Border Patrol SUVs set on fire.
Public officials join the mob.
Disturbingly, some elected officials have endorsed this behavior. Vice Mayor Cynthia Gonzalez of Cudahy, California, was filmed urging gangs to “defend their turf” from ICE, encouraging criminal interference with law enforcement. Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons has also confirmed activists have begun targeting agents’ children as well, sharing their names and social media handles online. The Secret Service was forced to intervene.
A coordinated assault on law and order.
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Since President Trump took office, assaults on ICE agents have surged 500%. Reports and videos show that what America is seeing isn’t peaceful dissent – it’s an organized campaign of harassment, intimidation, and violence against ICE agents and law enforcement partners.
The 2020-style playbook has returned to assist in the targeting of ICE agents, with the same agitators: Antifa, far-left groups, and Soros-funded nonprofits all pushing the same narrative – with the help of illegal immigrants and their supporters.
That narrative is a coordinated message and actions by far-left activists and their supporters that portray ICE as a threat or enemy, while framing illegal immigrants as victims of government oppression, regardless of their criminal history or immigration status.
