Activist Confront ICE Operations In San Francisco
A confrontation between federal agents and anti-ICE protesters outside San Francisco Immigration Court on Tuesday escalated into what can only be described as a physical melee.
At the center of the disturbance was an attempt by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to escort a detainee out of the courthouse at 100 Montgomery Street. What followed was a sustained attempt by approximately 30 protesters to physically obstruct the federal operation.
Video footage from the scene shows protesters crowding around the agents, shouting, and making contact as they tried to prevent the detainee from being moved to a waiting ICE van. Officers wearing body armor and face masks issued repeated warnings for demonstrators to back away. At one point, an agent is heard yelling, “Stay away from my gun!” — a clear indication of escalating danger as protesters attempted to interfere with the arrest.
A video captured outside a San Francisco courthouse Tuesday morning shows protesters seemingly trying to block a deportation by clinging to an ICE van as it drives through the crowd. One is seen to fall from the vehicle while another holds on as it swerves.
🎥: Joel Garcia pic.twitter.com/olXlrcwvEv
— The San Francisco Standard (@sfstandard) July 8, 2025
Despite the resistance, ICE agents managed to place the detainee in the vehicle. However, the chaos continued. Activists then tried to physically block the van’s departure, with some standing in front of it and at least two individuals climbing onto the vehicle as it moved forward. One protester fell off at a crosswalk; another remained clinging to the windshield as the van continued down Montgomery Street.
This is not an isolated incident. These tactics represent a growing pattern of increasingly aggressive and dangerous resistance to federal law enforcement.
When individuals put themselves in the path of enforcement operations — or directly confront armed agents — the risk of injury or worse becomes substantial. The fact that such confrontations are occurring in broad daylight in a major U.S. city reflects an erosion of respect for federal authority.
This incident also occurs amid a backdrop of violent attacks against federal facilities. Two recent shootings in Texas — one at the Prarieland ICE facility in Alvarado and another at a Border Patrol site in McAllen — have raised further concerns.
In the McAllen case, the suspect was killed after injuring two officers and a Border Patrol employee. In Alvarado, a police officer was shot, and ten suspects have been arrested.