Hundreds March in Santa Barbara Following ICE Pepper Spray Incident

A large crowd gathered at the Santa Barbara Courthouse on Wednesday night to speak out following a chaotic incident involving an ICE agent who was seen on video pepper-spraying community members in the Eastside neighborhood earlier on the morning of January 28.

The rally and march was organized by community defense groups 805 UndocuFund, Carp Sin Fronteras, and SBResiste, and featured comments from Rapid Response Network volunteers who were on the ground when ICE agents and community members clashed near Salinas and Carpinteria streets early Wednesday. 

At the courthouse, volunteers with SBResiste described how the ICE agents detained at least one person, and then later pushed and pepper-sprayed other legal observers and neighborhood residents who had arrived to document ICE activity.

One of the first to arrive at the scene was Ana Garcia, a volunteer with SBResiste who said she was encouraged to see how community members arrived to protect their neighbors.

“The community showed up,” Garcia said. “The entire Eastside was out in the streets, holding it down, lining the sidewalks, lining the street, guiding everybody, calling the hotline … . This is a collective effort, and we need you all in it.”

Chelsea Lancaster, an organizer and volunteer with SBResiste who has been documenting ICE activity in the city, questioned the response of the Santa Barbara Police Department. Police arrived at the scene to de-escalate and provided traffic control, and later SBPD issued a statement saying the department had “no prior knowledge that the ICE agents would be at that location or anywhere in the city.”

“This morning, once again, we experienced the violence of the state,” Lancaster said. “State-sanctioned violence in the form of ICE, and state-sactioned violence in the form of the Santa Barbara Police Department showing up to cooperate and to collaborate with ICE.”

At one point during the courthouse gathering, a man who said he was a military veteran began aggressively yelling at the crowd. The tense moment was quelled when another man from the crowd walked up and embraced the veteran with a hug. 

The crowd then marched a few blocks over to the front steps of the Santa Barbara Police Station. There, community members shared their frustrations with SBPD’s statement regarding the events. One woman said she was struck in the head by an ICE agent, and when she approached SBPD to ask them to investigate, she was told she could file the claim online.

Primitiva Hernandez, 805 UndocuFund executive director, said the SBPD showed up and prioritized the ICE officers over community members. She pointed to the police headquarters and called on SBPD to stand with the community.

“They owe the people some answers,” Hernandez said. “There’s a lot of evidence out there that is contradicting the notice that they put out.”

After the police station, the crowd headed to State Street and marched while holding a sign made up of inverted American flags with the message “Fuck the Police, We Keep Us Safe.” As the group made its way up State Street, the people chanted: “Say it loud, say it clear; immigrants are welcome here.”

The rally and march was one of many recent public demonstrations in response to federal immigration enforcement. On January 24, more than 1,000 gathered on Upper State Street in response to the two fatal shootings at the hands of immigration enforcement in Minneapolis; and on January 26 a couple hundred more showed up to Stearns Wharf for a candlelight vigil for the victims Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

Immigrant rights advocates are calling for a nationwide general strike on Friday, January 30. Here in Santa Barbara, local elected officials will be holding an event at the courthouse at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, where they will stand in solidarity to urge for de-escalation of federal immigration enforcement.

Among the officials scheduled to be in attendance are Assemblymember Gregg Hart, Supervisor Laura Capps, and councilmembers from Santa Maria, Carpinteria, and Santa Barbara.

Several elected officials have already spoken out about the incident. Santa Barbara City Councilmember Kristen Sneddon said agents “created unnecessary harm, injury, and chaos” by wearing masks, brandishing batons, and blocking intersections.

“The community came out of their homes and came to the area and stood with each other,” Sneddon said. “We shouldn’t have to.”

Senate President pro Tempore Monique Limón — who grew up in Eastside Santa Barbara — said she was “deeply disturbed by the actions of ICE agents targeting community members” in her hometown.

“I started my morning with a text message from a teacher who shared that ICE was surrounding the streets near the schools. A parent then shared with me that as they dropped off their child at school today, kids came into school crying with fear,” Limón said. “No child and no parent should be getting ready for school drop-off in fear that they may never see one another again. This is unacceptable and a stain on our history. Our children are living in fear, and our communities are experiencing nearly daily chaos.”