Federal agents confronted by protesters during operation at St. Paul company

Federal agents and protesters clashed Tuesday morning at a St. Paul paper distribution company in what officials described as a search warrant operation, while one man said two of his relatives were taken away.

The agents, wearing FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration vests, stood outside Bro-Tex Inc. in an industrial area near the Midway neighborhood. Some stood guard as others entered and exited the building surrounded by yellow crime scene tape. A St. Paul Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson confirmed the agency was also involved, with the Department of Homeland Security.

“Today in St. Paul, ICE HSI and law enforcement partners conducted court authorized law enforcement activity and served a search warrant in furtherance of a federal criminal investigation,” said the statement from the agency. HSI stands for Homeland Security Investigations.

“There is no threat to public safety, and the investigation remains ongoing at this time,” the statement said.

Dozens of protesters began to gather and shout “shame!” as the agents, some masked and others wearing tactical helmets, looked on and then used chemical irritants to push the crowd back.

One protester broke out a window on one of the unmarked vehicles as it pulled away. The agents shoved some protesters out of the way as some tried to stop the vans from leaving. Many protesters spit on the cars as some chanted “show your face!” at the officers wearing coverings.

By about 11 a.m. the agents had left the scene, but several protesters remained.

Two of Godinez Alarcon’s uncles and a cousin who work for Bro-Tex were detained among a total of about 24 workers taken, he said. One of the uncles was released.

His uncle who remains in custody came to the United States from Mexico about 20 years ago, while his cousin moved here seven years ago. They were undocumented and in the process of applying for citizenship, he said. Neither appears to have a Minnesota criminal record.

The agents at the scene wouldn’t say why they were there or why they were taking anyone into custody.

“If working in this country is a crime, then God forbid these people are criminals but everyone in here has worked for more than 20 years,” Godinez Alarcon said, fighting back tears. “My mom started working here in 1999. This was her first job.”

“They’re just coming to work, bro, that’s all it is; all it really was,” he said. “Everyone in there is a law-abiding citizen. They work. Great people. When I was sick everyone was helping my mom with every situation, everyone helped my mom in the toughest time of our lives.”

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter arrived at the scene about halfway through the protest and federal operation, witnessing as protesters were hit with chemical irritants while the unmarked cars left the scene.

In an interview, Carter said that federal officials did not inform the city of the operation ahead of time, and that St. Paul police did not participate in the raid.

“The St Paul Police Department will never, ever, ever participate in criminalizing someone’s identity, or criminalizing somebody for who they are,” he said.

In a post on the Ward 4 Facebook page, City Council Member Molly Coleman said her office was working to confirm details about what happened.

“I am devastated that this happened today,” she said. “I don’t want to live in a country where the federal government is a threat to our community.”

“I’m very angry; they’re not welcome here,” said Maki, who lives near the warehouse.

A few protesters held signs that read, “Hands off immigrants.” And one protester showed up wearing an inflatable frog costume, similar to the ones worn in Portland, Ore., by people protesting the increased federal agent presence in the city.

The St. Paul operation comes five months after a raid at the Las Cuatro Milpas restaurant on Lake Street in south Minneapolis and seven other locations in the Twin Cities Metro area. The June 3 raid was in order to serve search warrants in connection to what federal and state officials said was a probe into suspected drug trafficking and money laundering following the discovery of 900 pounds of meth in a Burnsville storage unit.

Unlike in this week’s raid, federal agencies sent armored vehicles to the Minneapolis restaurant in June. And notably, St. Paul police were not present to assist with crowd control on Tuesday, unlike Minneapolis police, who assisted with crowd control in the raid on Lake Street.

The June operation led to outcry from many residents who were upset that Minneapolis police escorted federal agents out of the city.

O’Hara defended the Police Department’s role, saying local police did not assist with the investigation, and that they were only there to ensure the safety of protesters and officers.

An audit found that the city did not violate its ordinance prohibiting assistance with immigration actions when police acted as crowd control, but found shortcomings with how the city communicated the incident

During the June operation, Las Cuatro Milpas owner Francisco Estrada-Deltaro was arrested at his home outside of Minneapolis. He was ultimately sentenced to eight months in prison for illegally re-entering the country three times. He has not been charged with anything connecting him to a larger criminal operation, and it remains unclear what ties, if any, he had.

After the agents left Bro-Tex on Tuesday, Angela Deeb knelt on the pavement comforted by other protesters as she recovered from being pepper-sprayed by one of the federal agents.

“I was kind of in her face. … I was at her window and I was telling her, ‘You are teaching your kids to be racist,’ I said that,” Deeb said. “I said that in her window and some dude … came up and he pushed me and I got sprayed.”

Raye Los said extensive networking allowed the protesters to show up quickly.

“We all have to do what we did,” Los said. “We all have to show up when we get the text, when we get the call, get on the list.”

Founded in 1923 as the Minnesota Rag and Paper Stock Co., Bro-Tex has grown from a rag recycler into a manufacturer of nonwoven wipers, specialty wipes, sorbents and reclaimed cloth products.

It employs between 51 and 200 people, according to its LinkedIn page. The company also makes private-label items and, through its Midwest Floating Island division, produces floating wetlands that improve water quality and support wildlife.