A crowd began gathering around the residential street near Maryland and Payne avenues late Tuesday morning. Masked federal agents, as well as St. Paul police officers, were also at the scene.
A WCCO crew filmed several people surrounding a white van at the intersection and the driver of the vehicle spraying spray into the crowd. WCCO’s Connor White said tear gas was fired when St. Paul police cars tried to flee.
People in the crowd threw objects at officers, White said, and law enforcement responded by deploying pepper balls. St. Paul police also deployed chemical irritants, he said.
Hwa Jeong Kim, the city council member who represents the area, said she was “horrified.”
“This is completely unacceptable,” he said. “The St. Paul Police Department works for us, every single person on this street, no matter who they work for. Their job is to keep us safe.”
Kim said St. Paul officials fired tear gas at him and other elected leaders.
“I think residents should be outraged by this action today,” Kim said.
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter arrived at the scene and said he too had questions about the events that unfolded.
“We have to get to the bottom of this, and we will,” he said, adding that every officer in uniform in St. Paul was wearing a body camera.
WCCO 
WCCO has contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as St. Paul police for more information.
St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry said in a WCCO interview last week that the city’s police force “doesn’t do anything that focuses solely on immigration.”
Henry said officers will not only assist by going to federal immigration details, but will also assist federal agents if the situation escalates and people are committing crimes around the event.
Henry said, “I’ve been very clear since January, if you see a St. Paul badge or logo, it’s not an immigration statement, but if a federal agent gets on the radio and yells for help, we’re going to help.” “Our secession ordinance says very clearly that we cooperate with our federal partners.”
Last week, federal agents raided paper distribution company Bro-Tex, Inc. in St. Paul. raided 14 people arrested On “Immigration Operations”. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security declined to say what charges the 14 people face.
WCCO cameras captured a physical confrontation between federal agents, some of whom were wearing FBI and DEA regalia, and protesters at the Bro-Tex facility. Agents deployed a chemical irritant on the crowd, and physically removed some community members who were blocking four federal vehicles from passing.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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