FBI investigating man who appeared to shoot at agents during Camarillo immigration raid
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The FBI is investigating a possible shooting that it says took place Thursday during an immigration enforcement operation at a cannabis farm in Camarillo, where hundreds of protesters clashed with federal agents.
ABC7 News captured video of what appears to be a man shooting at federal agents after smoke canisters were fired into the crowd in an attempt to disperse protesters. There were no reports of anyone being wounded. It is also unclear what kind of weapon the person was reportedly holding.
The FBI is now offering a $50,000 award for information leading to the conviction of the person who appeared to fire a pistol at federal officers at 2:26 p.m. on Laguna Road between Wood and Las Posas roads, U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli said in a statement on X.
“During the operation, a violent agitator fired a gun at our brave officers,” Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “We will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law anyone who assaults or doxes federal law enforcement.”
Federal law enforcement officers arrested nearly 200 people without documentation during Thursday’s operation, she said.
A pro-Trump X account asked whether Gov. Gavin Newsom would condemn the shooting. The governor clapped back, writing, “Of course I condemn any assault on law enforcement, you shit poster.”
“Now do Jan 6,” Newsom added, referring to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, when a mob of Trump supporters attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, resulting in deaths, injuries and widespread damage.
Trump border czar Tom Homan decried the incident.
“I said months ago, it’s going to end up with a loss of life,” he told Fox News.
Thursday’s protest erupted after scores of federal agents and National Guard members descended upon a marijuana growing site for Glass House Farms, at 645 Laguna Road.
Protesters blocked the roads in and out of one of the farms, and at one point federal agents drove their vehicles through the fields.
Agents were executing a search warrant at the farm and arrested several individuals on suspicion of impeding the operation, according to Essayli.
Ten minors without documentation were found at the farm during the raid, eight of whom were unaccompanied, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott said in a statement on X. The facility is now under investigation for child labor violations, he said.
The Ventura County Fire Department was dispatched to the scene at 12:15 p.m. and transported five people to the hospital and treated four others at the scene, according to a department spokesperson.
During the hours-long demonstration, federal agents deployed tear gas and smoke canisters and fired rubber bullets at protesters.
Around 35 miles up the coast in Carpinteria, federal agents raided another Glass House Farms growing site.
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U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) attempted to enter the facility around noon, identifying himself as a Congress member conducting oversight. He was denied access by masked federal agents dressed in camouflage and holding weapons who formed a perimeter around the raid, he said.
In light of the later alleged shooting in Camarillo, Carbajal made a prescient statement, saying, “These tactics are creating an incendiary, hostile environment the way they are being deployed, which could lead to, regrettably, violence in the future.”
In a statement on X, Glass House Farms said the company was visited by federal agents, fully complied with search warrants and will provide further updates if necessary.
Times staff writer Rachel Uranga contributed to this report.
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