🧊 ICE Storm in South Park: Masked Agents, Flashbangs, and the Criminalization of Work

On the evening of May 30, a quiet, family-friendly corner of San Diego turned into a scene out of a dystopian film.

At Buona Forchetta, a beloved Italian restaurant nestled in South Park, roughly two dozen masked and heavily armed ICE agents swept in, detaining staff, scaring patrons, and launching flashbang grenades at a shocked public.

Why? Because a few line cooks couldn’t produce papers.

This wasn’t just immigration enforcement. It was intimidation theater brought to you by the Trump administration’s resurrected war on immigrants, civil norms be damned.

The Raid: A Snapshot of Fear

Around 4:00 p.m., the dinner rush hadn’t even begun when ICE agents arrived in unmarked vehicles and entered the two restaurants with a criminal search warrant. According to multiple eyewitnesses, staff were handcuffed, questioned, and removed from the premises in front of stunned onlookers. At least two or three workers were taken into custody.

“It was terrifying,” said a Buona Forchetta employee who asked to remain anonymous. “They came in like it was a war zone, not a restaurant. We were just trying to do our jobs.”

Outside, neighbors and diners began filming, asking questions, and shouting. That’s when ICE agents reportedly deployed flashbangs, normally reserved for riot situations or armed standoffs, to disperse a peaceful, albeit angry, crowd.

The use of military-style tactics to arrest kitchen workers is disturbing on its own. But the symbolism of masked federal agents storming a neighborhood restaurant in the heart of San Diego should set off alarm bells. These are not isolated incidents. This is policy.

Trump’s Deputized Army

Under Trump’s second term, ICE operations have become increasingly secretive, militarized, and divorced from local accountability. Many agents involved in these raids now wear masks or balaclavas, ostensibly for “security.” But in practice, the anonymity they enjoy allows for untraceable abuses of power, exactly what civil liberties watchdogs warned about during Trump’s first term.

This strategy isn’t new. During the 2020 George Floyd protests, federal agents without name tags or insignias rounded up demonstrators in unmarked vans in Portland, Oregon. At the time, critics called it unconstitutional. Today, it’s standard operating procedure.

What began on protest lines has now crept into kitchens and cafes. And now, it’s happening in South Park against restaurant workers.

Criminalizing Work, Not Crime

The Trump administration and its allies often claim that these raids are targeting “criminal aliens.” But the people arrested in South Park weren’t criminals. They were workers— chefs, waiters, and bussers— not arms traffickers, or terrorists.

What kind of country sends masked agents to shut down a restaurant mid-shift because someone couldn't produce documentation fast enough?

It’s not about public safety. It’s about fear, fear that makes workers stay home, and that sends a message to immigrants across the country: You’re never safe—not at work, not at home, not even at dinner.

This is the real goal of raids like these. The cruelty is the point.

We’ve been reporting on the administration’s immigration policies and tactics. See soem of our articles here:

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ICE Raids Are Escalating—Here’s How to Protect Your Community!

Detention Nation: ICE, Inc.

This Is Not New: It’s a Pattern

The South Park raid fits a larger pattern. In August 2019, nearly 700 workers were detained in a single day across Mississippi poultry plants. Many of them were arrested just after dropping their children off at school. Videos of children sobbing outside their homes drew national outrage, but no policy change.

In 2020, under Trump’s first term, masked federal agents descended on Portland, Oregon, abducting protestors in unmarked vans. Their presence, tactics, and total lack of accountability shocked the nation. Today, those tactics are being repurposed, not for crowd control, but to terrorize immigrant neighborhoods and workplaces.

What ties these moments together is not national security, but state-sponsored fear aimed at marginalized communities. We’ve seen this playbook before. It doesn’t end with “illegal immigrants”. It spreads to journalists, protestors, and dissenters.

The South Park community knows this intuitively, and they acted.

Community Backlash and Official Silence

City Councilmember Stephen Whitburn condemned the raid, expressing concern about ICE’s aggressive tactics. The restaurant owners were blindsided, describing the event as traumatizing. The community responded quickly. Neighbors blocked ICE vehicles and attempted to de-escalate the confrontation. That’s when federal agents chose violence.

The San Diego Police Department distanced itself, claiming no prior knowledge of the operation. But in the public’s eye, all badges blur together when masked agents throw flashbangs at a local crowd.

So far, no one in the Trump administration has addressed the raid. That silence speaks volumes.

What Comes Next

This isn’t just about one neighborhood or one restaurant. It’s part of a coordinated campaign to normalize militarized immigration enforcement in everyday public life. Whether it’s raids in restaurants, arrests in hospitals, or detentions at courthouses, the line between law enforcement and political theater is vanishing.

And if we don’t push back now—if we let this become the new normal—next time it won’t just be the cooks in handcuffs. It could be your barista, your babysitter, or your neighbor. It might even be you.

Call to Action

• Call your representatives. Demand accountability. Urge local governments to cut ties with ICE. Support businesses and communities targeted by these raids.

  U.S. Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121

  Sample script:
  “Hi, my name is [Your Name] and I’m calling to express my outrage at the ICE raid in South Park, San Diego. Masked federal agents deploying flashbangs at a neighborhood restaurant is not acceptable in a free society. I urge [Representative’s Name] to call for an investigation and demand oversight of these operations.”

• Support grassroots community movements that counter and report ICE tactics.

• Inform yourself and those around you. Know your rights.

• Help fund community justice and legal defense.

We don’t need stormtroopers in our neighborhoods. We need justice, dignity, and a government that protects people, not terrorizes them.

Bibliography:

1. McCaffrey, Lara. "ICE Arrests Several Workers from South Park Restaurant." KPBS, May 30, 2025.

2. Smith, Danielle. "ICE Agents Conduct Operation at Popular Italian Restaurant in South Park." NBC San Diego, May 30, 2025.

3. August, JW. "ICE Raids South Park’s Buona Forchetta, Draws Angry Crowd Outside Popular Restaurant." Times of San Diego, May 30, 2025.

4. Selyukh, Alina. "An Immigration Raid at a San Diego Restaurant Leads to a Chaotic Scene." NPR, May 31, 2025.

5. Strandberg, Kylie. "San Diego ICE Agents Conduct Investigations at Two South Park Restaurants." ABC 10News, May 30, 2025.