An ICE agent sprayed observers at the Santa Barbara County Jail early this Tuesday morning. The observers were present to witness ICE agents taking custody of released prisoners. One of the observers notified the county supervisors during the supervisors’ meeting that she and her cohorts had been pushed, shoved, and violently treated by ICE agents. She told the supervisors they had not confronted the agents, gotten in their face, or intruded in their space. A brief snippet of video released by one of the protesters showed one of them getting sprayed without any apparent provocation. ⁠
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According to the observer addressing the supervisors, sheriff’s deputies were asked to offer some protection; they reportedly declined, replying only that they were not cooperating with ICE. According to another observer, they asked the deputies to take an incident report. That request was reportedly declined. ⁠
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📸: Courtesy