Overview
- A crowd formed outside a federally owned garage at Centre and Howard Streets after word spread that masked federal agents were preparing an operation linked to Canal Street vendors.
- NYPD officers moved in to clear exits, deploying pepper spray and arresting more than a dozen people, according to local reporting, with the department citing refusals to disperse and debris thrown.
- Videos and on-scene accounts showed protesters creating barricades with cones, trash cans, and planters and at times chasing departing federal vehicles.
- City Councilmember Christopher Marte accused police of facilitating ICE activity, while the NYPD denied any coordination and said it does not conduct civil immigration enforcement.
- The standoff followed an Oct. 21 immigration enforcement action on Canal Street that resulted in nine vendor arrests, and federal authorities have not clarified whether Saturday’s operation was postponed or canceled.