The FBI is investigating a shooting that 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. It’s unclear if anyone was wounded.
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.
A pro-Trump X account asked whether Gov. 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.
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.
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.
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 apparent 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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