In an Instagram post on Saturday, Democrat San Diego City Councilman Sean Elo-Rivera blasted ICE as “terrorists” and called for “fighting back” after an immigration raid on two locations of the popular Italian restaurant Buona Forchetta in the South Park neighborhood Friday evening. Restaurant staffers and managers were reported detained in plastic handcuffs while agents conducted the raid.
ICE agents deployed flashbang grenades after an angry mob took to the street to protest the raid and block ICE vehicles. Several restaurant workers were reported to have been arrested. There are no reports of protesters being arrested.
Video of protesters blocking an ICE vehicle resulting in flashbangs being used:
This is how it’s done!
FRIDAY: South Park, San Diego, neighbors weren’t having it. When ICE rolled up on an Italian restaurant in unmarked cars and started grabbing workers, the community hit the streets.
(Sound up) pic.twitter.com/HYMnoiD5Z2— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline) May 31, 2025
Report by KFMB-TV:
Councilman Elo-Rivera:
Look at this photo.
This isn’t a war zone—it’s a neighborhood in our city.
In San Diego, they’ve targeted parents dropping off their kids at school, people following the law inside courthouses, and workers just doing their jobs at local restaurants.
These are federal agents carrying out raids on under the false pretense of “safety.”
This isn’t safety. It’s state-sponsored terrorism.
And anyone who cares about freedom—and true safety—should be fighting back.
Screen image captured by Fox News reporter Bill Melugin in case of deletion:
NEW: San Diego Democrat city councilman @SeanEloRivera calls ICE “terrorists” in an Instagram post, alleging they are committing “state-sponsored terrorism”, & urging the public to “fight back”.
This, after @GovTimWalz & Congressman @danielsgoldman both called ICE the “Gestapo”. pic.twitter.com/taR8GT03jC
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) May 31, 2025
Elo-Rivera posted a screen image from a SanDiegoVille video posted to Instagram (which was stolen and went viral). SanDiegoVille also published an in depth report.
Agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), conducted simultaneous raids at two Buona Forchetta locations on the 3000 block of Beech Street – the main Buona Forchetta restaurant and Enoteca Buona Forchetta. According to ICE, the action was part of two “worksite enforcement operations.” The specific reason for the enforcement has not been disclosed, as the investigation remains ongoing.
Witnesses reported that agents stormed both restaurants just before 6pm, deploying flash bang grenades to disperse patrons and employees. At least a dozen heavily armed agents in camouflage uniforms, helmets, and tactical vests surrounded the restaurants and began detaining staff members. Employees were handcuffed and their identification checked on site. All employees working at the time of the raid were reportedly taken into custody.
…San Diego Police Department confirmed it was called in by HSI to assist with crowd control due to the large and emotional gathering that quickly formed outside the restaurants. SDPD stated it did not participate in the federal operation itself. No injuries have been reported.
The use of tactical force and flash bangs during dinner service at two highly visible neighborhood restaurants has sparked backlash throughout the community. Social media quickly filled with outrage and demands for transparency as videos and first-hand accounts circulated widely. Civil rights advocates and hospitality leaders are questioning the necessity and timing of such high-profile enforcement actions.
Adding to the intrigue are new community observations and speculation that raise further questions. Just one day before the raid, three marked SDPD vehicles were reportedly seen outside Matteo – a completely not-for-profit, charity-driven restaurant in South Park also owned by the Buona Forchetta group – where officers questioned staff about a tattooed male employee who had worked that day or the day prior. The visit left some patrons uneasy and is now being viewed in hindsight as potentially connected.
A Homeland Security Investigations special agent, who didn’t want to be identified, confirmed the arrests.
“We’re executing a criminal search warrant at the location that we just completed, so we’re getting out,” the agent said.
The restaurant’s assistant manager and manager declined to comment to KPBS.
Claire Cody, a worker at Buona Forchetta, said she arrived for work at 4:30 p.m. and saw vehicles and men in U.S. Homeland Security uniforms. Cody was in tears while describing the incident.
“Ten (federal agents) came into part of our restaurant. And they handcuffed my manager, saying they have a search warrant, and I just started crying because I knew what was happening,” Cody said.
Cody said “about three or four” employees were arrested by federal agents.
..At one point, a group blocked an unmarked vehicle carrying agents from leaving the intersection at 30th and Beech Streets. After activating the sirens multiple times without success, agents used what appeared to be a smoke device to disperse the crowd.
ICE statement on the raid by Yasmeen Pitts O’Keefe, Deputy Press Secretary, Southwest Team, “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can confirm that ICE San Diego conducted two worksite enforcement operations at Buona Forchetta and Enoteca Buona Forchetta Restaurants in San Diego, Ca. As this is an ongoing investigation, we have no further releasable information at this time.”
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