ICE Agents Pepper Spray Community Observers in Tucson Parking Lot

ICE agents pepper sprayed community observers in a South Tucson parking lot Monday morning, escalating a confrontation that began when volunteers blocked federal vehicles from leaving the area.

The incident unfolded around 10 am outside a Walgreens on 29th Street and South 6th Avenue, where multiple ICE vehicles had been circling the neighborhood for at least two hours, according to observer Gene Weir. When agents parked to use the store's bathroom, community members moved to prevent them from resuming enforcement operations.

"We got in their way so they couldn't leave the parking lot to continue kidnapping people," Weir said in a statement. "Then at least one agent started pepper spraying us point blank, which did not deter us."

Cellphone footage obtained by AZPM shows masked ICE agents confronting observers filming with their phones. As sirens blare and emergency lights flash from a black Dodge Durango, a masked individual approaches the group and sprays a substance directly into their eyes. The video captures agents dragging and shoving observers across the parking lot.

Despite the use of force, ICE left the scene without arresting or detaining anyone.

An AZPM reporter who arrived minutes after the encounter observed people carrying water to treat someone with bloodshot, irritated eyes. Two additional community members corroborated the sequence of events to AZPM.

ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Pattern of Escalation

The pepper spray deployment follows a pattern of increasingly aggressive tactics by ICE against observers and community members in Southern Arizona. In December, federal agents fired tear gas and pepper balls into a crowd of protesters at a Taco Giro location in Barrio Hollywood during enforcement operations at dozens of restaurants across the region.

Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva was hit by chemical agents at that December incident. "When I presented myself as a Member of Congress and asked for more information, my staff and I were pushed aside and pepper-sprayed by masked agents," Grijalva said at the time. "While I am fine, if that is the way they treat me, how are they treating other community members who do not have the same privileges and protections that I do?"

Community observers are volunteers who witness and document ICE interactions with the public. The practice has drawn intense federal pushback in recent months, particularly after ICE agents fatally shot observers Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

The use of chemical agents against unarmed civilians documenting law enforcement activity raises serious questions about ICE's rules of engagement and accountability mechanisms. Federal agents deployed pepper spray not to effect an arrest or respond to a physical threat, but apparently to clear a path for their vehicles to leave a public parking lot.

No federal oversight body was present to monitor the agents' conduct. No body camera footage will be available for review. The only documentation comes from the community members who were targeted.