Tensions in Ventura County escalated between protesters and U.S. Border Patrol agents near a farm in Camarillo Thursday afternoon.
Border patrol agents were seen standing in a skirmish line blocking a group of protesters from getting to the other side near Laguna Road. In a statement provided to CBS News, the Department of Homeland Security said that its agents were serving a warrant at a marijuana facility.
“DHS law enforcement is executing a warrant at a marijuana facility,” the statement read. “Our brave officers will continue to enforce the law.”
Michael Owen Baker / AP 
CBS News Los Angeles had a photographer nearby where agents could be heard telling protesters to back up, before they deployed what appeared to be tear gas canisters and less-than-lethal rounds into the crowd.
The Ventura County Fire Department said paramedics took four people to the hospital and treated three others at the scene.
“It is heartbreaking to see images of the farm workers who grow food and crops for not only Californians, but much of our country, as they are rounded up in these senseless militaristic raids,” said California Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, who represents the area.
After the hours-long standoff, a convoy of federal agents circumvented the protesters in the area by using a series of dirt roads near the farm. However, a handful of protesters intercepted a part of the convoy. They attempted to stop the vans from leaving and pelted some of the vehicles with rocks, shattering some windshields and windows.
“There’s a real cost to these inhumane immigration actions on hardworking families and communities, including farmworker communities, across America,” Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said in a statement. “Instead of supporting the businesses and workers that drive our economy and way of life, Stephen Miller’s tactics evoke chaos, fear and terror within our communities at every turn.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
