• Protesters gathered outside a Columbus-area hotel to disrupt U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials staying there.
• Police were called to the Embassy Suites on Dec. 19 due to noise complaints from the demonstration.
• The protest, which included loud music, followed several days of reported ICE activity in the Columbus area.
• A hotel employee confirmed ICE officials were guests and that some other guests received refunds due to the disturbance.

Dozens of people gathered in below freezing temperatures Friday night, Dec. 19, to protest U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement officials’ presence in Columbus.

Protesters discovered where ICE officials were staying locally and showed up outside their hotel to blast music and disrupt their sleep, according to reports from social media, a witness, police and a hotel employee.

The music, mostly electronic dance music with heavy beats, began around 9 p.m. and didn’t cease for hours, said Brandon Baker, 36, who happened upon the scene after hearing and seeing activity.

He took a video and posted it on Facebook as he stood outside the Embassy Suites hotel on Corporate Exchange Drive on the Northeast Side near Westerville around 9:30 p.m.

“It’s important to recognize that Columbus is a melting pot and we’re not going to tolerate this kind of intolerance,” Baker said, of why he posted the video. He was also hoping more people might come.

In the nearly hour he was on scene, Baker said he saw approximately 50 people gathered outside grow to a group closer to 150. There were also people in parked cars honking their horns and five to seven police cars there, though he said police weren’t interacting with protesters. He also witnessed people leaving the hotel.

Columbus police said they were called around 9:20 p.m. on Dec. 19 due to noise complaints, but said there was no further information.

The protest followed several reports of increased ICE activity and arrests Dec. 17, 18 and 19 in Columbus, as well as a small group protest outside the Westerville ICE office earlier on Friday.

ICE activity continues in Columbus. Community members, leaders respond

The increased ICE activity prompted responses from city officials, advocates and more earlier in the week. The response included Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther and Columbus police Chief Elaine Bryant saying no city resources would be used to help federal agents in immigration enforcement operations.

“It was a good symbol and a good thing to see Columbus kind of fighting back against this group of indivdiuals who have pretty much taken it upon themselves to terrorize people,” Baker said of the protest. “If we’re so anti-terrorism in the United States, why are we allowing something like this to even happen?”

On Dec. 18, an ICE spokesperson said in a prepared release: “ICE officers continue to arrest criminal illegal aliens and immigration violators in the city of Columbus, across Ohio, and throughout the United States.”

“These enforcement actions are part of ongoing efforts to uphold public safety and enforce federal immigration laws,” the statement said.

Some advocates said they feared the increased activity in Columbus in the past few days – including an estimated 15 to 20 arrests each day on Dec. 17 and Dec. 18 – might be the beginning of raids in other U.S. cities. In Chicago, ICE’s “Operation Midway Blitz” ended with 1,600 to 1,900 people arrested beginning in September, according to news reports.

The hotel had to refund at least a few guests, a hotel employee said. He confirmed ICE was staying at the hotel, but emphasized they are open to the public and do not have control over who stays there.

Baker’s video pans as someone states that people are blaring music outside the hotel to keep ICE awake.

Advocates, attorneys say ICE activity escalated this week in Columbus

“Everyone was doing everything they could to make noise,” Baker said. “The idea is to play the music and stuff as loud as possible to keep them from sleeping.”

It appeared that the music was coming from a bus with speakers attached, Baker said, but people were also playing trombones and trumpets and ringing cow bells.

People Baker spoke to said they were trying to “drown” out ICE and get them to leave.

“Columbus is done with this,” Baker said.

Underserved Communities Reporter Danae King can be reached at dking@dispatch.com or on X at @DanaeKing.