Federal authorities deployed flashbang devices and pepper-sprayed those who refused to allow police cars to depart.

The incident began around 7:30 a.m., when federal authorities attempted to detain a man in a busy neighborhood of South Burlington, according to local and State Police. The man fled in a car and struck several other vehicles — including two operated by ICE officials who were attempting to box him into a parking lot, police said. The man was seen entering a nearby house.

Migrant Justice, a Vermont-based activist group, activated its rapid response network, prompting supporters to arrive at the house and block its doors so that authorities could not enter. As a dozen masked ICE officers stood sentry, more activists joined the scene throughout the day — chanting, singing and, at times, hurling insults at authorities.

Police shut down traffic for several blocks around the house, which is located between a middle school and a shopping center, not far from Interstate 89.

Grace Oedel, a nonprofit executive and rabbi, was among those leading the crowd in song. In an interview, she compared ICE’s actions to those that took place in Nazi Germany, where relatives of hers were killed.

“This is completely, clearly immoral, abjectly racist, dehumanizing policy,” she said. “And it is our human duty to stand for our neighbors and make sure everyone and everyone’s children are safe.”

At times during the day, the protest took on a carnival-like atmosphere. Rae Beecher, a South Burlington resident, carried over a charcoal grill and set it up outside the house to cook hotdogs.

“I am here as a person who abhors what is going on here and also fights for the freedom of eating, as well,” Beecher said, rotating hotdogs with grilling utensils. “I feel like my duty as a neighbor is to make sure that everybody is fed in every circumstance.”

But the mood turned darker around 5 p.m., when a law enforcement official in an unmarked vehicle pulled up in front of the house and announced to the crowd that a federal judge had issued a criminal arrest warrant for the person they believed was inside.

Dozens more federal, state and local police officers arrived — many in tactical gear, holding rifles aloft — and pushed their way through the crowd, entering the house with the help of a battering ram. Officers shoved several people to the ground.

“ICE, out! ICE, out!” protesters chanted.

Nearly half an hour later, police escorted two women and a man from the house to an unmarked SUV, but it remained trapped at the scene as protesters lined the street on either side. Some threw dirt, banana peels and water bottles at the cars. Officers donned respirators and fired pepper spray projectiles. Some police vehicles escaped by crossing the median and speeding away before protesters could stop them.

Four members of the crowd were detained by local and state law enforcement and quickly released, according to South Burlington Police Chief Bill Breault.

The fate of those inside the house was unclear. ICE did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

According to Seven Days, a Burlington newspaper, the warrant was issued for Deyvi Daniel Corona-Sanchez, a Mexican man who faced previous charges for criminal trespass and driving under the influence. It was not clear whether Corona-Sanchez was among the three occupants of the house.

At a press conference Wednesday night at South Burlington City Hall, local and state police sought to distance themselves from the actions of their federal counterparts. They said their departments had complied with state policies limiting cooperation with federal authorities on immigration matters — and were focused on keeping protesters and officers safe.

Breault criticized what he called “poor decision-making and planning” by federal authorities — citing their decision to apprehend someone in a busy neighborhood as children were heading to school.

“That would not have been how I would have done it,” he said. “I will be clear about that.”

Paul Heintz can be reached at paul.heintz@globe.com. Follow him on X @paulheintz.

Law enforcement agents have assembled outside a South Burlington building in search of a suspect who fled an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation this morning that led to a multi-vehicle accident on a busy road.

Roughly 100 protesters amassed at the Dorset Street scene, as federal law enforcement await a criminal arrest warrant for the suspect, according to South Burlington police.

South Burlington police said they were not made aware of the initial ICE operation, but are now on the scene to both protect federal agents and “take all necessary steps to ensure that the public can protest peacefully.”

By 1 p.m. roughly 14 ICE agents were outside the small, white clapboard building. A growing crowd of protesters linked arms and formed a human chain around the building. People blew whistles, chanted “ICE out,” and in some cases directly confronted the ICE officers telling them to “get off the property.” Police blocked off a stretch of Dorset Street, and Vermont State Police arrived on the scene.

The incident in Vermont’s second largest city started when ICE agents sought to arrest a man related to an immigration administrative warrant.

Around 7:30 a.m., South Burlington police say they received a 911 call about a crash involving multiple vehicles on Dorset Street.

Officers found an unoccupied vehicle with “extensive damage,” in the northbound lane, a second damaged vehicle in the southbound lane, and two damaged vehicles in the parking lot of a nearby apartment complex.

ICE agents attempted to arrest a person “associated” with a Dorset Street building near the scene, police said, when the person drove off. ICE agents attempted to box in the vehicle, resulting in damage to several ICE vehicles, police said.

As the vehicle fled, it collided with another vehicle. The suspect then abandoned their car in the northbound lane and ran away.

Migrant Justice activists said they received a call to their emergency line this morning about a family who was the subject of an ICE enforcement action. The group spread the word and encouraged others to show up at the Dorset Street building. 

Derek Brouwer

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“At the end of the day, they’re terrorizing a family, terrorizing, you know, neighbors and so you know, we’ll remain here,” Migrant Justice organizer Abel Luna said. Luna added that people were prepared to intervene if agents attempted to enter without a warrant. “I think people are willing to, you know, even do civil disobedience and stuff like that, in support of the family and to ensure that everyone is safe and the family remains together.”

Barbara Prine of Vermont Legal Aid was on scene Wednesday morning. The organization runs a program that helps undocumented parents make legal plans for guardianship of their children with the ultimate goal of reunification. Prine told Vermont Public she’d been told that a child inside the Dorset Street building is in that program.

South Burlington police emphasized that ICE had not notified them of their operation until the crash investigation.

“However, the South Burlington Police Department has the responsibility to ensure the safety of all and will take appropriate action if agents are assaulted,” police said in a press release. “Additionally, the department will take all necessary steps to ensure that the public can protest peacefully, while also maintaining the private property rights of residents.”

The incident occurred on one of the busier roadways in Vermont. University Mall and several other shopping centers and residential complexes are within blocks of the scene, as is South Burlington High School and Frederick H. Tuttle Middle School.

South Burlington School Superintendent Joe Clark wrote to families early this afternoon that “at this time, our schools are safe, and we are continuing to monitor the situation closely.”

This story will be updated.

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