Federal agents take four into custody inside immigration court in Concord, witnesses say

CONCORD — Federal authorities took four people into custody inside an immigration courthouse building on Tuesday, according to building workers and eyewitnesses.

It was the latest action in an increasing public outcry over federal immigration and deportation policy from the Trump administration, with protests Monday in the Bay Area.

Agents representing the FBI’s San Francisco office were present at the Concord Immigration Court on Gateway Boulevard before and after noon on Thursday, witnesses said. Those same witnesses said the FBI agents identified themselves but did not give out their badge numbers and scattered when protesters approached them.

Reached Tuesday afternoon, an FBI spokesperson declined to immediately comment.

Agents who appeared to be masked but without full body armor took two people out of court about 12:15 p.m., put them in a van and drove away amid about 100 protesters shouting at them. Earlier, witnesses said, other agents who appeared to be from Immigration and Customs Enforcement took two others out of court and drove off.

It was not clear immediately where those four people were headed or why they were wanted. ICE officials could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Congressman Mark DeSaulnier, whose district includes Concord, on Tuesday afternoon condemned what he called a “targeted” operation of “individuals who were in the process of going through the proper judicial and legal immigration systems – exactly what proponents of immigration enforcement purport to advocate for.”

“This targeting has been cruel, unnecessary, at times lacking due process, and is yet another attempt by the Trump Administration to punish California over policy disagreements and to pursue a vendetta against its forward-looking, tolerant vision,” DeSaulnier said in a statement. “Californians will not back down in the face of intimidation and authoritarianism.”

Earlier in the day, around 11:30 a.m., a group of about two dozen protesters grew to about 100 by the time of the afternoon detainment. They held signs and hurled insults at agents when they came outside the building.

At one point, they surrounded a van as it exited the parking lot and shouted, “SHAAAAAME!” Later, they paraded around the entrance and exit point to the building shouting, “Hey hey, ho ho. Deportation has got to go.”

There were no injuries reported.

One attorney, who works inside the building but asked for anonymity because of their fear of retribution for speaking publicly, said Tuesday was not the first time that federal authorities and ICE agents have appeared at the building.