Federal authorities on Tuesday clashed with protesters outside of a business in St. Paul, Minnesota, leaving several people injured.

It started around 10 a.m. outside Bro-Tex, Inc., located in an industrial park off Hampden Avenue, a couple of blocks north of University Avenue West.

Convinced it was an immigration raid, residents responded to a call to action put out by a community network designed, according to protesters at the scene, to protect immigrants.

"These people are not criminals," said a woman named Angelica. "They are working here, clearly."

Angelica said her friend's dad, who is originally from Mexico and now lives in St. Paul, works at Bro-Tex. She said she couldn't get a hold of him after the dust settled.

"Her dad texted her that ICE was here taking them. They stayed in communication for a little bit, but he lost his phone and I don't know what else happened," Angelica said.

After about an hour, many in the crowd walked through the police tape and attempted to stop federal law enforcement from leaving with people they believed were detained inside.

WCCO

WCCO cameras captured a physical confrontation between federal agents, some of them wearing FBI and DEA regalia, and protesters. Agents deployed a chemical irritant on the crowd, and physically removed some community members who were blocking four federal vehicles from leaving.

Fellow protesters helped Angela Deeb after an agent sprayed an irritant at her in front of WCCO cameras.

"Physically, my body hurt, but then of course our hearts hurt today," Deeb said.

Alejandra Villagrana says her dad was one of the people taken into custody by ICE agents.

"I heard maybe it was 15 people. My uncle was also one of the ones that were taken," she said. "It was super emotional. I was crying the whole time because I just couldn't believe it."

Villagrana says her dad is originally from Mexico and was working with a lawyer to obtain legal status.

"He works two jobs to be able to provide for me and my brother, my mom," she said.

Villagrana's family is still trying to find out where her father and uncle are being held.

ICE released a statement regarding the operation on Tuesday afternoon: "Today in St. Paul, ICE, HSI and law enforcement partners conducted court authorized law enforcement activity and served a search warrant in furtherance of a federal criminal investigation. There is no threat to public safety, and the investigation remains ongoing at this time."

The St. Paul Police Department told WCCO it was informed in the morning of a "search warrant that was going to be executed in relation to a criminal investigation into a business."

It's unclear if anyone was detained in connection to immigration, but it's notable that members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration were also involved in the ICE-led operation.

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said he was at the scene and was "in close communication" with the city's attorney's office and police department.

"Though we don't have many details right now, I share the concern and fear this raises for our workers, families, and entire community," he wrote in a Facebook post.

Immigration advocates plan on holding a rally outside the business on Wednesday morning.

On June 3, a similar situation unfolded on East Lake Street in Minneapolis when community members clashed with federal agents involved in a drug and money laundering bust at a business.

In late October, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem came to Minneapolis to provide what she described as an update on ICE operations in the Twin Cities region. Noem claimed that federal agents had arrested more than 4,300 people in the metro area by that point in the year, claiming 3,316 had a criminal history.

Just last week, a teenager in Northfield, Minnesota, captured video of ICE agents detaining his father. In a statement, the agency told WCCO there was an active warrant for the man and that he "endangered the lives of officers, passengers, and bystanders" during the arrest, but the man's legal representation disputed that.

In a recent 60 Minutes interview with Nora O'Donnell, President Trump said he believed ICE raids "haven't gone far enough" when asked about footage of ICE detaining legal American citizens, teargassing a Chicago residential neighborhood and smashing a car window.