- Law enforcement opened fire on a U-Haul that allegedly rammed protesters at a Coast Guard base entrance, wounding two bystanders and triggering an FBI probe.
- Demonstrations against a planned ICE/CBP deployment intensified across the Bay Area; Trump later called off the San Francisco surge amid local pushback.
ALAMEDA, Calif. — What started as a day of tense but mostly peaceful demonstrations against a looming federal immigration crackdown turned violent Thursday night when law enforcement officers unleashed a barrage of gunfire on a U-Haul truck barreling toward them outside a Coast Guard base.
The dramatic scene, captured on video by news crews and witnesses, capped hours of standoffs between protesters and federal agents, leaving two bystanders hospitalized with gunshot wounds and an FBI investigation in its wake.
The incident unfolded around 10 p.m. at the entrance to Coast Guard Island, an artificial outpost straddling the Oakland Estuary between Oakland and Alameda.
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Protesters had gathered there early Thursday morning, waving signs reading “No ICE Troops in the Bay!” and “Oakland Stands United Against Hate” as they tried to block vehicles from accessing the base.
The site had been designated as a staging area for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arriving for what President Donald Trump described as a “surge” in immigration enforcement across the San Francisco Bay Area.
Details of the Incident Leading to the Shooting
According to a statement from the Coast Guard, security personnel spotted the white U-Haul driving erratically and attempting to back into the base’s perimeter.
“Coast Guard personnel issued multiple verbal commands to stop the vehicle, the driver failed to comply and proceeded to put the vehicle in reverse,” the statement read.
“When the vehicle’s actions posed a direct threat to the safety of Coast Guard and security personnel, law enforcement officers discharged several rounds of live fire.”
Eyewitness Rick Villaroman, a photographer for CBS affiliate KPIX who was covering the lingering protest, described the chaos in stark terms.
“He just hit the gas and sped towards them. And that’s when they opened fire. About 20 to 30 rounds,” Villaroman told reporters on the scene.
The truck, which witnesses said had been spotted parked near the protests earlier in the day, struck two bystanders before reversing toward the line of officers.
Villaroman later inspected the abandoned vehicle after the driver fled, returned on foot, parked it down the street, and walked away.
“I saw bullet holes but no traces of blood,” he added. Authorities confirmed Friday morning that two men had arrived at local hospitals with gunshot wounds, though details on their conditions remain unclear.
No Coast Guard personnel were injured, and the FBI has taken the lead on the probe, coordinating with local agencies like the Oakland Police Department and California Highway Patrol (CHP).
The driver has not been publicly identified or apprehended as of Friday afternoon.
Protestors Fight Back
The shooting came after a grueling day of demonstrations that drew up to 200 people from across the Bay Area.
Protesters, many marching from a rally in Oakland’s Fruitvale District, sat in the road and formed human chains to obstruct the sole bridge access to the island.
Federal agents, including CBP personnel in unmarked vehicles, pushed through the crowd early in the day, prompting clashes that saw CHP officers in riot gear deploy flash-bang grenades.
Two protesters were hurt—one with a foot run over by a vehicle and another struck by shrapnel from a flash bang.
Pastor Jorge Bautista of Oakland’s United Church of Christ, who was among those hit, recounted the moment with raw frustration.
“The blood is from whatever I was shot with. I came to say we’re here in peace, they didn’t care,” Bautista said, his voice steady but edged with disbelief.
Jennifer Martinez, an East Oakland resident and protester, echoed the sentiment, noting how the U-Haul “just kind of came out of nowhere, backing up into the barrier” amid the dispersing crowd.
The protests were a direct response to Trump’s aggressive push on immigration, which has seen federal agents ramp up operations in sanctuary cities like San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose.
Over the summer, ICE and CBP had already intensified enforcement in Northern California, dismissing asylum cases for undocumented immigrants and making arrests outside courthouses.
Bay Area Deployment Gets Called Off
The Bay Area deployment, announced Wednesday, was meant to target what Trump called urban “havens for crime,” though local leaders dismissed it as political theater.
In a surprise twist, Trump called off the San Francisco portion of the operation late Thursday via a Truth Social post, crediting pleas from Mayor Daniel Lurie and tech executives like Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and Salesforce’s Marc Benioff.
“I spoke to Mayor Lurie last night and he asked, very nicely, that I give him a chance to see if he can turn it a round,” Trump wrote.
“Great people like Jensen Huang, Marc Benioff, and others have called saying that the future of San Francisco is great. They want to give it a ‘shot.’ Therefore, we will not surge San Francisco on Saturday. Stay tuned!”
Speculation has surfaced that tech leaders may pull the plug on deals if California gets messier.
Lurie hailed the reversal in a statement, saying Trump had “told me clearly that he was calling off any plans for a federal deployment in San Francisco.”
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem confirmed the directive.
But it’s unclear if the pause extends to Oakland or other East Bay spots, where protests continued into the evening.
Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, speaking at a news conference, reaffirmed her city’s stance, stating, “Oakland is and will continue to be a welcoming city for our immigrants and refugees, and our laws and values reflect that.
The Oakland Police Department does not and will not assist with immigration and customs enforcement.”
ICE Tensions Are Rising
The day’s events fit into a broader pattern of escalating tensions nationwide.
In Chicago last month, Border Patrol agents shot a woman during a Southwest Side protest, sparking hours of clashes and drawing sharp criticism from local aldermen who accused federal forces of “pure escalation.”
Elizabeth Ruiz, whose son was detained nearby, pleaded, “Why would they take him? He was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Similar scenes played out in Los Angeles, where CBP agents led recent crackdowns, prompting California Gov. Gavin Newsom to label the tactics an “authoritarian playbook” aimed at provoking chaos to justify National Guard deployments.
Back in the Bay Area, organizers framed Thursday’s action as a win despite the violence.
“The operation being called off is being hailed as a victory by some, while others say they still have fears over the federal government’s immigration enforcement,” ABC7 reported, noting that rallies were still planned Friday in San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose.
Tasha, an Oakland protester not affiliated with any group, summed up the resolve, stating, “I’m here to let ICE know they’re not welcome and that we will resist using a small fraction of the resistance; we will not stop, this is unconstitutional.”
Users on social media are saying the actions of Trump’s aggressive immigration policies have led more and more Americans to educate themselves on their rights.
As investigators comb the scene—where a small fire still smoldered in a trash can filled with discarded protest signs—the Bay Area braces for what comes next.
With federal agents already on the ground and Trump’s “stay tuned” hanging in the air, the fragile truce feels anything but permanent.
For families like those of the injured bystanders, or the protesters nursing flash-bang wounds, the message is clear: the fight over America’s borders is hitting home, one erratic truck at a time.
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