Officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reportedly arrested one person in State College on Saturday at a construction site and later drove to the State College Police Department's parking lot, but borough officials say they weren't involved in the operation.
State College resident Jared said he saw the arrest, and only shared his first name in fear of retaliation.
“I was coming back from grabbing breakfast pretty early on Saturday morning and saw four armed ICE officers detaining two gentlemen sitting on the sidewalk," Jared said.
Jared said this happened at a construction site near Allen Street and Easterly Parkway, and that the officers had unmarked vehicles.
He immediately contacted the Centre County Rapid Response Coalition, and said other people arrived within minutes to record the officers and to ask for their identification.
“All the ICE officers put on handkerchiefs and masked their faces," Jared said. "They stopped talking to each other and to the two gentlemen they were detaining. They ended up arresting one and putting them in their car.”
Jared said the ICE officers released the other person, but he doesn’t know why. ICE did not immediately respond to a request for more information.
After the arrest, the Centre County Rapid Response Coalition said ICE officers drove to the State College Police Department’s parking lot for assistance. In one video posted to social media, a person is recording as they walk up to one of the unmarked ICE vehicles there.
The person recording yells, "ICE is here! ICE is here!” and then says, "Did you see that? He just threatened me!" It’s hard to see through the tinted window, but the officer quickly points something toward the person with the camera before driving off.
When asked for comment, State College police referred the question to the borough. A borough spokesman said they’re aware of the ICE arrest and that ICE agents did go to the parking lot for the Municipal Building, which houses the police department, but the borough and State College Police had no involvement in the operation.
