Four U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents ate lunch at El Tapatio, a family-owned Mexican restaurant in Willmar, Minn., on Jan. 14 and later returned after closing to detain restaurant employees, eyewitnesses, and officials say. 

Patrons and staff told reporters the presence of federal agents made employees fearful, and by 8:30 p.m., the agents reportedly followed workers after closing and detained several people near a local church and Willmar Middle School. 

The Department of Homeland Security told People in a statement that the agents that day were “conducting surveillance of a target,” and identified the target as Jose Rosario Gomez Gallardo. Officials said a vehicle stop later that evening resulted in the detention of Gallardo and two others, one of whom had a final order of removal. Locals described the scene as tense, and bystanders blew whistles and confronted agents as the arrests were made. 

The incident comes amid heightened tensions in Minnesota after two other recent violent encounters involving ICE agents in the Minneapolis area, including the fatal shooting of Renee Good and a separate shooting in North Minneapolis, which prompted local protests.

Willmar’s El Tapatio has since closed, and small businesses in the area say they’ve seen a drop in customers amid the immigration enforcement activity. Residents continue to protest in the wake of these incidents, and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has demanded that federal agents leave the city. During a press conference this week, Frey said the city had filed litigation to end ICE’s deployment.

"We cannot be at a place right now in America where we have two governmental entities that are literally fighting one another," Frey said.

In a follow-up post on social media, the city addressed ICE directly, sharing, "The City of Minneapolis again demands that ICE leave the city and state immediately. We stand by our immigrant and refugee communities — know that you have our full support."