Community members and elected officials spoke at what they called a vigil on Wednesday morning after a federal operation in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Homeland Security, the Drug Enforcement Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement were all at the Bro-Tex facility off Hampden Avenue on Tuesday morning to execute a search warrant for what they said was a criminal investigation.

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 cameras captured what followed: a physical confrontation between federal agents and protestors. The agents deployed a chemical irritant on the crowd and physically removed some protesters who were blocking four federal vehicles from leaving.

So far, WCCO has heard from three people who say ICE detained their loved ones on Tuesday. ICE still hasn't told us how many people they detained.

Kevin Huynh, a local activist with the immigrant's rights group MN8, says many showed up through informal word of mouth.

"There were concerned citizens who said, 'Hey, we should tell someone about this,'" Huynh said.

He says they've worked with other organizations to create a network of people trained simply to record ICE operations without getting directly involved. 

"What would you say to those who saw the images from Tuesday and might say this is a law enforcement operation, why not leave law enforcement to do their jobs?" asked WCCO reporter Conor Wight. 

"It's really important to document everything," Huynh said. "ICE really wants to operate in silence. They want to kidnap people in the middle of the night. They want to take people."

Marie Purcell, with the organization Veterans for Peace, was also at Tuesday's raid.

"I got an alert on my phone. One thing I'm really proud of our community is our ability to respond here," Purcell said. "Most of the time they're coming in and abducting our community members, and we have to stand up and say no to that."

"This fear is real"

Wednesday morning, more than 200 community members attended the vigil organized by Communities Organizing Latine Power and Action. 

Nearly 15 speakers, including state Rep. Leigh Finke and St. Paul mayor-elect Kaohly Her, discussed their concerns for what happened outside the facility.

"No matter why you are here, you have rights," Finke said. "And those rights will be protected and defended by those of us up here who have any capacity to do so."

"We need clear, timely information from federal agencies so panic doesn't take over and rumors don't spread," Her said. "When communities are kept in the dark, fear fills the gaps and uncertainty rips gaps within our city. And this fear is real."

Also on Wednesday, St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry clarified his department's involvement, or lack thereof, in the federal operation.

"We do not do anything that's solely immigration focused," Henry said. "If [ICE] said, 'Hey, we wanted an extra 10 bodies because they're doing an immigration-only detail,' we wouldn't help them."

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said its investigators, ICE agents and law enforcement partners conducted court-authorized law enforcement activity and served a search warrant.

McLister visited the federal courthouse to see if any of the search warrants were available, but they were sealed.

Bro-Tex appears to be in operation Wednesday, as trucks and employees have been going in and out all morning.