Video shows confrontation between apparent ICE agents and manager of Pittsburgh-area restaurant

A confrontation between apparent Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and the manager of a restaurant in Robinson Township was caught on video Monday morning. 

The owner of Central Diner and Grille told KDKA that ICE agents and the manager of the restaurant had a confrontation after the agents were denied permission to search the kitchen. 

KDKA reached out to ICE for comment but had not heard back as of Monday evening.  

Casa San José, a non-profit community resource center in Pittsburgh that advocates for Latinos, and Frontline Dignity, a Pittsburgh-based immigration rights group, received calls about the alleged raid and showed up at the restaurant. 

"Someone was pulled over by ICE on (state Route) 60, and they came into the restaurant," Frontline Dignity volunteer Sky Wells said. "They parked and ran through the restaurant. ICE chased them. The manager told them they couldn't be here."

Central Diner and Grille's owner said that the manager, who is a United States citizen, wanted agents to provide a search warrant, but the confrontation escalated and the manager was injured.

A video taken from inside the restaurant appears to show the manager pinned to the diner floor by an agent. 

"The agents had a knee on this guy," Wells said. "This guy had apparently been in the hospital with heart issues the week before. So people were really concerned about him."

The owner said workers were so shaken up that the restaurant had to close.

Frontline Dignity and Central Diner and Grille's owner said ICE searched the business, but they did not find the person they were looking for.