Tensions rise at Oswego Border patrol office: Camping protesters, weapons drawn (video)

Oswego, N.Y. - Tensions boiled over Monday morning at the border patrol office building in the city of Oswego where protesters have spent the last four days camped outside.

As agents left the Oswego Border Patrol Station in four vehicles Monday, protesters shouted at the officers, calling them Nazis and cowards for wearing masks. The protesters thought officers were moving workers detained in a raid last week.

Two officers, flanking the vehicles driving out of the property, pointed some kind of weapons at the protesters, according to videos provided to syracuse.com. Protesters shouted back that they are all unarmed.

The weapons appeared not to be firearms, but possibly non-lethal weapons used on crowds. Some protesters believed them to be paintball guns.

Border Patrol staff - only speaking through an intercom behind closed doors - refused to say what the weapons were or answer any questions from syracuse.com. They referred questions to a spokesperson who did not respond to inquiries.

“It was crazy. We didn’t know what was about to happen,” said Travis Sova, one of the organizers.

No shots were fired. But the scene reflects days of escalating hostility between activists, immigrants and local and national law enforcement in the wake of a raid in Cato on Thursday.

Federal agents, with help from Cayuga and Oswego sheriff’s offices, raided the Nutrition Bar Confectioners factory in Cayuga County.

Following the raid, agents took 69 workers from the food processing plant, enraging activists who claim the workers were denied due process. In less than 72 hours as many as a dozen of those workers were deported.

Protesters, who are now calling themselves Occupy Oswego, said they have had people at the Oswego federal building since midday Friday. They believed some of detainees from Cato may have been taken there.

On Saturday, as many as 100 people protested outside the office at 19 E. Schuyler St.

Three people working at neighboring businesses said they have never seen any sort of protest like this at the border patrol station.

On Monday, around 30 protesters were there with signs and noisemakers. Cans filled with beads, horns, sirens and even the screams of an Aztec death whistle could be heard in the otherwise peaceful neighborhood.

Some cars honked in support as they passed by. Others cursed at the protesters.

Sova said he and a few other protesters have been sleeping outside the building in tents. Their presence allowed them to note potential movement on Monday morning before the altercation.

Sova said the community support has been immense, with many stopping by for periods throughout the weekend. People have brought food, drinks, and other supplies.

Nikki Sardella, who stayed at the encampment from Friday until Monday, said she plans to wait as long as possible.

Sardella said the protest has brought purpose and invigoration to the community.

“We’re having meaningful discussions here, asking difficult questions,” she said. “Talking about our feelings, revisiting, asking each other why we are here. These are important conversations to have.”

Sardella and others said there had been relatively little going on through the weekend with a few employees coming and going providing the only real action.

She did say she had the opportunity to meet a few family members of those who have been detained who visited the station.

She gave them each a hug, she said, and promised to stay there as long as their family might still be inside.

“These are basic human rights being violated” she said. “Families being ripped apart. People can’t be silent.”

According to Sova, the encampment has been mostly dissolved as of Tuesday morning. The protesters believe the detainees potentially inside who they were waiting for were all taken in the convoy on Monday morning.

Staff writer Finn Lincoln covers breaking news, crime and public safety. He can be reached at flincoln@syracuse.com or 315-607-2986.