A professor from California has been taken into custody for reportedly throwing a tear gas canister at ICE agents during a large-scale raid on a cannabis farm last week. During the raid, individuals also threw rocks at law enforcement vehicles. This operation resulted in the arrest of over 350 undocumented individuals, and the farm is believed to have involved 14 children in suspected forced labor, exploitation, and trafficking violations.
Jonathan Anthony Caravello, a mathematics professor at California State University Channel Islands, was apprehended by federal agents at Glass House Farms in Ventura County, California, on Thursday. This arrest was confirmed by U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, Bill Essayli, through a post on X.
Essayli was reacting to a local news report about Caravello’s arrest. The report included a social media statement from the California Faculty Association (CFA) labor union, which accused the agents of “kidnapping” Caravello.
California professor Jonathan Anthony Caravello, right, has been arrested for allegedly throwing a tear gas canister at ICE agents during a massive raid at cannabis farm last week. Immigration agents clash with protesters during the raid, left. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker; California State University Channel Islands)
Caravello was seen on bodycam footage attempting to kick a canister, then picking it up and throwing it overhand back at agents, according to a federal affidavit cited by Ojai Valley News,
The affidavit states Caravello resisted arrest by refusing to comply with commands, kicking his legs and attempting to grab a Border Patrol agent’s leg during the takedown. He’s also accused of using a megaphone with siren sounds to disrupt officers.
Caravello left the scene after the canister incident and returned two hours later in different clothes where he was identified as the alleged canister thrower and arrested.
WATCH: Over 360 illegal migrants arrested in massive ICE raid at California pot farm
California State University Channel Islands released a statement in support of Caravello.
“At this time, it is our understanding that Professor Caravello was peacefully participating in a protest—an act protected under the First Amendment and a right guaranteed to all Americans,” the university wrote. “If confirmed, we stand with elected officials and community leaders calling for his immediate release.”
As the raid was taking place, violent clashes erupted between ICE agents and around 500 protesters, some of whom waved Mexican flags. Federal law enforcement agents were assaulted during the operation and one agitator appeared to fire a handgun towards agents as the crowd was dispersed with tear gas.
Authorities used tear gas against protesters who converged at the California marijuana farm amid an immigration raid on Thursday. (KABC LA)
The raid is believed to be the second-largest single-state ICE worksite operation in history, behind the first Trump administration’s 2019 Mississippi chicken plant raids that netted almost 700 illegal alien arrests.
One man taken into custody has a history of violent crime, including attempted child exploitation.
Fox News has learned that the children rescued at the farm are from Mexico and Honduras, and that immigration authorities are analyzing the criminal histories of all 319 of the detained illegal aliens.
