A California professor has been accused of hurling tear gas at ICE agents during a tumultuous raid on a cannabis farm last week.
Jonathan Anthony Caravello was arrested on Thursday, with Bill Essayli, the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, alleging on social media that he threw a tear gas canister at law enforcement officers at Glass House Farms in Ventura County.
Essayli also refuted the California Faculty Association’s prior statements that Caravello, a math and philosophy instructor at California State University Channel Islands, was ‘kidnapped’ by federal agents.
Rather, a criminal complaint obtained by the Ojai Valley News claims that after agents deployed tear gas canisters, Caravello was captured on body camera footage ‘attempt[ing] to kick the canister,’ which then rolled past him.
‘Caravello turned around, ran towards the canister, picked it up and threw the canister overhand back at [Border Patrol] agents,’ an affidavit says, adding that it ‘came within approximately several feet above law enforcements’ heads.’
In the aftermath, Caravello allegedly left the scene – only to return a few hours later wearing different clothes, according to the affidavit.
It also claims that Caravello was seen ‘holding a microphone’ at the cannabis farm when Border Patrol agents ‘attempted to clear a safe pathway’ between the protesters and government-owned vehicles attempting to leave.
He was arrested just before 6pm, according to the criminal complaint, which states that agents placed the professor on his stomach on the ground and gave him ‘verbal commands… but Caravello would not comply and attempted to grab a [Border Patrol] agent’s leg.
Jonathan Anthony Caravello, a California professor, has been accused of hurling tear gas at ICE agents during a tumultuous raid on a nearby cannabis farm last week
Federal agents blocked a road leading to the farm where ICE conducted an operation in Camarillo, California last Thursday, as tear gas was used to disperse protesters
‘Caravello continuously kicked his legs and refused to give the BP agents his arms,’ the complaint alleges.
Witnesses at the scene, though, offered a different version of events.
They claimed the professor was attempting to dislodge a tear gas cannister that became stuck underneath another protester’s wheelchair when he was arrested, ABC 7 reports.
Angelmarie Taylor, 24, also told the Los Angeles Times she saw agents fire tear gas after Caravello and others refused to move out of the way of agents’ vehicles.
At that point, four masked agents took Caravello from the protest site and placed him in an unmarked vehicle without identifying themselves, stating a reason for his arrest or disclosing where they were taking him, the California Faculty Association claimed.
‘They didn’t give us a dispersal order,’ Taylor recounted. ‘They didn’t say anything.’
In a statement, California State University Channel Islands said it is working to get ‘additional information to fully understand the circumstances of the incident.’
‘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 said.
‘If confirmed, we stand with elected officials and community leaders calling for his immediate release.’
A criminal complaint asserts that Caravello, a math and philosophy lecturer, threw a canister of tear gas back at Border Patrol agents, narrowly missing their heads
Witnesses have instead claimed he was trying to move a canister that got stuck under a protester’s wheelchair at the scene (pictured)
Federal authorities also claim Caravello was among the protesters who refused to move for government-owned vehicles trying to leave the scene of Glass House Farms
Members of the California Faculty Association and VC Defensa, an immigration rights group, then hosted a rally demanding the release of at least 12 Ventura County residents – including Caravello – on Sunday.
‘As part of our union’s antiracism and social justice agenda, we show up for our immigrant communities, including faculty and students engaged in efforts to stop and protect our communities from the invasion of ICE, [Department of Homeland Security], National Guard and local law enforcement,’ the California Faculty Association said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the group also spoke up about Caravello’s detention in remarks to the Coyote Chronicle.
‘This was not just an arrest – it was a disappearance,’ the spokesperson said.
‘Dr. Caravello is a US citizen, a public servant and an advocate for justice. His abduction is part of a deeply alarming trend of silencing dissent and criminalizing compassion.’
VC Defensa also shared a message on Instagram asserting that Caravello was ‘defending the immigrant community and supporting other people who come to show their support.
‘Let’s be critical before sharing news that he was “violent,”‘ the immigrant rights group urged. ‘We have so many witnesses that know he was attacked by ICE and assaulted for no reason other than he was in the crowd that stood against ICE.
‘This is an egregious lie by the ruling class (as always!!),’ it claimed.
Caravello was ultimately released on a $15,000 bail on Monday
Members of the California Faculty Association and VC Defensa, an immigration rights group, hosted a rally demanding the release of at least 12 Ventura County residents – including Caravello – on Sunday
Still, Caravello is now facing federal charges of ‘assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers or employees,’ which can carry up to 10 years in prison if the offense involves a weapon or causes injury.
He was released on a $15,000 bail on Monday, with an arraignment set for August 1.
Meanwhile, Democrats have spoken out against the ICE raid at the cannabis farm, as they insisted the migrants agents were after were just children picking strawberries.
Ventura County Democratic Party Chair Steve Auclair called the raid ‘a military attack on our community,’ Auclair said.
‘First they came for the farmworkers. Now they’re coming for all of us,’ he declared.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom even declared that President Donald Trump is ‘the real scum’ for conducting the nationwide ICE raids.
