OAKLAND, Calif. (RNS) — For the second time in six weeks, a pastor was struck in the head with a pepper round fired by a U.S. immigration agent as faith leaders protested the Trump administration’s deportation efforts.
The pastor, the Rev. Jorge Bautista, was one of dozens of demonstrators who had gathered before sunrise Thursday (Oct. 23) at the entrance of the narrow bridge to Coast Guard Island, a military base near Oakland, where more than 100 U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents were supposed to arrive and stage that day. Organized by the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, the demonstrators crowded the intersection, peacefully blocking entry to the base, while singing anthems like “We Shall Not Be Moved” in English and Spanish.
Federal law enforcement vehicles arrived at the bridge after 7 a.m., and immigration agents began pushing their cars through and fired what were reported to be stun grenades into the crowd. Soon after, Bautista was struck in the face with a pepper round. Matthew Leber, hired as security by the interfaith group, also had his foot run over by a vehicle.
The clash comes as the Trump administration seemed to initiate its long-threatened immigration crackdown in the Bay Area, although President Trump announced that he no longer plans to “surge” federal law enforcement action in San Francisco, across the bay from Oakland. The events in Oakland echo recent confrontations in Chicago and elsewhere, as religious leaders willingly risk injury and arrest to protect migrants in their communities.
On Sept. 19, the Rev. David Black, a minister at First Presbyterian Church in Chicago, was struck by a pepper round shot from the roof of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency building in Broadview, Illinois. Black has joined others in suing Trump and other U.S. officials, alleging unlawful force against participants exercising their free speech rights.
On Oct. 9, a U.S. district court judge temporarily blocked federal agents in northern Illinois from using certain crowd-control measures against protesters. The judge has extended the order as clergy and other protesters have alleged that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials have already violated the ban.
The vigil in Oakland showed how faith organizations have developed networks to respond quickly to movements of immigration agents. After news broke on Wednesday afternoon that the crackdown had begun, the vigil came together quickly, said the Rev. Penny Nixon, a longtime United Church of Christ minister like Bautista. “In a real sense, we have been activating and training since the 2024 election.”
When federal agents began driving through the crowd, Bautista moved closer. “I found myself in front of one of the vehicles, not intending to block it, but to help calm the situation,” he said, insisting the intent of the vigil was “never to obstruct the road.”
At that moment, Bautista saw a masked agent approaching quickly, raising his weapon. “We come in peace!” he recalled saying. The agent fired a pepper round from a few feet away, hitting Bautista in the chin and coating his face and neck in orange pepper powder.
“I immediately felt burning pain,” Bautista said. “I was in shock, disoriented and terrified that I might stop breathing altogether.”
Dozens of demonstrators gathered before sunrise on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, at the entrance of the narrow bridge to Coast Guard Island, a military base near Oakland, to protest ICE and National Guard deployment in the city. Photo courtesy of Leah Martens.
Nixon and others came to his aid, applying water and a Mylanta liquid mix to soothe the burning. Bautista was taken to an emergency room and was discharged later that afternoon.
In a statement to Religion News Service, United Church of Christ General Minister the Rev. Karen Georgia A. Thompson condemned the assault on Bautista, whose congregation is affiliated with the UCC.
“The escalation of aggression against peaceful protesters is a sign of the times, another reflection of the cruelty directed at people and lack of regard this current administration has for the Constitution and the law,” Thompson said. “This is the third identified clergy to experience pepper spray in the face. No one is safe from tyranny.”
Rhina Ramos, a representative of the Northern California-Nevada Conference of the UCC, has known and worked with Bautista for years, ministering to migrants and LGBTQ+ individuals. “To watch him being attacked this morning through the news moved me to tears,” Ramos said. “He is an awesome human being and doesn’t deserve this treatment.”
At a morning press conference, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie announced that, in a call with President Trump, he had learned that the president had called off “any plans for a federal deployment in San Francisco.” Then, in a press release on Friday (Oct. 24) afternoon, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee confirmed that “Border Patrol operations are cancelled for the greater Bay Area — which includes Oakland — at this time.”
While the vigil, called Sanctuary Faith Vigil by organizers, officially ended at 10 a.m. on Thursday, other protest groups filled the intersection for the remainder of the day. The protest took another violent turn that evening, when Coast Guard personnel fired on a U-Haul driver backing up his truck toward them.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement the driver and one other civilian were injured but would survive.
Bautista, for his part, is healing but is still experiencing headaches and pain. But if there is an immigration crackdown to come, he says he and others will be there, too.
“When people see faith leaders standing in the line of fire, I hope they understand that it’s not because we seek attention or confrontation,” he said. “Our presence as pastors, rabbis, imams and lay leaders is meant to be a moral mirror. It reminds the world that this is not normal.”
Jack Jenkins contributed to this story.