ICE and the Monterey County Sheriff's Office are publicly disputing whether two people were released from the county jail during the lockdown on Tuesday, Oct. 27, in Salinas.
ICE said two people it sought were "reportedly released from custody," according to KSBW. The agency did not specify when they were released.
The Sheriff's Office directly contradicted that account. It said no inmates were released during the lockdown and confirmed that no individuals scheduled for release were affected, KSBW reported.
The conflicting accounts follow the Oct. 27 lockdown, when the Monterey County Jail suspended operations for about three hours after ICE agents and protesters gathered outside the facility. The Sheriff's Office said it initiated the lockdown over safety concerns, as we reported Oct. 28.
The lockdown temporarily suspended new bookings and inmate releases, the Sheriff's Office said.
ICE said it was conducting a targeted operation involving people with prior arrests for DUI, drug offenses and providing false identification. The agency described the people it sought as "criminal illegal aliens" and accused the jail of "harboring" them from federal law enforcement, according to KSBW.
In a social media post, ICE wrote that "a law enforcement facility is siding with CRIMINALS instead of cooperating with federal law enforcement," KSBW reported.
The accounts conflict on a central point. ICE's claim that two people were released does not specify whether that happened before, during or after the lockdown. The Sheriff's Office maintains no one left the jail while the lockdown was in effect.
Undersheriff John Rosas said another lockdown is possible.
"If ICE agents return, another lockdown may be activated," Rosas said, according to KSBW. He said the Sheriff's Office would evaluate each situation individually to ensure the safety of jail staff, the incarcerated population and anyone in or around the facility.
By Wednesday, yellow caution tape had been put up, essentially blocking the area where ICE agents had been stationed and where protesters later confronted them. The scene outside the jail was much quieter, with no ICE agents or protesters present and only a few observers remaining, KSBW reported.
