Demonstrators clashed with police officers outside a parking garage on the corner of Centre St. and Howard St. in Manhattan’s Chinatown on Saturday, claiming they were blocking federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents inside who were planning enforcement action.

Protesters obstructed one-way traffic with a pile of garbage on Centre St. to stop vehicles from leaving the garage. An NYPD spokesperson told Gothamist that several protestors were taken into custody.

Lee Smith said he came out to protest when he saw news reports of the incident.

‘The police were down on Canal Street,” he said in an interview at the scene. ‘We've seen quite a bit of damage, garbage cans being thrown over, planter pots being broken.”

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency did not immediat

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