Updated at 9:48 p.m.

An all-day standoff between federal immigration authorities and protesters trying to block agents from entering a South Burlington home erupted into chaos on Wednesday evening as agents forced their way through the screaming crowd, broke down the door and detained three people who were inside.

Two women and a man were taken into federal custody around 5:30 p.m. as hundreds of onlookers outside the Dorset Street home yelled and blew whistles, then surrounded the agents’ vehicles for more than an hour, preventing them from leaving.

As dusk fell and one of the last cars prepared to pull away around 7 p.m., heavily armed law enforcement agents swept in, threw flash-bang devices and shot pepper balls at protesters, some of whom had sat down in a line in front of the vehicle. Someone smashed its back window as it drove away.

“Who do you protect? Who do you serve?” the demonstrators chanted at law enforcement several times throughout the day.

Several protesters were arrested and others injured during the hourslong confrontation, including at least one young woman who was carried off by ambulance. Many had pepper spray flushed out of their eyes by citizen medics in the crowd.

South Burlington police shut down a portion of busy Dorset Street, not far from the city’s commercial district and a half-mile from its high school, for much of the afternoon and into the evening. Dozens of law enforcement officers responded from the Burlington Police Department, the Vermont State Police, Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“We the people are here to protect ourselves, to keep our community safe, and to stand in solidarity with each other,” Rachel Elliott, a member of advocacy group Migrant Justice, said to the crowd through a bullhorn as people began to disperse for the evening. Elliott encouraged them to contact Gov. Phil Scott and Col. Matt Birmingham, head of Vermont State Police, to find out why troopers had aided immigration agents in forcefully moving protesters.

A Border Patrol agent arriving at the scene Credit: Sasha Goldstein

The incident began when immigration agents tried to detain an undocumented Mexican man, according to an arrest warrant filed in federal court on Wednesday. Deyvi Daniel Corona-Sanchez had been charged with criminal trespass in Texas five years ago and got deported months later. He’s facing a pending driving-under-the-influence charge from January in Middlebury, according to the affidavit.

Colton Riley, an ICE deportation officer based in St. Albans, wrote that he was “conducting surveillance” on a Dorset Street home around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday when he saw two men get into a Toyota Camry.

Suspecting the driver was Corona-Sanchez, Riley followed and attempted to stop the vehicle as it headed into a parking lot. When another ICE officer positioned a vehicle to block the Camry, the driver rammed the officer’s car head-on, according to the agent’s affidavit.

Protesters lining up to help a child leave the home Credit: Sasha Goldstein

The Camry then hit a parked vehicle and headed through a wooded area by the South Burlington High School and back onto Dorset Street, where it crashed again. Its two occupants ran into a house at 337 Dorset Street, and agents surrounded it.

Andrew Schumer, a neighbor, noticed the agents outside the home.

“When I saw what looked like officers with masks on, I knew immediately who they were,” Schumer said. His partner reported the ICE activity to a hotline run by Migrant Justice, Schumer said. The organization sent out alerts to its network, prompting the rapid response by dozens of people. Some carried signs or brought guitars and food. They sang folk songs of peace and chanted “ICE — ya basta! La migra — ya basta!” meaning “enough is enough.”

As the day wore on, the demonstration turned into a tense wait to see whether agents would return with a judicial warrant granting them permission to enter the home.

At about 1:40 p.m., demonstrators linked arms and formed a tunnel from the home’s front door to a waiting car so that a 3-year-old child inside the home could be ferried away. She was carried out covered by a blanket and strapped into a car seat before being taken from the scene with an administrator from the South Burlington School District.

A child carried from the house under a blanket Credit: Lucy Tompkins

As the day progressed, the group grew larger. People brought pizzas and coffee; someone lit a grill and cooked hot dogs. They donned ponchos and trash bags and distributed umbrellas as it started to rain. Some attempted to barricade the front and back doors to prevent agents from getting inside.

Around 2:30 p.m., Vermont State Police warned protesters to move away from the house, saying that a federal criminal warrant had been signed. Troopers were prepared to help remove the demonstrators so immigration agents could get into the home.

“At some point there may be force,” Lt. Cory Lozier, the Williston Barracks station commander, said. “I’m just giving you a very big heads up.”

The protesters said they would stand their ground.

“I’m here to protect children and people that have every right to be here,” said Lazuli Vacherot, who lives in Burlington and said she was prepared to be arrested to defend her neighbors. “I think we need to come together more in support as a community. I’m ready and willing to put myself in front to protect anyone.”

Jeremy Smith, an after-school teacher in Burlington, said the size of the crowd indicated that locals have been preparing for a greater ICE presence in Vermont.

“We are getting better organized. People are learning what to do and how to quickly communicate with each other,” Smith said. “I think ICE will continue to meet more and more crowds opposing them as we get more and more organized, which is inevitable.”

Several state lawmakers showed up at the scene, including Rep. Kate Logan (P/D-Burlington), Rep. Chloe Tomlinson (P/D-Winooski), Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale (D-Chittenden-Southeast), Sen. Thomas Chittenden (D-Chittenden-Southeast) and Sen. Tanya Vyhovsky (P/D-Chittenden-Central).

An ICE agent on scene Wednesday Credit: Sasha Goldstein

At about 5 p.m. an ICE agent showed up holding the paper warrant. Shortly afterward, dozens of ICE agents and Vermont State Police officers showed up in tactical gear: helmets, vests, goggles and visors. They carried firearms.

State police officers led the way through the crowd, forcibly pushing aside protesters who remained in front of the house. ICE agents followed, breaking in the door and entering the home. About 20 minutes later, they brought out three people, none of whom have been publicly identified or accused of a crime. That’s when the crowd blocked the vehicles from leaving, leading to arrests and violent clashes.

Later Wednesday night, Vermont State Police said in a statement that troopers had been there to ensure “the public’s right to protest peacefully is protected, and also to safeguard law-enforcement agents who are carrying out lawful duties.” While the agency wasn’t involved in enforcing civil immigration law, the statement said, “state and local police are authorized to provide assistance with criminal matters and in dealing with instances of public and officer safety.”

Police said more information would be released later about arrests of protesters, none of whom remained in custody.

“No state or local police deployed any chemical agents, less-lethal munitions or ‘flash-bang’-type devices at any point during the incident,” state police said.

An ICE spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

An ICE vehicle outside the home on Dorset Street Credit: Sasha Goldstein