According to recent reports, a group of anti-ICE protestors heckled three TSA air marshals at a Los Angeles-area restaurant, as they mistook the officers for ICE agents. The officers were having dinner at Ten-Raku, a Korean BBQ restaurant in the Plaza Mexico shopping center in Lynwood, on Wednesday when the incident occurred.
According to one of the protest organizers, the group believed the TSA agents were “potentially” ICE employees. Then, she followed a Fox 11 reporter inside the restaurant and asked workers not to speak with him. “Yeah, sorry to you. Nobody’s going to talk to you,” she said.
The situation got so intense that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was called to the scene to restore control. Then, the TSA agents were safely escorted out of the restaurant. At the end, no one was harmed or arrested.
Rabid Responders interrupt a couple’s dinner to accuse them of being ICE full harassment mode.
Vile. Insane. Zero brain cells.
Bet they wouldn’t dare try that in Texas or Florida one yell and they’d be eating pavement. pic.twitter.com/yih8o3Fczk
— Kim “Katie” USA (@KimKatieUSA) January 29, 2026
Later, the sheriff’s department told Fox News Digital, “Deputies responded to ensure public safety, de-escalated the situation, and facilitated a safe resolution without incident.” The TSA agents, who don’t participate in any civil immigration enforcement activities, were then seen speaking with sheriff’s deputies outside the restaurant, as demonstrators continued to shout. One woman was heard shouting, “F—– goofys.”
A customer who was also having dinner at the same restaurant later told the local media outlet that the entire immigration crackdown is “emotional” but that “there is a place and time for everything.”
“It happens! You take it out on the wrong people, which, same thing as ICE. They say they’re after criminals, but they’re taking it out on everybody,” said the man.
LATEST: TSA workers eating dinner were mistaken for ICE agents, drawing dozens of protesters to a Lynwood restaurant.
We tried speaking with an apparent organizer but received little explanation. pic.twitter.com/5Y6HH0ikqQ
— Matthew Seedorff (@MattSeedorff) January 29, 2026
It is to be noted that the incident was not isolated. Over the past few months, several such protests have broken out across the United States. However, the situation is especially intense in Minneapolis, where two ICE killings occurred within a month.
A group of software engineers was heckled in the same way by anti-ICE protestors in Minnesota. They were mistaken for ICE agents. According to Alpha News, the group was all dressed casually in sweatshirts and jackets as they ate lunch at Clancey’s Deli.
At that time, one of them, who is aligned with the anti-ICE issue, received a Signal message, letting him know that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were nearby in plain clothes. “My friend was shocked. He’s on the [anti-ICE] side politically. He lives nearby. He’s eaten there before. And suddenly he’s seeing messages saying we’re ICE,” said Lee, one of the software engineers. They were shouted at by the protestors, as many even asked them to leave the restaurant.
