Popular South Park restaurant Buona Forchetta is thanking the community for stepping up during a violent ICE raid that took place last Friday afternoon.
The raid — during which at least 20 agents in military-style gear detained four people in a late afternoon operation at Buona Forchetta and Enoteca Buona Forchetta, while also confronting and handcuffing others and at one point detonating flash-bang grenades near families in the vicinity — shocked residents of the normally quiet, peaceful neighborhood and rattled the restaurant’s owners and employees.
A GoFundMe page that was intended to cover costs and fees associated with the raid quickly surpassed its original $60,000 goal.
“We, as neighbors, small business owners, and fellow South Park residents, are rallying together to offer immediate support to these valued members of our community,” said the page from Small Business Owners of South Park and Beyond, which was headlined “Support for Detained Buona Forchetta Employees.”
“Your donation will go directly toward legal fees, lost wages, and essential living expenses for the employees and their families as they navigate this difficult time… No contribution is too small. Every dollar sends a message of hope, solidarity, and care.”
On Monday, a group of local elected officials, all Democrats, denounced the raid.
Juan Vargas said that Monday morning’s news conference was being held outside San Diego’s federal courthouses specifically because a local federal judge — U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Crawford — signed off on a warrant that he said authorized agents to detain everyone working inside the restaurants, whether or not they were undocumented.
Vargas said part of the lawmakers’ demands were to meet with the chief judge for the Southern District of California to inquire how and why warrants of this sort were being approved.
Along with Vargas, Rep. Scott Peters, Rep. Sara Jacobs, Rep. Mike Levin, and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria spoke out operations like Friday’s and the manner in which it was carried out.
Jacobs said recent immigration enforcement tactics “have crossed a new line.”
Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre — a candidate for the vacant District 1 supervisors seat in the July 1 runoff — said that the arrests were an “over-the-top, militarized show of force that doesn’t belong in a residential neighborhood.”
“Flash bangs and assault rifles aimed at restaurant workers and community members is not enforcement — it’s intimidation,” Aguirre said in a statement.
In an Instagram post dated June 1, the restaurant described the raid as “traumatic,” and added that they would be closing the doors of all their restaurants through Tuesday as a result of the incident.
“We wish we could find stronger words, but the truth is we are heartbroken,” Buona Forchetta posted in the Sunday evening statement. “The traumatic incident involving a federal enforcement operation at our original and beloved South Park location has left a mark on all of us.”
The restaurant also thanked the community for its continued support.
“The outpouring of love from this community has been truly overwhelming in the best way,” the post said. “Thank you for showing up.”
“What has kept us going, truly, is you.”
Story updated with quotes from lawmakers Monday, June 2, 3:31 p.m. City News Service contributed to this report.
