ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) — Law enforcement officers fired shots at a vehicle that backed into a U.S. Coast Guard base in the San Francisco Bay Area that had earlier been the site of protests against federal immigration agents, and hours after President Donald Trump called off a planned surge of federal agents into San Francisco to quell crime.
The shots were fired about 10 p.m. Thursday at the base in Alameda, the Coast Guard posted on X. The vehicle drove away and no Coast Guard personnel were hurt, the statement said.
Video from the scene showed what appeared to be a U-Haul truck trying to back into the base.
“Coast Guard personnel issued multiple verbal commands to stop the vehicle, the driver failed to comply and proceeded to put the vehicle in reverse,” the statement said. “When the vehicle’s actions posed a direct threat to the safety of Coast Guard and security personnel, law enforcement officers discharged several rounds of live fire.”
The Coast Guard said the FBI was investigating. The FBI did not immediately respond to emails seeking further information.
Earlier Thursday, protesters had assembled at the island, with many singing hymns and carrying signs saying, “Protect our neighbors” and “No ICE or troops in the Bay.”
Trump had been threatening to send the National Guard to San Francisco, a move Mayor Daniel Lurie and Gov. Gavin Newsom said was unnecessary because crime is on the decline. Separately, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents began arriving at the Coast Guard base in the region earlier Thursday for a possible ramp up of immigration enforcement, a move that drew several hundred protesters.
Trump said he called off the move after speaking to the mayor and several prominent business leaders who said they’re working hard to clean up the city.
Coast Guard Island is a 67-acre (27-hectare) human-made island formed in 1913 in the Oakland Estuary between Oakland and Alameda. It is federally owned, does not allow visits from the general public without an escort or specific government identification, and it has been home to the current base, Base Alameda, since 2012, according to a Coast Guard document from 2016.
Base Alameda provides a variety of services for Coast Guard activities throughout the West Coast.
