New buses arrive, protests continue

11:28 a.m. update:

Two buses have left the Swift Beef & Co. beef packing plant, and two more arrived to take their place. Tribune reporters could see at least a couple dozen people loaded onto the first group of buses before the view was blocked. Officials have not said how many people have been captured in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid so far.

As the buses left, a thinning crowd of 150-200 shouted at Greeley police officers assigned to help control the area.

One man screamed in the face of police: “We’re not going to take this anymore. We’re going to fight back.”

Another yelled: “You break up these families at Christmas time. Give these people some answers.”

Early reports said protesters planned to block the buses exit, but police parked their cars in front of the crowd to prevent that. Crowds pushed down part of a barricade near the entrance to the plant, until SWAT team forces arrived.

The crowd has begun to die down since the morning. The scene has been sometimes tense, but police have had some success in calming them down.
Andres Guerrero, who teaches Spanish at Aims Community College, joined the protesters. He said, “In ten years we’re going to take over the southland, trust me. “This is our land and always will be our land.”

Reporters have seen several groups of workers being loaded into the second round of buses. They were chained together in groups of 4-5. So far, reporters saw 10-15 people loaded on the buses. Other workers in the plant crowded into the windows to watch what was going on outside.

Other protesters watched from their cars, parked along the west side of U.S. 85.