Latest news with #ElPotroMexicanCafé
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Community stands in support of local Mexican restaurant after employees detained
LIBERTY, Mo. — One week after federal agents made an unannounced visit to El Potro Mexican Café in Liberty, their community came to help the restaurant on Valentine's Day. 'Let's focus on Valentine's Day,' said Jackson County Legislator Manny Abarca. 'Let's put the Super Bowl behind us and help out in the kitchen side of things because this is a very busy day on Valentine's Day for restaurants.' Abarca and others didn't come to just show their support at El Potro, they came to be put to work. Abortion facility licensing requirement lifted by Missouri judge 'When we asked them what they needed, this is what they needed,' Abarca said. 'They needed help immediately, as 12 of their dedicated employees were taken from them.' Last week, restaurant staff said that Homeland Security Agents surrounded El Potro, before detaining and leaving with 12 employees. Clay County Sheriff Will Aikin told FOX4, at the time, that the agents had come to the restaurant to serve a warrant for a single person. El Potro closed another location in order to staff their Liberty store, which stayed open. Now, Abarca and others are helping out around the restaurant on one of their busiest days of the year. Abarca says it's time for local leaders to step up about decisions being handed down from the federal level. 'Local officials, I think now more than ever, are going to have to step up to the plate and do this for a myriad of issues right now, not just for the Latino community, or for immigration broadly, but for any federal issue that is now coming down that challenges our current existence. There is some level of accountability that folks in Liberty and in the Clay County community should be asking of their own elected officials. And if anyone's going to show them how to do it, I'm happy to help.' Neighbors and Liberty residents who offered their support on Friday brought signs that read 'Immigration Built This Nation' and 'We Support Immigrants and Refugees'. One of those signs was held by Laura Gitterman, an English teacher who regularly works with immigrants. 'Unfortunately, I'm not surprised because I fear that something like this would be in the works and would come to fruition,' she told FOX4. Some details released in Independence chase that led to police shooting She says her students have been worried for weeks about operations like this, and some have expressed their fears to her. 'I've had students ask me for their parents, where can they be adopted if the parents get deported?' she said. 'I have had students saying, 'I'm carrying my papers with me to school because I'm afraid ICE is coming. How many windows, how many doors do we have in school? Will I be safe?' And then when I heard that this happened in Liberty and I'm from Liberty, Missouri, I felt like I needed to take a stand and show the support and solidarity for my community.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sheriff had no idea HSI agents were going to raid Liberty restaurant
LIBERTY, Mo. — Video from Friday morning showed Homeland Security agents inside El Potro Mexican Café in Liberty. Clay County Sheriff Will Akin had no idea they had any sort of operation planned until a friend told him about it. Louisiana woman arrested following Kansas City reporter's death in New Orleans 'He goes, 'Will, what do I do? They're over at El Potro and they're conducting a,' and I'm going to put this in air quotes, 'raid on the restaurant.'' He confirmed that no members of the Clay County Sheriff's Office were involved in the operation, and he made his way to the restaurant to find out what was happening. 'I need to know what the heck's going on in my county,' Akin said. 'I mean, a federal agency is coming in and they're, you know, conducting an operation. Again, if something happens in my county, I need to be prepared for that.' Sheriff Akin told FOX4 that the federal agents had come to the restaurant on a single person's warrant related to child sex crimes. 'What brought them there was that one person, but they were there for worksite enforcement,' he said. 'A lot of people know that when HSI shows up, they, they're there for illegal immigration.' Employees at El Potro said the federal agents were armed and had masks on. 'As soon as I heard, I hurried and made my way here,' said El Potro manager Yadira DeLaTorre. 'Unfortunately when I got here, they already had them in the van and they took 12 employees. I mean, it just made everybody scared. We've been working for a lot of years together and it wasn't just right for them to just come in here.' Akin mentioned that social media posts created chaos surrounding the events on Friday morning. 'I'm frustrated with the amount of misinformation out on social media is causing mass hysteria, and I just wish people would simmer down,' he said. 'So be responsible when you're exercising your First Amendment right and don't believe everything that you see on social media. Wait for some context. Don't start sharing things that don't have context, because that's what gets us in this situation where people are scared.' Cracker Barrel calls out Waffle House over egg surcharge: 'Nothing hospitable about that' El Potro stayed open for Friday's dinner service; they brought in employees from other locations to replace the 12 staff members who left with federal agents. They were forced to close another location in order to staff their Liberty restaurant. Even their owner had arrived to help wash dishes for the night. 'We're open,' DeLaTorre said as the restaurant started to get busier. 'Be a little bit patient with us, it's Friday night, so we're always busy.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
