Sports Drink, a coffee shop and comedy club in Uptown New Orleans, temporarily closed on Tuesday after a video circulated on social media showing employees confronting law enforcement agents whom they believed to be with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill later confirmed the agents to be members of the
Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which was in the area to arrest a man on 120 counts of possession of child sexual abuse material involving children under the age of 13.
The video,
posted on X by Libs of TikTok, a popular right-wing account, shows law enforcement agents standing outside a Breaux Mart grocery store as protesters accuse them of being with ICE or U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
In the video, which had garnered 1.7 million views by Tuesday night, two agents deny being associated with ICE and say they are with the ICAC task force. The protestors express skepticism, with one woman saying, “I don’t really buy that,” as another person adds, “We don’t respect whatever you do.”
A screenshot shared in the comments shows Sports Drink responding to the video and mocking its appearance on the Libs of TikTok page. The business later released several statements on Instagram, writing that “pro-ICE sycophants are negatively reviewing us on Google” and encouraging followers to report the reviews and leave positive ones instead.
Hours later, Sports Drink announced on Instagram that it would temporarily close.
“We care about the safety of our employees, patrons, and community at large and want to operate with an abundance of caution,” the post reads. “Thank you to everyone who has shown us support and passion. We truly appreciate it.”
The business’ public Instagram and X accounts were later made private. The owner could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.
In a press release dated Dec. 12, Murrill alleged that the agents were “harassed, cursed, and chased through neighborhoods” by protestors during and after the execution of a search warrant for Jiaxin Tian, 29, who was arrested at his home on Coliseum Street in the Touro neighborhood.
Tian, a Chinese national who has been in the United States on an academic visa since 2021, was transported to the Orleans Parish jail for booking, according to Murrill’s office. His bond status was not immediately available and the investigation is ongoing.
“Our office will investigate any attempts to harm or obstruct our agents for doing their jobs in taking child sex predators off the streets,” Murrill said. “This behavior will not be tolerated.”
The confrontation occurred amid heightened tensions in New Orleans following the arrival of Border Patrol agents in early December as part of a federal enforcement effort known as “Catahoula Crunch,” an operation the Trump administration has said is intended to increase deportations nationwide.
Immigration advocates and some local officials, including Mayor-elect Helena Moreno, have criticized the sweeps and their tactics. The operation has also drawn criticism from
state officials, including Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, a Republican, who said the enforcement actions have ignited fear among residents and disrupted the state’s labor force.
Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol commander overseeing the operation, said this week that the Louisiana sweeps had led to
nearly 350 people being detained. The Department of Homeland Security said last week that the operation had so far resulted in 250 arrests.
Federal arrest records indicate that fewer than 10% of those detained have prior criminal histories. Those range from serious crimes, such as aggravated kidnapping, to less serious offenses like public urination.
Officials have said the goal of the operation is to detain 5,000 people. In recent days, the effort has expanded to Baton Rouge.
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