A protester updates the crowd about federal agents being deployed to the Crane Shed Commons in Bend on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020.

An extraordinary 12-hour standoff between armed federal agents and protesters attempting to block the deportation of two men loaded on a bus behind a Bend hotel ended late Wednesday with a dispiriting loss for activists, and a number of unanswered questions.

“We tried,” said a hoarse, sweaty Luke Richter, head of the group Central Oregon Peacekeepers.

Richter was one of the first to arrive at the scene and physically obstruct two white buses parked behind SpringHill Suites on Industrial Way at around 11 a.m. Wednesday. He was one of the last to leave well after midnight. “We did everything we could for ’em.”

Hundreds of activists and onlookers joined Richter throughout the day Wednesday, blocking the buses from leaving with the detained men inside. It was a tense day of protest that culminated in dozens of federal officers removing protesters with tear gas, nonlethal projectiles and physical force to reach the men inside the buses and remove them.

By Thursday night, it was still not clear where the men, Josue Arturo Cruz Sanchez, 34, and Marco Zeferino Rios, 32, were being held.

A spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement declined to answer questions, issuing a two-paragraph statement instead.

“The law enforcement activity in Bend, Oregon is part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s mission to arrest criminal aliens presenting a danger to public safety and take them off the street. The two individuals arrested each had a history of criminal violent behavior,” the statement reads. “While ICE respects the rights of people to voice their opinion peacefully, that does not include illegally interfering with their federal law enforcement duties. ICE will take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of its officers and detainees, and will vigorously pursue prosecution against anyone who puts them in harm’s way.”

No federal criminal charges appeared be on record for either man in the U.S. District Court of Oregon. Both men have been charged with crimes in Deschutes County Circuit Court in the past three years. Cruz Sanchez was convicted in February for a criminal trespassing case from November 2019. He was previously sentenced to two years probation for assaulting and coercing a woman in February 2018. He is awaiting trial for allegedly assaulting a man in November 2018. Marco Zeferino Rios was arrested in February 2019 for attempting to assault a woman. The charge was later reduced to harassment and Zeferino Rios was ordered to pay a $520 fine, according to court records.

An emergency motion that would have released the men from custody for the duration of their deportation proceedings was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Portland. A hearing on the matter was held Thursday and concluded without resolution.

Lawyers will likely meet again Friday, according to Erin Carter of the Innovation Law Lab of Portland, which filed the motion.

Carter said she could not confirm where the men are being held. Relatives of the men said Thursday in a statement they still do not know where they are.

The event came three days after Bend’s new police chief, Mike Krantz, was sworn in. Already under fire for his connection to the Portland Police Bureau, where he worked his whole career before joining Bend Police, Krantz drew further criticism for his response to Wednesday’s protest.

Under Oregon law, Bend Police Department is not allowed to use personnel or resources to assist in the enforcement of federal immigration laws. But some protesters at Thursday’s rally believed Bend officers had allowed ICE agents to recharge their cellphones in Bend vehicles and had offered to bring the federal officers lunch.

City Councilor Barb Campbell told the crowd she would push Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel to investigate the rumors. Some in the audience responded to her with cries of “Fire Krantz.”

Throughout Wednesday afternoon, Bend Mayor Sally Russell faced backlash from people on social media about her lack of presence at the protest. Russell said her decision to not join the protest until after 8 p.m. with Krantz was because she wanted to invest all of her time in reaching out to state and federal leaders in the hopes of keeping more federal agents from coming to Bend.

“You make the best decision you can in the moment,” Russell said Thursday. “It looked like we had some opportunities. In no way did we want to miss an opportunity to make a better outcome for the community.”

Krantz also faced criticism on social media for not being more visible during the protest. When asked whether she thought Krantz should have been more present at the protest earlier, Russell initially told The Bulletin to ask Krantz that question, but then followed up by saying he also was faced with making the best decision he could in the moment.

“Do I fault him? No,” Russell said. “We made the choice to work non stop to do the best work to keep our community members safe.”

Krantz released a statement Thursday afternoon saying federal officials never provided Bend Police with the names of the two men on the bus. He said he told them his officers would not assist Department of Homeland Security (which oversees ICE) detention efforts, including removing anyone from a bus and moving them.

“Ultimately, the DHS made the decision that if we were unable to assist them, they would be required to dispatch one of their teams to remove their personnel, employees and person in custody off their buses,” Krantz wrote. “I advised them that I would share this information and let our community know that the federal agents would be arriving to remove the people off the transport buses.”

Krantz addressed the protesters Wednesday night and thanked them for remaining peaceful.

It’s still not clear why the buses were parked at the SpringHill Suites. A manager did not return a request for comment.

Some protesters believe ICE agents were staying at the hotel. It could be the empty lot was a convenient place to park two large buses.

Krantz said the property owners asked that the protesters be removed Wednesday, but Bend Police opted to allow protesters to remain so long as they remained peaceful.

As in Portland, federal agents used pepper spray and impact munitions on the protesters.

Josie Stanfield, co-founder of the group Central Oregon Diversity Project, was shot in the foot by a less-lethal round as she and several others stood in the path of a federal agent’s vehicle.

“I’ve never been so disgusted by my government and so proud of my community,” wrote Hummel in a widely circulated tweet.

A former director of ICE, Tom Homan, responded in an interview on Fox News that he was “disgusted” by Hummel’s comments.