A protest against the federal immigration crackdown led to punches thrown by a lone counterprotester and a police response in Springdale Borough in the wake of the detention of a local man earlier this week.
The protest, organized by Springdale residents and Indivisible Pittsburgh, brought more than 100 people to the intersection of Pittsburgh and School streets. Attendees included state Sen. Lindsey Williams, D-West View, and Allegheny Valley School Board Member Amy Sarno.
Sarno told the protesters that the family of Cordova Flores consists of educated, hard-working people who were in the country legally, abide by the law and are contributing to the community. “And their precious children are our children’s classmates, their beloved friends, soccer teammates and students in our schools,” Sarno said. “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”
She urged attendees to remain peaceful.
Roughly a half-hour into the protest, a man drove his car down the street.
“That gentleman came, slammed on his brakes several times, going down an entire line of people that were lined up on the street, shouting obscenities out the window, until he got to the very end,” recounted William Loar, of Shaler, who came to Springdale to support friends there.
“He threatened a man who looks like he is of Latino descent. … He said to him in front of his two daughters, he said, ‘I will kill you,’ put his vehicle in park and got out of his car.”
The man driving the car, who declined to provide his name, told reporters that he was shouting, “Trump, more ICE, more ICE, Trump, get these illegals out of here.”
The man said he believed “illegals” were “taking the jobs. … This is bullshit, what’s going on.”
The man said a protester threatened to kill him and steal his car. That prompted the man to get out of his car “because I don’t know what they’re going to do to it.”

Loar said he attempted to get between the counterprotester and the man with two daughters. He said the counterprotester shoved him.
Tony Passarelli, of Vandergrift, said the protesters were careful not to come into physical contact with the counterprotester. Passarelli then began photographing the counterprotester and their license plate. The counterprotester then punched Passarelli twice in the face and attempted to knock his camera out of his hands. Police then pulled up and the altercation ended, Passarelli said.
Springdale Borough police then arrived, and the counterprotester left. The counterprotester was not arrested, but police took victim statements. Borough police Chief Derek Dayoub did not immediately respond to a call or an email. As of mid-afternoon, online court records did not indicate any charges in relation to the event.
Police shut down the street, but it was reopened by 1:30 p.m. Sarno thanked first responders. Passing cars honked support for the protesters, while one or two shouted, “deport them all” and similar sentiments.
The catalyst for the protest was the Feb. 10 detention of Randy Ralphy Cordova Flores, originally from Peru. The ICE detention locator indicates that he is now at the Moshannon Valley ICE Processing Center in Clearfield County.

Cordova Flores’ sister has said that he was pulled over by Springdale Borough police for failure to use his turn signal, taken to the municipal police station and then turned over to ICE. She has said that her brother has been in the U.S. for three years with his two children and their mother, and has been compliant with the asylum seeking process.
A Public Source search of local, state and federal court dockets finds no criminal or other law enforcement action regarding Cordova Flores prior to his detention.
U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Aspinwall, said Thursday that he understood, based on the family’s account, that “Mr. Cordova Flores has a pending asylum determination, a valid work authorization and no criminal record.
“Once again, we need answers to basic questions about the reason for his arrest and why our government is seeking to remove him from the country. I’ll keep fighting for answers and accountability.”
ICE spokesperson Jason Koontz said Friday that Cordova Flores had previously entered the United States illegally.
Koontz wrote that in 2023, Customs and Border Patrol agents encountered Cordova Flores in Yuma, Arizona, and found that he had unlawfully entered the country. Koontz said Cordova Flores entered under the “catch and release program.”
Under that program, people caught crossing the border without authorization were processed, monitored via ankle bracelets, phone or regular check-ins, and allowed to remain in the U.S. but not in custody while their cases were heard. A judge first ruled against the program in 2023 but it lingered until early in the second Trump administration.
More recently, according to Koontz, Cordova Flores failed to show up for an immigration proceeding ordered by a judge. “He will now face consequences for violating our nation’s laws,” Koontz wrote.
A family member has said that Cordova Flores had been using the ICE app and complying with the check-in process required for those seeking asylum.
Koontz told Pittsburgh’s Public Source that Cordova Flores’ arrest was part of a joint operation between the federal immigration agency and the Springdale Borough police. The borough has an agreement, called a 287(g), with ICE to collaborate on immigration enforcement. The borough is one of a handful of Allegheny County municipalities that have inked such agreements.

Protester Loar called this “a scary time for a lot of people. … I can’t just sit still and not show support. There’s a lot going on right now in this country that is very unfair and unjust. We say liberty and justice for all. When did that stop meaning something?”
Stephanie Strasburg is a photojournalist with Pittsburgh’s Public Source who can be reached at stephanie@publicsource.org, on Instagram@stephaniestrasburgor on Twitter@stephstrasburg.
Rich Lord is the managing editor at Pittsburgh’s Public Source and can be reached at rich@publicsource.org.




