Live updates: Vance to visit Minneapolis as Trump’s immigration crackdown expands to Maine

A protester pinned to the ground by at least two federal agents was sprayed directly in the face by another agent with a can of chemical irritant inches away from the man’s head.

A photo taken by The Minnesota Star Tribune shows an opaque stream of orange chemical irritant blasting into the protester’s face before it cascades into a puddle on cold, wet concrete.

When photographer Rich Tsong-Taatarii arrived at the Minneapolis protest Wednesday afternoon, witnesses said at least two teens had been taken away by federal agents, the Star Tribune reported.

“People were really mad, and the whole scene started moving from near 28th to 29th with the Border Patrol trying to get out of there, and people were in their face yelling at them,” Tsong-Taatarii said.

The tension escalated when a Border Patrol agent shoved a woman on a bicycle to the ground, according to the Star Tribune.

“This is when people got really riled up,” Tsong-Taatarii said. He said agents started deploying tear gas and other chemical irritants.

Tsong-Taatrii did not see the man who was pinned to the ground put his hands on agents.

The Department of Homeland Security said Border Patrol agents were “repeatedly harassed and blocked by hostile crowds while simply trying to take bathroom breaks.”

“At each gas station where the agents stopped to use the restroom, groups of agitators appeared, yelled at them, stalked them, and even tried to prevent law enforcement vehicles from leaving, creating unsafe conditions,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.

“At one stop, individuals in the crowd threw food at the agents. At their final gas station stop, someone spit on an agent. When an agent moved to detain the person who spit on him, the crowd tackled and attacked the agents while surrounding them. To safely clear the area agents had to use crowd control measures to disperse the hostile crowd.”

READ MORE: Blood. Pain. Disorientation. Here’s what protesters say “less-lethal” weapons feel like.