CHICAGO ()The Department of Homeland Security is denying claims by Chicago city officials and others that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents staked out the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture on Tuesday ahead of a series of Latino festivals, sparking outrage from community leaders.

Officials said at a news conference on Wednesday that more than a dozen Homeland Security vehicles arrived at the museum and spent almost two hours without any prior notice or a valid warrant. Chicago Ald. Jessie Fuentes told reporters that federal agents allegedly refused to leave the property when asked, reportedly telling employees that they were allowed to be wherever and whenever they wanted.

Another Alderperson, Anthony Quezada, accused ICE of “intentionally trying to intimidate” community members with an “intentional scare tactic” that “has nothing to do with safety.”

“It was meant to send a message to our undocumented neighbors, to our cultural institutions and to our entire community that they are being watched and that they are not safe,” Quezada said Wednesday.

However, in a statement provided to on Wednesday, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called the claims false.

“The Department of Homeland Security DID NOT target the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture,” McLaughlin said, adding, “Once again, the media and Sanctuary City politicians are shamefully peddling a false narrative in an attempt to demonize our ICE enforcement agents who are already facing a 700% surge in assaults against them.”

Chicago has been among several Democratic-led cities across the United States that have criticized ICE for carrying out raids as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts. Large protests have broken out in Los Angeles and other cities amid immigration enforcement efforts, leading to Trump administration officials to target jurstisdictions with sanctuary policies in place.

McLaughlin told that on Tuesday, Homeland Security Investigations Chicago’s Financial Crimes Task Force staged and held a quick briefing in the museum’s parking lot in advance of an enforcement action related to a drug investigation.

Officials with the museum and Quezada did not immediately return an email seeking comment from on the incident.

Museum officials and their employees overheard agents talking about plans for the upcoming Barrio Arts Festival, which will be held at the museum. U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Chicago, said that the agents’ presence was an attempt to survey the area before possible enforcement actions.

“It’s about suppressing dissent, it’s about trying to dismantle resistance and it’s about trying to paralyze our communities,” Ramirez said Wednesday. “It’s about creating these crazy spectacles of violence that pit people against each other and then justify their tactics when they get caught.”

affiliate WGN reported on Wednesday that agents were asked by museum officials to show identification but refused.

In addition to the upcoming Barrio Arts Festival, the museum is also scheduled to host the Colombian Festival and Fiesta Boricua.

Veronica Ocasio, the museum’s director of education and programming, told reporters Wednesday that agents “aggressively” asked if they could leave their vehicles in the parking lot and were told they could not. She said that agents in unmarked clothing and said that they were from the Department of Homeland Security, but did not say why they were there.

She referred to the facility as a “sanctuary museum” and said that staff members would not be intimidated by ICE. Other museum employees said at the news conference that Tuesday’s incident “seemed to be a plan to come and terrorize our residents.”

“I am upset, frustrated and literally in disbelief of what happened yesterday between the hours of three and five in our parking lot,” Ocasio said. “Homeland Security presented themselves in force, Gestapo-style intimidation to our staff, who was not ready. We were not ready. And we, as a staff, as the National Puerto Rican Museum, will not allow this bullying and intimidation to happen here.”