Officials believed to be with the U.S. State Department kicked open a door leading into the Chinese Consulate in Houston.
A van loaded with federal agents pried open the backdoor to the consulate after failing to gain entry through three different doorways a little over an hour after officials with the Chinese government left the complex Friday afternoon.
It was a busy day at the consulate as anti-communist protesters heckled a group of workers who emptied the contents of the consulate building into a moving van before leaving.
The Trump administration ordered the Chinese government to evacuate the premises on Tuesday, alleging in part that the site was being used to spy on the Texas A&M medical system and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Chinese officials called the accusation “malicious slander.”
In a show of retaliation, state officials with the Chinese Communist Party ordered the United States to abandon its consulate in Chengdu, China, on Friday.
