Mindan Ocon dashed in from her apartment balcony, quickly shut the sliding door and grabbed one gas mask from her dining table for herself and another one for her 3-year-old daughter who had started to cough.

Ocon has learned to recognize the signs that mean she needs to act: the metallic clink of canisters on the pavement below or the amplified voice of federal officers warning to clear the area.

Even though she moved within seconds, tear gas from the protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building still seeped into Ocon’s living room.

She scrambled to light incense to mask the acrid odor.

Ocon, 32, lives in a corner apartment several floors up at Gray’s Landing, a 209-unit affordable housing complex with 238 residents. It sits kitty-corner across South Bancroft

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