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This is an adapted excerpt from the Oct. 11 episode of “Velshi.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has said its agents use a “minimum amount of force” when making arrests, but every day it seems a new video pops up online that indicates otherwise.
Personally, my social media feed has been a stream of brutal ICE interactions: agents caught on video being both verbally and physically aggressive with the people they are detaining and with bystanders — all while many of them hide behind masks and plainclothes.
In one video, taken outside of an elementary school in Chicago, a group of masked ICE officers can be seen pulling a screaming woman out of her car. Eyewitnesses said she was in line for afternoon school pickup at the time of the incident. In the video, the woman said the agents did not have a warrant and claimed that agents had “forcibly opened” her car door.
Another video taken in Chicago showed masked agents in a white SUV throwing a canister of tear gas onto a pedestrian street near a middle school in broad daylight. Cars can be seen trying to block the unmarked vehicle, which was reportedly headed for a local grocery store. An agent then rolled down his window and threw the tear gas, causing bystanders to disperse.
In Maryland, two ICE officers chased a man into a busy intersection and then tackled him. The man could be heard screaming in Spanish “ayuda,” which means “help.” During the struggle, an agent dropped his handgun and then appeared to point it at bystanders. The Department of Homeland Security said the man being arrested in the video was resisting.
In Chicago, a journalist by the name of Debbie Brockman was forced to the ground and cuffed by three federal agents while she was out reporting. DHS said Brockman was arrested for allegedly assaulting a federal agent. WGN-TV, Brockman’s employer, said she was not charged with any crimes and was ultimately released.
Responding to criticism about its operation, DHS said that “anyone who actively obstructs law enforcement in the performance of their sworn duties, including U.S. citizens, will of course face consequences which include arrest.”
But the tactics seen in these videos are brutal in nature, alarmingly so, and the presence of a rolling camera does not seem to deter ICE agents’ behavior. While many of these videos are difficult to watch, it is also important to bear witness to what is happening to human beings on the streets of America.