Amid escalating clashes between ICE agents and protesters in Minneapolis, a video has emerged showing a disabled autistic woman being forcibly removed from her car by masked agents while she was trying to reach a doctor. The incident took place on Tuesday, just a short distance from where Renee Nicole Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent the previous week.
The video, shared on YouTube by Freedom News TV, captures the woman sitting in her car with the driver’s side window open as masked ICE agents instruct her to move her vehicle. Despite unclear dialogue exchanges, the agents attempt to open the car door and direct her to drive away.
When the woman drives forward slightly and stops, agents demand her to move again. Subsequently, an agent breaks the window on the passenger side of the vehicle. Throughout the altercation, both protesters and ICE agents can be heard shouting at each other and at the woman, with some urging her to drive off.
Multiple agents then converge on the vehicle, with one opening the back door and others attempting to enter from the front. Eventually, an agent forcefully removes the woman from the car, causing her to fall to the ground. Despite her protests about being disabled and needing to see a doctor, the agents proceed to handcuff her and take her into custody.
During the confrontation, tear gas, flash bang grenades, and pepper balls were reportedly deployed towards the protesters. When contacted for a response, ICE did not provide a comment to CBC News.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security informed The Independent that ICE officers were in the area to execute an arrest warrant for a 20-year-old man from Ecuador who had entered the U.S. illegally in 2019. The spokesperson highlighted that several individuals were arrested for obstructing law enforcement operations and assaulting officers during the incident.
As ICE intensifies its enforcement activities in Minneapolis, community members have been actively protesting the agency’s presence by booing, taunting, and blowing whistles at agents. This grassroots effort aims to raise awareness about ICE actions, challenge the agents, and assert public scrutiny over their operations.
According to Homeland Security, over 2,000 arrests have been made in Minnesota since early December as part of ICE’s ongoing enforcement actions.