Excessive force by law enforcement
Excessive force is force used beyond what was necessary and proportional under the circumstances confronting the officer — the constitutional standard for use of force by law enforcement. Concrete forms include force used after compliance, force directed at non-threatening individuals, force grossly disproportionate to the alleged offense, and lethal force used where lesser means were available. The publication tracks documented incidents — citizen-captured video, body-worn camera footage, civil litigation findings, internal affairs determinations — and applies the legal standard, not popular reaction. Bystander cellphone video is often the first and sometimes only record of what happened; it is treated as a primary source on the same terms as official footage.
2026 Events (49)
ICE agents drove vehicles onto sidewalks and struck observers with batons during a Frederick, Maryland raid
On the evening of September 4, 2026, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents drove vehicles onto sidewalks and struck observers with batons in Frederick, Maryland's Taskers Chance neighborhood, where agents had staked out a residence for roughly 40 hours pursuing a man ICE described as a "criminal illegal alien" who fled a vehicle stop. City Council President César Díaz and Vice President Katie Nash, both on scene, said observers formed a human barrier in front of the targeted home but were not violent; no arrests were made and it was not clear anyone inside the home was detained.
Vandenberg Space Force security forces held invited journalists, troops at gunpoint despite escort
On August 17, 2026, Vandenberg Space Force Base's 30th Security Forces Squadron ordered invited journalists from four outlets and two military members out of their vehicles at gunpoint and handcuffed the two service members, despite the group having a public-affairs escort and an official invitation to a base ceremony. Base security raised barriers and sounded sirens, and the group missed the groundbreaking event they had been invited to cover. A Space Launch Delta 30 public-affairs spokesperson said the stop resulted from a "breakdown in communication" verifying the media's authorized entry.
ICE agent drew and pointed gun on bystander distributing immigration-lawyer cards in Virginia parking lot
An ICE agent drew and pointed a firearm at Carolina Molina, a U.S. citizen distributing immigration-lawyer business cards, in a Falls Church, Virginia-area parking lot on August 10, 2026, after she shouted at agents making an arrest nearby. DHS said Molina tried to run over officers with her car and was stopped for that reason; Molina disputes the account and says her own dashcam video contradicts it. She was not arrested and was permitted to leave the scene.
Phoenix police officers used unreported force, including a taser, on a stopped couple and filed no report
On August 5, 2026, Phoenix police officers Luis Vasquez Jr. and Antonio Felix stopped a Dodge Charger near 19th Avenue and Broadway Road in south Phoenix and used force -- including a stun gun, an arm bar, and repeated punches -- against the man and woman inside, without activating their body-worn cameras or filing a required use-of-force report. The stop surfaced only after one victim escaped and reached Tempe police, whose officers found the account so extreme they initially suspected the assailants were impersonating police rather than being real officers. Phoenix's own investigation later confirmed both were on-duty officers.
Arkansas State Police trooper punched 18-year-old woman in face during traffic-stop arrest
On August 1, 2026, Arkansas State Police Trooper Moisses Arellano forced 18-year-old Alisa Hackett to the ground and struck her in the face with a closed fist during a traffic stop near Manila, Arkansas, after a second trooper told him to arrest her because she "got an attitude." Arellano's own use-of-force report states he punched Hackett because she would not roll onto her stomach on his commands; dashcam video later released publicly shows Hackett telling him "you cannot punch me in my face" and Arellano responding "who says I can't." Hackett was booked on five charges, none of which have been dropped, and filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Arellano.
ICE agent pepper-sprayed 72-year-old NYC protester filming enforcement operation in Inwood
On July 30, 2026, an ICE agent pepper-sprayed 72-year-old Linda Wolff at close range in Inwood, Manhattan, after she and other bystanders confronted federal agents having a vehicle towed. Video shows Wolff filming the agents from the sidewalk when the agent sprayed her in the face and, after she noted she had already been maced, responded, "I'm gonna do it again." The Department of Homeland Security defended the action, saying the group had "swarmed" and become "combative," while Wolff says she is pursuing legal action.
ICE agents arrested Ukrainian woman at San Francisco airport; video showed agents pinning her to floor as she alleged choking
Plainclothes ICE agents arrested Iryna Gorb, a 38-year-old Ukrainian national who had lived in San Francisco for 16 years, at San Francisco International Airport on July 22, 2026. Video captured by a Richmond city council member showed agents pinning Gorb to the floor in Terminal 3; she screamed that agents were choking her and called out to bystanders for help. DHS confirmed the arrest and said Gorb had overstayed a visa since 2011; she was transferred to California City Detention Facility in Kern County.
ICE agents left Guatemalan immigrant hospitalized with facial injuries during Doraville, Georgia arrest
On July 18, 2026, ICE agents arrested Marco Antonio Roblero Perez, a 25-year-old Guatemalan immigrant, during an enforcement operation near a BP gas station in Doraville, Georgia. Roblero Perez was hospitalized with a broken nose, a missing tooth, a chipped tooth, and cuts and bruises; DHS said he fled and struck an officer's vehicle, while family members and multiple outlets documented injuries that raised questions about whether the force used was proportionate.
LAPD officers repeatedly restrained a hooded, handcuffed jail inmate who died minutes later
On July 15, 2026, Los Angeles Police Department detention officers at the Valley Jail Section used force on Jose Carlos Hoyos-Munoz three times during booking, including holding him face-down on a bunk with a spit hood over his head after removing his handcuffs. Roughly 20 minutes after the last use of force, officers found him unconscious and not breathing, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. LAPD released video of the incident in late August 2026, after Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass ordered an independent review of police-involved deaths.
ICE agents tackled, handcuffed, and abandoned arrest of Australian man at Las Vegas airport
Two plainclothes ICE officers attempted to detain Phu Nguyen, a 57-year-old Australian citizen who had overstayed his visa, at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on July 13, 2026, pinning him to the ground. When bystanders began filming and a crowd gathered, the officers abandoned the arrest and walked away, leaving Nguyen handcuffed to one arm; Las Vegas police responded, found no outstanding warrants, and removed the handcuff. ICE arrested Nguyen the next day at Los Angeles International Airport instead.
ICE agent fatally shot Colombian man during Biddeford, Maine enforcement operation; man was not warrant's target
An ICE agent fatally shot a 26-year-old Colombian man during an immigration enforcement operation in Biddeford, Maine, on July 13, 2026. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the man weaponized his vehicle before the agent fired, but Sen. Angus King said the man was not the target of the agents' warrant and that the agents were not wearing body cameras. The Maine Attorney General's Office opened a state investigation and the agent was placed on administrative leave.
DEA agent fatally shot man during Memphis Safe Task Force warrant service at East Memphis hotel
On the morning of July 8, 2026, a DEA agent assigned to the Memphis Safe Task Force fatally shot a man while task force members forced entry to serve a Shelby County felony drug warrant at an Extended Stay hotel in East Memphis. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which said only that the agent fired into the room after the situation escalated, is investigating; it is the second fatal task force shooting in four days and the fourth death linked to the unit since it began operating in Memphis in fall 2025.
ICE agent fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during Houston enforcement stop; family disputes self-defense account
An ICE agent fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national, during a targeted immigration enforcement stop in Houston's East End on July 7, 2026. ICE said Araujo tried to ram and run over the agent before being shot in self-defense, but a witness account relayed through LULAC disputes that account, saying Araujo was in the neighborhood looking for day-laborer work when he was shot. The FBI and DHS Office of Inspector General have opened separate investigations.
WilmerHale review found New York prison guards' use of force rose for a decade while DOCCS substantiated few misconduct complaints
A 277-page outside review by law firm WilmerHale, ordered by Gov. Kathy Hochul after corrections officers killed prisoners Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi, found that New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision pepper-spray use rose from 124 deployments a decade earlier to 4,758 by 2024 and that use of force climbed steadily in the years before Brooks' killing. Of nearly 1,200 excessive-force complaints filed by prisoners against guards in 2024, only 40 were substantiated.
Wilmington, Delaware police officer fatally shot 19-year-old Kadir Skinner during foot pursuit, disputed by body-camera footage
On June 24, 2026, a Wilmington, Delaware police officer fatally shot 19-year-old Kadir Skinner during a foot pursuit in a northeast Wilmington neighborhood. Police said Skinner pointed a gun at a crowd before fleeing, but body-camera footage released by the Delaware Department of Justice in July showed him running from the officer when shot, with no gun visible in his hands or recovered from his possession on camera. Skinner died at Wilmington Hospital; the Delaware DOJ has opened a civil rights investigation into the shooting.
Grand Junction police fatally shot Patti Wilson, a transgender woman, firing into her fleeing car
On June 19, 2026, two Grand Junction, Colorado police officers responding to a report of a person with a knife at a Dairy Queen fired roughly 11 shots at Patti Wilson, a 31-year-old transgender woman, striking her twice as she drove away and killing her. Her fleeing vehicle then struck multiple other cars, injuring another person and overturning one. The department later identified the officers as Zachary Diaz and Tim Long, who were placed on paid administrative leave pending an independent 21st Judicial District investigation.
Senatobia, Mississippi police officer fatally shot 1-year-old Kohen Wiley while firing into a car during a shoplifting call
On June 14, 2026, a Senatobia Police Department officer responding to a Walmart shoplifting call fired a shotgun into a car in the store's parking lot, killing 1-year-old Kohen Wiley and critically wounding a passenger. Police said the driver had steered the vehicle toward an officer, nearly striking them; the child's mother said the car was backing away and that she had told officers a baby was inside. The officer was placed on administrative leave, and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation opened an independent inquiry.
NJ State Police take over Delaney Hall protests, deploy tear gas and pepper spray; six arrested
On May 29, 2026, the New Jersey State Police — deployed by Gov. Mikie Sherrill — took over the security perimeter outside Delaney Hall, the GEO Group-run ICE detention center in Newark where roughly 300 detainees had been on a hunger and labor strike since May 22 over conditions they called inhumane. Sherrill framed the takeover as a de-escalating move to establish "protected protest zones" and remove ICE from nightly clashes, but over the following weekend state troopers deployed tear gas, pepper spray, flashbangs and mounted units, arrested demonstrators, and enforced a half-mile nightly curfew around the facility. Immigrant-rights advocates said the troopers used excessive force against peaceful protesters and were "no different than ICE," a characterization the state disputed as lawful crowd control.
Federal officers spray chemical irritants and charge demonstrators at Newark's Delaney Hall ICE jail
On the night of May 26, 2026, federal immigration officers sprayed chemical irritants and charged demonstrators gathered outside Delaney Hall, the 1,000-bed GEO Group-run ICE detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, where roughly 300 detainees were conducting a hunger and labor strike over conditions including spoiled food, denial of medical care, and failed air conditioning. The confrontation was the latest in days of clashes at the facility, coming after masked, armored federal personnel pepper-sprayed U.S. Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) there on Memorial Day. Journalists covering the protests were among those exposed to the chemical agents.
U.S. Sen. Andy Kim pepper-sprayed by federal agents during ICE oversight visit in Newark
On Memorial Day, May 25, 2026, U.S. Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) said he was pepper-sprayed by federal agents outside Delaney Hall, a private ICE detention facility in Newark, after conducting an in-person oversight visit while detainees inside were on a hunger strike. Kim said he had tried to position himself between ICE personnel and protesters to de-escalate when officers — who had deployed an armored vehicle as a barricade — pushed through and discharged pepper balls and pepper spray. DHS publicly defended the action, blaming "rioters" and asserting officers used "the minimum amount of force necessary," and later said no individuals were directly struck by pepper-ball projectiles.
ICE agents threw a nurse to the ground during Delaney Hall protest, fracturing her kneecap
On Memorial Day, May 25, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents threw Dr. Norma Bowe, a Kean University nursing professor running a volunteer mobile health clinic outside Newark's Delaney Hall ICE detention center, to the ground as she tried to help a woman being dragged across the pavement by agents. Bowe suffered a fractured kneecap, a torn meniscus, and a head injury. The incident is detailed in a notice of claim filed by the ACLU of New Jersey, part of a coordinated set of 54 claims filed by ACLU affiliates in 17 states and Washington, D.C. alleging a pattern of unlawful violence by federal immigration agents.
DEA agent fatally shot Darrin Pigram while serving Memphis Safe Task Force arrest warrant
On the morning of May 13, 2026, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent with the Memphis Safe Task Force fatally shot 41-year-old Darrin Pigram while serving a Shelby County arrest warrant at a Burger King in the Frayser area of Memphis. Pigram, who had been indicted days earlier on charges including aggravated assault, allegedly reached for his waistband as agents approached; he was transported to a hospital and later died of his injuries, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is reviewing the shooting at the request of the Shelby County District Attorney.
Omaha police shocked special-education student with electric-shock compliance glove during school crisis
On May 8, 2026, an Omaha Police Department school resource officer twice shocked a middle-school special-education student's forearm with an electric-shock "G.L.O.V.E." compliance glove at Omaha Public Schools' Integrated Learning Program, after the student threw a chair and struck a security guard and the officer during a behavioral crisis. Compliant Technologies, the glove's manufacturer, warns against using the device on children or people with disabilities, but OPD's internal use-of-force review cleared the incident as within policy. The incident became public at an August 17, 2026 school board meeting, prompting objections from parents and the Arc of Nebraska.
ICE agents shoot Carlos Mendoza Hernandez six times during traffic stop in Patterson, California
ICE agents opened fire on Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, 36, during an early-morning vehicle stop near Interstate 5 in Patterson, California on April 7, 2026, striking him about six times, including in the jaw; he survived after multiple surgeries. ICE said he was a suspected 18th Street Gang member wanted for questioning in El Salvador and had tried to run over an agent — claims his attorney disputes, saying dashcam video and witnesses show he reversed to flee only after agents began shooting. After hospital release he was taken into FBI custody and indicted on federal assault charges, to which he pleaded not guilty.
DHS agent's less-lethal projectile destroyed USC student's eye as he documented Los Angeles 'No Kings' protest
On March 28, 2026, a Department of Homeland Security agent fired a less-lethal projectile that struck USC freshman Tucker Collins in his right eye as he documented a "No Kings" protest outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles. The projectile destroyed his eyeball and fractured the bones in his eye socket; doctors surgically removed his eye. Collins, who was photographing the protest from behind a barrier and separated from agents, said he heard no warnings before the shot; DHS maintained that seven warnings were issued before crowd-control measures were deployed.
Internal emails revealed DHS acting General Counsel Joseph Mazzara urged agents to have 'started hitting' Los Angeles anti-ICE protesters
Internal Department of Homeland Security emails, disclosed by the watchdog group American Oversight on March 27, 2026, showed that then-acting DHS General Counsel Joseph Mazzara suggested federal agents in Los Angeles should have "just started hitting" anti-ICE protesters and should have arrested "everyone that couldn't get away" during the June 2025 demonstrations. American Oversight obtained two versions of the records — one with failed redactions and one with successful ones — indicating an attempt to conceal Mazzara's remarks. The disclosure followed a federal court's ruling that the accompanying National Guard deployment to Los Angeles was illegal.
ICE agents violently arrest mother and daughter at San Francisco International Airport
On the night of March 22, 2026, plainclothes ICE agents forcibly arrested a woman, later identified by DHS as Angelina Lopez-Jimenez, and her roughly 10-year-old daughter inside San Francisco International Airport, holding the crying woman on the floor and wheeling her away in restraints while refusing bystanders' requests to identify themselves or show badges. About a dozen San Francisco police officers formed a barrier around the agents but did not intervene. DHS said the family was subject to a 2019 final order of removal and was being repatriated to Guatemala; the arrest coincided with a new federal deployment of ICE agents to U.S. airports.
CBP officer's personal vehicle struck LA protester outside federal detention center; no police report filed
On March 13, 2026, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer driving his personal vehicle struck protester Jasmin Alyssa Quan-Martinez outside the federal detention complex in downtown Los Angeles, with video showing her carried on the hood before being thrown to the curb; she sustained minor injuries. The Department of Homeland Security said roughly ten protesters had surrounded and struck the officer's car as he left work and characterized the incident as one "rioter" jumping onto a moving vehicle, an account Quan-Martinez disputed. No police report was filed and no arrests or charges had been announced in the days after.
ICE vehicle pursuit in Newark causes multi-vehicle crash, injuring three children
On February 25, 2026, ICE agents pursuing a fleeing van during a targeted operation in Newark, New Jersey, caused a multi-vehicle crash that sent three children to University Hospital with injuries. Mayor Ras Baraka condemned the pursuit as reckless, noting that New Jersey law bars law-enforcement vehicle chases absent an immediate threat and that roads were still being cleared from a snowstorm. DHS said the operation targeted a man with a 2017 final removal order, who was taken into custody after the collision.
Rep. Omar's silent State of the Union guest forcibly removed, injured, and charged
During President Trump's State of the Union address on February 24, 2026, Aliya Rahman — a Minneapolis software engineer attending as Rep. Ilhan Omar's invited guest — stood silently in the House gallery and was forcibly removed by U.S. Capitol Police after declining to sit. Rahman, who had disclosed injured shoulders and is autistic with a traumatic brain injury, was aggressively handled, required treatment at George Washington University Hospital, and was booked and charged with "Unlawful Conduct," a misdemeanor carrying up to six months. Rep. Omar condemned the response as a heavy-handed, chilling reaction to peaceful expression and demanded a full explanation.
ICE agent Gregory Morgan pointed handgun at civilian motorists on Minneapolis highway during Metro Surge
On Feb. 5, 2026, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officer Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr. pulled his unmarked SUV alongside a civilian vehicle on a Minneapolis highway during Operation Metro Surge and pointed a handgun at the driver and passenger, who had no way of knowing he was a federal officer. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty charged Morgan on April 16, 2026 with two counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon — the first criminal charges against a federal officer for on-duty conduct during the Minnesota immigration surge — and a nationwide warrant was issued for his arrest.
Federal agents deployed tear gas and chemical munitions against protesters and journalists at Portland ICE facility
Over the weekend of January 31–February 1, 2026, federal agents deployed tear gas and chemical munitions against protesters and freelance journalists outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Portland, Oregon. The deployments were the subject of lawsuits by protesters, journalists, and nearby residents, represented in part by the ACLU of Oregon, who alleged the munitions were used in retaliation for First Amendment activity. On February 3, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring agents from using less-lethal munitions and chemical agents absent an imminent threat of physical harm.
CBP agents smashed a livestreaming bystander's car window and detained her for hours at an El Monte, California gas station
On January 30, 2026, federal agents responding to a Customs and Border Protection call surrounded U.S. citizen Maria Santay's car at a gas station in El Monte, California, and broke her window with a hammer while she livestreamed the encounter on Instagram and cried out that she was a citizen. Agents then drove her roughly 40 miles round trip to Santa Ana and back before releasing her from custody that evening; Santay says she was denied a restroom and made to urinate in handcuffs in a parking lot before her release.
DHS and ICE agents chased down and detained a St. Peter, Minnesota bystander at gunpoint for filming an immigration operation
On January 29, 2026, DHS and ICE agents in three vehicles boxed in and detained a U.S. citizen at gunpoint in St. Peter, Minnesota after she filmed federal immigration agents from her car, dragging her from the vehicle and forcing her to the ground when she refused to exit. Agents held her and began driving her toward a Twin Cities-area immigration detention facility before turning back roughly 20 minutes later and returning her to St. Peter police without explanation or charge. DHS said she had driven recklessly and attempted to ram an officer's vehicle; her dashcam video, reviewed by NPR, shows her calmly refusing commands and asking bystanders to call 911.
Homeland Security Investigations agents pepper-sprayed bystanders during Phoenix-area Zipps raids that arrested 39 workers
On January 26, 2026, Homeland Security Investigations agents served search warrants at 15 Zipps Sports Grill locations across the Phoenix metro area, arresting 39 workers, including a married couple who had worked at the chain for 18 years. As agents left several locations, they pepper-sprayed bystanders and protesters who had gathered to watch or object, including a woman in Tempe who was hospitalized; a police-procedures expert who reviewed video of one incident found no use-of-force justification for it.
ICE-linked SUV accelerated at a Minnesota protest monitor before agents shouted her home address at her
Emily Beltz, 44, said that on January 26, 2026, an SUV she had been following near her Minneapolis-suburb apartment building -- after apparently identifying her home through license-plate tracking -- "suddenly turned and sped at" her car before braking hard at the last moment, while a masked agent inside shouted her home address at her. Beltz's account, along with nearly 100 other sworn statements describing federal agents in Minnesota's "Operation Metro Surge" immigration deployment identifying protest-monitors' home addresses, was later filed February 13, 2026 in an ACLU-led civil case, Tincher v. Noem.
Border Patrol agents shoot and kill U.S. citizen VA nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis
On January 24, 2026, two federal agents — Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and CBP officer Raymundo Gutierrez — shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and Department of Veterans Affairs intensive-care nurse, on a Minneapolis street during a federal immigration surge. The Department of Homeland Security said Pretti was armed and "violently resisted," but bystander videos showed him pepper-sprayed and pinned to the ground before the shots, and the Hennepin County medical examiner ruled the death a homicide. The two agents were placed on administrative leave and the Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation.
ICE agent drew gun, entered St. Paul restaurant chasing unidentified person, traumatizing staff and customers
On January 19, 2026, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent stepped out of his vehicle with his handgun drawn and entered Eastside Thai, a restaurant in St. Paul, Minnesota, after a person ran past the front door while the agent searched for an unspecified "kid." Co-owner Kou Lee said the agent accused the owners of "hiding the kid," and co-owner Elle Lee said the agent was shouting as he entered, then exited and re-entered with the weapon still unholstered before leaving; both owners said multiple customers and staff were left traumatized by the encounter.
Federal agents pepper-sprayed Minneapolis protesters outside Whipple building one day after court order barred it
On January 17, 2026, federal agents deployed chemical irritants against peaceful demonstrators outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis — conduct that U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez had specifically enjoined less than 24 hours earlier. The January 16 injunction, arising from an ACLU lawsuit over Operation Metro Surge, barred federal agents from pepper-spraying, arresting, or retaliating against peaceful protesters. Rather than comply, the Trump administration appealed and sought an Eighth Circuit stay, which the appellate court granted on January 21.
Lea County Sheriff's deputy tased traffic-stop subject after he was on the ground; charged with battery
On January 16, 2026, Lea County Sheriff's Deputy Dustyn Bennett stopped Israel Arenivas on New Mexico Highway 132 while investigating a report of a stolen motorcycle. Body camera footage obtained by KOB 4 shows Bennett grabbed Arenivas, threatened to tase him after he pulled free and remained standing, and then deployed a Taser twice -- once while Arenivas was standing and again after he was already on the ground. Bennett now faces a misdemeanor battery charge over the encounter.
Federal agents deployed tear gas under a Minneapolis family's vehicle, trapping six children inside
On January 14, 2026, federal agents responding to protests against Operation Metro Surge deployed tear gas that rolled under a family's SUV in north Minneapolis, trapping Destiny and Shawn Jackson and their six children — ages six months to eleven — inside as the vehicle's auto-locking doors initially prevented escape. Once extracted, Destiny Jackson performed CPR on the couple's six-month-old, who had stopped breathing; the infant was revived, and the family was hospitalized and decontaminated. DHS initially posted, then deleted, a statement blaming the family for bringing children to a "violent riot," before an agency spokesperson said the family had not intentionally been at the protest and were not the target of the agents' actions.
Hennepin County charges ICE agent in January Minneapolis shooting of Venezuelan immigrant
On May 18, 2026, Hennepin County prosecutors charged U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Christian Castro with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime in the January 14, 2026 shooting of Venezuelan immigrant Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis through the front door of a home in north Minneapolis. County Attorney Mary Moriarty said security-camera and physical evidence show Castro was never under threat — he was not struck by a shovel, broom, or other object — and then filed a false account of the encounter. The U.S. Department of Justice had previously dropped the federal assault charges that the Department of Homeland Security brought against Sosa-Celis and his cousin Alfredo Aljorna in February 2026 after the same footage contradicted the ICE agents' sworn statements; ICE placed two agents on administrative leave at that time.
Federal agents dragged U.S. citizen Aliya Rahman from her car and detained her without charge in Minneapolis
On January 13, 2026, masked federal agents smashed the window of U.S. citizen Aliya Rahman's car, cut her seatbelt, and dragged her out at a Minneapolis intersection while she was driving to an appointment at the city's Traumatic Brain Injury Center. Rahman, who is autistic and has a prior brain injury, told agents she was disabled; she was taken to the Whipple detention facility, denied medical care until she lost consciousness, and was never charged with a crime. The Department of Homeland Security called her an "agitator" who ignored commands to move her vehicle, one of seven people arrested at the scene during Operation Metro Surge.
ICE pepper-sprayed and detained two citizen legal observers in Minneapolis; one says HSI tried to recruit him as an informant
On the night of January 11-12, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in south Minneapolis pepper-sprayed the vehicle of two U.S. citizens conducting legal-observer work, Brandon Siguenza and Patricia O'Keefe, then smashed its windows and pulled them out despite their hands being raised -- an incident independently corroborated by neighbor-recorded video, according to a Snopes investigation -- arresting them for an "obstruction" charge that was never formally filed. The pair were held roughly eight hours at the Whipple Federal Building, where Siguenza says a Homeland Security Investigations agent offered him money and help bringing relatives into the country in exchange for the names of protest organizers and undocumented neighbors, which he refused; DHS disputed the account, calling any claim it offered money for information "FALSE" and alleging Siguenza and O'Keefe had themselves committed a felony by "stalking and obstructing ICE law enforcement." Upon release, agents directed Siguenza into a nearby area where tear gas was deployed and he was struck by a projectile.
Border Patrol agents choked and dragged Honduran cook from car, knocked him unconscious during St. Paul gas station arrest
On January 11, 2026, U.S. Border Patrol agents smashed the car window of Orbin Mauricio Henriquez Serrano, a Honduran restaurant cook, at a Speedway gas station in St. Paul, Minnesota, then dragged him from the vehicle, choked him, and knelt on his back while handcuffing him until he lost consciousness. Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino, who was directing enforcement activity in the area, watched the arrest. Henriquez Serrano was detained, denied medical care and a lawyer for days, and deported to Honduras before he could meet with the attorney his family had retained.
DHS agents blinded two protesters with crowd-control projectiles at a Santa Ana immigration protest
On the evening of January 9, 2026, federal Department of Homeland Security officers in riot gear fired crowd-control projectiles into a crowd of demonstrators outside a federal immigration building in Santa Ana, California, at a protest held in response to the ICE killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis. The projectiles blinded two protesters, 21-year-old Kaden Rummler and 31-year-old Britain Rodriguez, each in one eye; Rummler required six hours of surgery and was left with skull fractures and metal fragments near his carotid artery. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin characterized the demonstrators as "violent rioters" who threw "rocks, bottles and fireworks," a claim video evidence did not support, and did not address either man's injuries or identify the type of projectile fired.
ICE agent Jonathan Ross fatally shoots U.S. citizen Renee Good in Minneapolis
On January 7, 2026, ICE deportation officer Jonathan Ross fatally shot Renee Nicole Macklin Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen, on a south Minneapolis street during Operation Metro Surge after she stopped to object to the federal presence. Multiple bystander and bodyworn videos, and a New York Times multi-angle analysis, show her SUV turning away as Ross fired three shots. The administration branded Good a "domestic terrorist" and called the killing self-defense, while local officials said the footage contradicted that account; federal authorities later declined to investigate.
Police fired 27 shots at unarmed Navy veteran John Jenuwine; he bled out while officers watched
Washtenaw County Sheriff's deputies, pursuing an erratic white van, conducted two PIT maneuvers and fired 27 shots at an unarmed driver who did not match the dispatch description. John Andrew Jenuwine, 34, died of blood loss. Officers violated department policy by using deadly force without verbal engagement; the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide. Two deputies received 2024 commendations despite the killing.
Cuban ICE detainee dies under restraint at Camp East Montana; death ruled a homicide
On January 3, 2026, Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban man, died at ICE's Camp East Montana detention camp on the Army's Fort Bliss base in El Paso, Texas. The El Paso County Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide, finding the cause to be asphyxia due to neck and torso compression while he was being physically restrained by law enforcement. ICE first said he died after "experiencing medical distress," then attributed the death to a suicide attempt and an ensuing struggle with staff; it was the third detainee death at the facility, and no one has been charged.
2025 Events (11)
ICE agent Adam Saracco pushed attorney and activist Robert Held to the ground at Brookfield, Illinois gas station
On December 27, 2025, off-duty U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Adam Saracco pushed attorney and immigrant-rights activist Robert Held to the ground at a gas station in Brookfield, Illinois. Held, who is over 60, had followed Saracco's vehicle from an ICE processing facility in Broadview and was filming him when the confrontation occurred.
Border Patrol agent pointed gun at bystanders, another punched handcuffed detainee in Evanston, Illinois
On October 31, 2025, U.S. Border Patrol agent Timothy Donahue pointed his service weapon at unarmed bystanders and threatened to shoot them after a vehicle crash in Evanston, Illinois, while fellow agent Thomas Parsons punched a handcuffed man on the ground. Agents pepper-sprayed onlookers and detained three U.S. citizens, who were released without charges after several hours in federal custody. Both agents were operating under U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Operation Midway Blitz.
ICE officer Israel Hernandez threatened to shoot Portland teenager during 911 call
On October 31, 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Israel D. Hernandez pulled his service weapon and told a 911 dispatcher he might have to shoot a teenager who had punched the window of his unmarked SUV in Northeast Portland, Oregon. Hernandez did not fire, and the teenager fled without being identified. The confrontation surfaced publicly four months later when Oregon Public Broadcasting obtained the 911 recording and a corroborating police report via a public-records request.
CBP officer choked and shoved protester to the ground outside Durango, Colorado ICE facility
During an overnight protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Durango, Colorado, in the early morning of October 28, 2025, a masked Customs and Border Protection officer — later identified as Nicholas Rice — grabbed protester Franci Stagi's phone and threw it across the street, then put her in a chokehold and shoved her to the ground. Multiple bystander videos captured the encounter. The protest had begun in response to ICE's warrantless arrest of a Durango resident and his two children the previous morning.
Border Patrol agents defied supervisor's order to end Chicago car chase, crashed into vehicle at 51 mph
On October 14, 2025, Border Patrol agents Benito Nunez, Carlos Chavira Jr., and Jesus Guillen pursued a fleeing vehicle for 18 minutes through Chicago's East Side neighborhood, disregarding their supervisor's repeated radio orders to stop the chase. The pursuit ended when the agents' vehicle blew a tire and crashed into the fleeing SUV at 51 mph near East 105th Street and South Avenue N — a crash DHS publicly described as an authorized "precision immobilization technique," a claim later-released body-camera footage contradicted.
Border Patrol agent shot Chicago citizen Marimar Martinez five times; DHS's same-day account was contradicted by its own evidence
On October 4, 2025, U.S. Border Patrol agent Charles Exum shot Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old U.S. citizen and Montessori teaching assistant, five times through her car window in Chicago's Brighton Park after she followed agents' vehicle and honked to warn others of their presence. Hours later DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin publicly said agents had been "rammed by vehicles and boxed in by 10 cars" and that Martinez was armed with a "semi-automatic weapon" — claims the next day's criminal complaint, body-camera footage and the agents' own reports did not support. Martinez was charged with assaulting federal officers, the charges were dismissed with prejudice in November 2025, and Exum was placed on paid administrative leave rather than disciplined.
Brentwood, California police restrained 72-year-old Yolanda Ramirez during arrest; she died days later, independent autopsy ruled homicide
On September 26, 2025, Brentwood, California police officers responding to a family-dispute call handcuffed and restrained 72-year-old Yolanda Ramirez, allegedly slamming her head against a patrol vehicle and leaving her unattended in the back of the car for about ten minutes without telling arriving paramedics she had struck her head; she died October 3, 2025, of a brain bleed. The Contra Costa County Coroner attributed her death primarily to natural causes and found no significant trauma contribution, but an independent autopsy commissioned by her family found the cause of death was multiple blunt-force trauma and asphyxiation from police restraint and ruled the manner of death homicide.
ICE agent fatally shot Silverio Villegas-González during a traffic stop in Franklin Park, Illinois
On September 12, 2025, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed Silverio Villegas-González, a 38-year-old Mexican national and father of two, during a targeted traffic stop in Franklin Park, Illinois, part of the Chicago-area "Midway Blitz" enforcement surge. The Department of Homeland Security said he resisted arrest, fled, and dragged an agent, but eyewitnesses disputed that anyone was dragged and video showed agents breaking his car window before he was shot at close range. Bodycam footage showed the agent describing his own injuries as "nothing major."
Federal agents shot legal observer six times with rubber bullets, deployed tear gas during Camarillo cannabis farm raid
On July 10, 2025, federal agents conducting an immigration raid on Glass House Farms, a cannabis facility in Camarillo, California, deployed tear gas and shot Ventura-based attorney Vanessa Valdez six times with rubber bullets despite her identifying herself as a legal observer. Valdez, left unable to see and forced to crawl to escape, has since filed a Federal Tort Claims Act claim seeking compensation for medical costs, lost wages, and emotional trauma. The Department of Homeland Security disputed the account, saying agents used pepper balls rather than rubber bullets, and only after protesters attempted to breach the perimeter.
Colorado Springs police officers tased suspect and threatened to kill him during 2025 arrest, federal judge found
On June 17, 2025, Colorado Springs officers Ryan Paine, Daniel Mork, and Kirby chased and arrested Anthony Miranda following a theft call, tasing him at least five times while Officer Kirby pressed his service weapon to Miranda's head and threatened to kill him as he lay pinned face-down. In an August 24, 2026 suppression order, U.S. District Senior Judge William J. Martínez found the tasing and death threat had rendered Miranda's statements from that phase of the encounter involuntary and suppressed them, while separately upholding the legality of the initial stop and Miranda's later, Mirandized statements.
ICE agent fatally shot U.S. citizen Ruben Ray Martinez at a South Padre Island traffic stop; federal role concealed for nearly a year
On March 15, 2025, ICE agent Jack C. Stevens fatally shot Ruben Ray Martinez, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen, during a traffic stop near an accident scene on South Padre Island, Texas. Agents said Martinez accelerated his vehicle toward an officer, but the sole eyewitness said the car was stopping and Martinez "never hit the gas" when the shots were fired, and no agent present wore a body camera. Authorities described the killing only as an "officer-involved shooting" and concealed for nearly a year that a federal immigration officer fired the fatal shots, a fact that emerged in 2026 through a public-records lawsuit rather than government disclosure.
2024 Events (2)
San Diego County sheriff's deputy Jeremiah Flores fractured a handcuffed detainee's spine, then falsified his report
On August 29, 2024, San Diego County Sheriff's Office Deputy Jeremiah Flores shoved a handcuffed, non-resisting pretrial detainee headfirst into the wall of a courthouse holding cell, fracturing the man's spine and causing a head injury that required surgery. Flores rendered no aid, left the injured man on the cell floor for more than two hours, and wrote in his incident report that no force had been used. He was later convicted of federal civil-rights and records-falsification charges and sentenced to 57 months in prison.
SFPD officer smashed driver's car window, pepper-sprayed him during 2024 stop based on license-plate error
On July 4, 2024, San Francisco police officers Vinesh Govindbhai and Jonathan Zepeda stopped driver Matthew Ludwig at a red light on O'Farrell Street after entering a Toyota's license plate number instead of his Honda Accord's and wrongly concluding his car was stolen; Govindbhai smashed Ludwig's window with a baton, the officers pulled him to the pavement, and pepper-sprayed him in the face at a distance violating department policy, then cited him for reckless driving and resisting arrest even after realizing their mistake. In March 2026, the San Francisco Department of Police Accountability sustained findings that the officers used unnecessary force and issued the citation without cause; the Public Defender's Office made the findings public on August 10, 2026, after Ludwig died in September 2025.
2022 Events (1)
Border Patrol agent shot unarmed teen in Calexico eight times after two prior disciplined civilian shootings
On July 11, 2022, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Marcos Javier Andrade fired eight shots at 19-year-old Anthony Flores during an attempted traffic stop in Calexico, California, striking the unarmed driver in the neck, hip, shoulder, and hand. Flores, who was not engaged in any smuggling activity, survived with permanent disabilities and lasting psychological trauma. Federal prosecutors later revealed Andrade had previously been disciplined twice — in 2012 and 2017 — for firing his weapon at civilians, yet remained on active duty through the date of the 2022 shooting and for nearly four years after it.