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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.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Durango, Colorado

Abuses documented

Actors

In the early morning hours of October 28, 2025, a masked U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer used physical force against a demonstrator during an overnight protest outside the ICE field office in Durango, Colorado. The officer — later identified as Nicholas Rice — grabbed the phone that protester Franci Stagi was using to record and threw it across the street, then grabbed her, put her in a chokehold, and shoved her to the ground before retreating onto ICE facility property. Multiple bystander videos captured the encounter.

The protest had begun the previous morning in response to ICE's warrantless arrest of a Durango resident, Fernando Jaramillo-Solano, and his two children. Stagi said she was documenting the officers when the confrontation escalated, and described being frightened by how quickly she lost control of the situation. The use of force against a person who was peacefully protesting and recording officers in a public place is what this entry records.

Updates

2026-04-21 — Prosecutor charged Rice with assault and criminal mischief [1]

On April 21, 2026, 6th Judicial District Attorney Sean Murray charged Rice with third-degree assault and criminal mischief, following an investigation by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation that the Durango police chief had requested. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson called the charges "unlawful and nothing more than a political stunt," asserting that federal officers acting in the course of their duties can only be investigated by other federal agencies.

Why we recorded this

The First Amendment protects the right to peacefully protest and to record law enforcement in public, and officers may not use force to punish or silence those activities. A federal Customs and Border Protection officer grabbed a demonstrator who was recording outside a Durango ICE facility, threw her phone, put her in a chokehold, and shoved her to the ground. This archive records when government agents use physical force against protesters and against people documenting immigration enforcement, eroding the rights to assembly, free expression, and bodily security.

Sources

  1. Federal immigration officer charged with assault over confrontation at Durango ICE protest — Colorado Newsline primary accessed July 16, 2026
  2. CBP officer charged with assault over treatment of protester outside Colorado ICE facility — PBS NewsHour primary accessed July 16, 2026
  3. Federal agent charged with assault and criminal mischief in Colorado — The Guardian primary accessed July 16, 2026

See also