Report: ICE Breaks Arm Of US Citizen In California During Wrongful Detainment

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are still detaining, arresting and brutalizing U.S. citizens, and while it’s a simple thing for the government and the rest of white conservative America to dismiss these incidents as innocent mistakes, the truth is they keep happening because they are bound to happen as long as agents are just spotting brown people and saying, “You don’t look like you belong here.”

In California, a man ended up in the hospital after an encounter with ICE agents over the weekend, which left him with a broken arm, according to his family, who also insist he is a U.S. Citizen.

The New York Times reported that Ricardo Gonzalez was riding an e-bike in Long Beach when he was struck by an unmarked vehicle, according to his daughter, Leslie Gonzalez, who posted about the encounter on Instagram. Meanwhile, video footage is making the rounds on social media, showing what appears to be a Black SUV striking an e-bike motorist, as well as footage of Gonzalez being handcuffed while he complains about his arm being broken.

From the Times:

It was unclear on Monday what led to the encounter, how it unfolded or whether the man was still in the hospital. But officers with the Long Beach Police Department arrived at the scene after being called in for backup by ICE, which reported that vehicles were being vandalized and that there was a person “in need of medical attention,” according to a statement from the police.

Officers then took a bleeding, handcuffed man to a nearby fire station, where they removed his handcuffs and later took him to a hospital, the statement said. The police said they were not involved in immigration enforcement and did not make any arrests at the scene.

In clips posted to social media, Mr. Gonzalez appears immobilized on his stomach by officers wearing ICE vests.

“My arm is broken, stop!” he yells, asking for medical assistance as officers handcuff him, restraining his arms behind his back.

Mr. Gonzalez is one of many U.S. citizens who have been mistakenly detained by federal immigration agents in operations that are part of the Trump administration’s deportation campaign.

But again, is it a mistake, or is it what will inevitably happen when violent federal agents are allowed to racially profile at will by this administration?

Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson sent a complaint to the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, demanding an independent investigation into how agents treated Gonzalez and the broader enforcement operation. On Instagram, Richardson wrote that ICE did not belong in his city and that the agency’s activities had undermined community safety.

“This is his neighborhood. He’s a father, he’s a dad,” Mr. Richardson said in a statement. “The reality is, you know, that wasn’t what he expected that day. He didn’t expect that his children were going to see him cuffed and on the curb. He simply just wants his kids to be safe.”

But the thing is, he and his kids aren’t safe. None of us are safe as long as ICE is serving as the MAGA Gestapo, and the Trump administration simply has no interest in reigning their agents in. Immigrants aren’t safe. Protesters aren’t safe. U.S. Citizens are not safe. That’s the real story.

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