ICE agents point guns at bystanders during violent arrest in Maryland

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For about nine minutes Wednesday morning, ICE agents pinned a man to the ground in the middle of a Maryland intersection. It was broad daylight as he screamed in anguish and shouted for help in both Spanish and English. When bystanders gathered to bear witness, agents briefly brandished their guns and pointed at them, with one officer appearing to keep his finger on the trigger for several minutes after. According to witness Raphi Talisman, “It looked like he was trying to calm himself, but at the same time, his gun was brandished and he was ready.”

Talisman posted to Facebook Wednesday a more than nine minute video he’d just recorded at the intersection of Hamilton St. and Queens Chapel Rd. in Hyattsville, just 6.5 miles from The White House. The freelance photojournalist captioned it: “The video I took of them speaks for itself. Ice treated the man they arrested like an animal! I just dropped my son off at school and I was coming home when I saw this. Notice the Ice officer pulls his gun out.” 

Talisman’s video, along with others reviewed by The Handbasket, begin while the incident is already in progress, with the man face down in the middle of the intersection just beyond a crosswalk while two ICE agents physically restrain him. Just before he began recording, Talisman was sitting in his car when he saw a man run into the intersection with the two agents chasing him. Once they tackled him to the ground, Talisman got out of his car and began recording.

The Handbasket spoke to Talisman by phone Friday morning to get additional context about the violence he witnessed. He said after seeing videos from around the country this year of ICE brutality, he’d been waiting for something like this to happen in the town he calls home. “It felt totally familiar and I think a lot of people are primed for it, especially if you live in an area that has a diverse population, and if one is following the news and just paying attention,” Talisman said.

In the video, agents can be seen kneeling on the man’s back and crushing his neck. At one point the gun falls out of one of the agents’ holsters and after scrambling to grab it, he points it at the crowd of people watching and filming his brutality. His partner briefly draws his weapon and aims at the crowd, too, while the man on the ground repeatedly yells “I am American!” Talisman estimates there were about 30 witnesses gathered at the scene, with many others driving by. 

After about 20 seconds, the first officer aims his gun towards the ground, with one hand resting on top of the gun and the other appearing to still be on the trigger. He remains in this position for another seven minutes. “What’re you gonna do? Shoot me?” one witness yells. “Go ahead. Shoot me.”

At least four additional agents arrive on the scene to help keep the captured man on the ground while their armed colleague gazes menacingly at witnesses and takes heaving breaths. At one point you can hear the man on the ground yell “I live in America! I love you America!” None of the agents on the scene would provide their badge numbers or names when asked repeatedly by witnesses. 

As the witnesses implore in Spanish for the man to tell them his name, the officer with the gun screams “Are you gonna take him home? You want him? Are you gonna take care of him?” When one witness asks why the man was arrested, the officer shouts “Because he’s a criminal, how bout that?” He justifies his actions by telling witnesses “I have to protect my people.”

Eventually the man’s hands and feet are shackled by agents and he’s thrown in the back of a silver minivan with Florida license plates. Talisman said that when the minivan door was opened, he saw two other men who appeared to be detained as well. According to Talisman and other community members, there had been two other reported ICE incidents in the area that day. 

The violent incident was also witnessed by Father Vidal Rivas, the Senior Priest at nearby St. Matthews Episcopal Church in Hyatsville, who happened to be getting gas nearby when the arrest in the intersection unfolded. He recorded and posted a brief video of his own. “I felt indignant, powerless, watching a scene of such violence,” Father Rivas told The Handbasket. “It is not acceptable and was unjustified; it signaled that the officer was losing control.”

St. Matthews has served as a safe space for community members in need of help, regardless of status. In January when Trump’s deportation plans were already well underway, he pledged to become legal guardian for any children whose parents were deported, signing documents on behalf of 14 children, ages three to 17. Father Rivas has been doing this work for more than a decade, with Rev. Sally Ethelston joining him in December 2022 as Deacon. Each Sunday she recruits volunteers to stand guard outside the church doors to make sure the largely Latino congregation remains safe.

“This is very real and very present,” Ethelston told The Handbasket of the violence witnessed by Father Rivas. “It’s very scary for a lot of people. We’re starting to see a decrease in attendance. Some members have left for other parts of the country, and some decided to leave the country altogether.” She said multiple members have been detained by immigration officials, and a relative of one member was deported. 

I asked Father Rivas what he’d say to people who want to help right now but are afraid to stick their necks out. “First, don't provoke the officers,” he said. “Second, record and share what you record; third, ask the person being detained for their information (name), to be able to inform the person’s family. Finally, for those who are nearby, it is important that persons without documents do not expose themselves to the risk of arrest.”

The offices of Maryland US Senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks have not responded to The Handbasket’s request for comment, nor has the office of Congressman Glenn Ivey, who represents the area. So far it appears no local elected officials have publicly commented.

A common thread through so many of these violent ICE confrontations is how the agents so often appear on the verge of a nervous breakdown or actively in the throes of one. Emotionally unstable people carrying a badge and a gun and threatening people with impunity is a recipe for heartbreak and disaster. The incident in Hyattsville was a further escalation, with weapons being drawn. 

On Thursday another example of ICE violence ripped across the internet with a video showing an officer inside New York City federal immigration court grabbing a woman, throwing her against a hallway wall and then pushing her to the ground. Monica Moreta-Galarza was the bereft wife of a man who had just been snatched by ICE and, in the midst of trying to figure out why this was happening to her husband, was attacked. She was treated at a local hospital for injuries and later released. 

(In a genuinely shocking development, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin issued a statement Friday which said "The officer's conduct in this video is unacceptable and beneath the men and women of ICE. Our ICE law enforcement are held to the highest professional standards and this officer is being relieved of current duties as we conduct a full investigation.")

Thursday evening local leaders and activists convened in Foley Square just steps from the immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza for “New Yorkers against ICE.” Hundreds (including me) gathered close to hear New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas and others make it clear that ICE and any other agents of the fascist federal government are not welcome here or anywhere.

“Donald Trump: You will not win this war,” Williams shouted.

“He [the ICE officer] was trying to guide traffic with his gun in his hand as the skirmish was going on. Life was going on as usual, and at the same time, this horrifying scene was playing out,” Talisman said of what he witnessed on Wednesday, noting that school buses with children were driving by. “It just shows the level our country has gotten to. In the end, that kind of says it all. It's where we're at right now.”

Though Talisman was nervous about posting the video, he said he ultimately knew he must: “I think there's no time greater than now to use any kind of privilege you have or were born with to save our young democracy.”

If you’d like to help, Prince George’s County Immigrants Rights Collective has set up funds to help support families in the area impacted by state violence and said this fund, this fund and this fund are most urgent. People in the DC/Maryland area can report ICE sightings to CASA (888) 214-6016 and Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid (202) 335-1183.