Federal immigration agents have detained a U.S. citizen in Minnesota at gunpoint without a warrant. That's according to ChongLy “Scott” Thao, who says agents forced open his door, entered with guns drawn and led him outside in his underwear in freezing conditions.

Thao, who has been a U.S. citizen for decades, said that as he was being detained he asked his daughter-in-law to find his identification but the agents told him they didn’t want to see it.

Instead, as his 4-year-old grandson watched and cried, Thao was led out in handcuffs wearing only sandals and underwear with just a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

Videos captured the scene, which included people blowing whistles and horns and neighbors screaming at the more than a dozen gun-toting agents to leave Thao’s family alone.

Thao said agents drove him “to the middle of nowhere” and made him get out of the car in the frigid weather so they could photograph him. He said he feared they would beat him. He was asked for his ID, which agents earlier prevented him from retrieving.

Agents eventually realized that he was a U.S. citizen with no criminal record, Thao said, and an hour or two later, they brought him back to his house. There they made him show his ID and then left without apologizing for detaining him or breaking his door, Thao said.

  • Mantzy81@aussie.zoneEnglish
    43·
    2 hours ago

    Sure sounds like a terrorist organisation.

    Which is about right. Pre-9/11, the US’s model of a “terrorist” was a white, 30 something, loser, guy - a Timothy McVeigh-type. Identical to 95% of ICE agents.

    Maybe they should return to that model.

  • AbsolutelyNotAVelociraptor@sh.itjust.works
    9·
    1 hour ago

    Honest question for americans: do you guys use armored doors for your houses?

    I’m reading of ICE breaking your doors to enter your houses and I’m here in my house, with an armored door that makes demolishing the wall an easier way to break in my house (and that it’s the norm here) and I wonder if you shouldn’t be using those or, if you already do, what kind of tools do ICE have to break your doors.

    • MnemonicBump@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      13·
      45 minutes ago

      Armored door? No, that is absolutely not a thing in the U.S. I’ve never even heard of that outside of, like, some billionaire’s private compound or something

      Edit: And it look like from a cursory search that they are OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive.

    • empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      4·
      22 minutes ago

      No, most American residential doors are built to cheapest possible standards and are usually two ultra thin steel sheets with styrofoam sandwiched in between. Couple steps above cardboard.

      Source: I work for a door company

    • FartsWithAnAccent@fedia.io
      5·
      1 hour ago

      I have 12 gauge shotgun full of slugs for any criminals trying to gain illegal entry into our home, it doesn’t care whether they came in through the door or not. Castle doctrine applies to everybody where I live.

      • JohnnyFlapHoleSeed@lemmy.world
        1·
        7 minutes ago

        Sleep in the basement as long as there is no entry on that level. You’ll here the commotion and you have about 30 seconds to get your gear and ambush the bottom of the stairs. Have welding glasses in your kit in case they flash out, but honestly you’ll hear when they move to or from the stairs. Know the flash will come before they rush

  • dumples@piefed.socialEnglish
    2·
    23 minutes ago

    Of course they are targeting wonderful Hmong community here in the Twin Cities. Most of which are US citizens all of which are here because they ran from Vietnam and Laos after supporting the US in the Vietnam war. Disgusting.