A 19-year-old man who says he is a U.S. citizen was tackled and arrested by an immigration officer following a collision between a border patrol vehicle and an SUV during a federal operation.
On Tuesday, Oct. 14, border patrol agents in a white truck were pursuing a red SUV before the truck collided with the other vehicle, ABC affiliate WLS reported. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told the outlet that the SUV’s driver — an alleged undocumented immigrant — had struck the agents’ truck.
Following the crash, two people who had been living in the U.S. illegally fled the scene, prompting agents to chase them, according to DHS. The agents eventually entered a nearby Walgreens.
Yarelly Jimenez, who went into the store with her partner and her sister’s boyfriend, Warren King, told CNN Newsource that she began recording the incident. In her video, masked agents could be seen searching the store as Jimenez shouted, “Get the f— out of here!”
As she exited Walgreens, Jimenez recorded 19-year-old King on the ground while a masked agent pinned him down.
“He’s a citizen,” Jimenez shouted repeatedly in the footage.
“Get the f— away from me,” the agent yelled back, ordering her to move. “You don’t know what’s going on, so get the f— back!”
King was taken into custody but later released, according to reports.
In an interview with WLS, King said he had been attempting to leave the store when he was suddenly tackled and arrested.
“He was just saying, ‘Why are you running?’” King, a recent high school graduate, told the outlet. “But I’m telling him, ‘I’m a U.S. citizen. I’m here. I’m legal. I’m born here.’ They didn’t try to hear any of that, though.”
DHS said that agents apprehended the two individuals they were pursuing and described them as “illegal aliens.” The agency told WLS that border patrol agents arrested the two “suspects.”
King added that he was held in a car with the two detainees for several hours before being released. “They just accepted their defeat. There wasn’t any talking in the back between them, and they knew each other,” he said.
Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin issued a statement providing the agency’s account of events.
“Here are the facts: immediately following illegal aliens ramming law enforcement with their vehicle, which resulted in the arrest of two illegal aliens from Venezuela, a violent mob began to surround law enforcement,” she said.
McLaughlin added that another teenager, a U.S. citizen who was not King, allegedly threw eggs and struck an agent in the head. According to DHS, the teen later gathered rocks after other objects had already been thrown at officers. He was arrested for assault, taken to the FBI Field Office in Chicago, admitted to throwing eggs, and was released without charges.
WLS reported that a crowd gathered around agents in a “tense standoff,” though most people remained peaceful. Some recorded the event on their phones, while others waved flags and chanted, “ICE, go home.”
The Chicago Police Department said officers arrived at 11:07 a.m. local time after reports of a crash involving federal authorities. Police remained on scene to de-escalate tensions and later witnessed people throwing objects at agents. In response, federal agents deployed tear gas into the street.
McLaughlin stated that the agency’s officers “are facing a surge in assaults against them.”
“CBP and our federal law enforcement partners will continue to enforce the law,” she said. “And if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Deputy Mayor Beatriz Ponce de Leon, who later arrived at the scene, offered a different perspective. “There is absolutely no reason to have this kind of chaos happening in our communities,” she said, according to WLS. “It’s putting people at risk, putting people in harm’s way, and exacerbating the fear that people already feel.”
King said his experience serves as a warning. “I just graduated high school,” he said. “So they can come for literally anybody. And that’s not right.”
