SAN FRANCISCO, CA — A woman was arrested at San Francisco International Airport Sunday night by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who were there to assist with security operations amidst a partial government shutdown.
Video of the arrest was captured on social media and has since gone viral, amassing more than half a million views and 81,000 likes in 10 hours.
People can be heard shouting “shame on you” towards a group of uniformed officers who appeared to be establishing a perimeter between the arrest and the crowd.
“Leave her alone,” another person can be heard shouting. “You have no right to do this to a person,” another said.
It’s unclear why the woman was arrested. The incident appears to have happened around 10 p.m.
A second video of the arrest shows a sobbing woman on her knees, crying hysterically, being put into handcuffs, while a young girl in braids cries off to the side.
A person can be heard asking the people claiming to be ICE agents for their badge numbers, but they continuously ignore the question while continuing to arrest the woman.
SFO spokesperson Doug Yakel told KTVU that the arrest happened in Boarding Area E at the airport. Yakel said the incident appears to be unrelated to the Trump administration’s decision to deploy ICE agents into airports across the United States due to an ongoing partial government shutdown impacting the Transportation Security Administration.
“We understand federal officers were transporting two individuals on an outbound flight when this incident occurred,” Yakel told KTVU. “We believe this is an isolated incident and have no reason to suspect broader enforcement action at SFO.”
Senator Scott Wiener reposted the video on social media Monday morning, calling for ICE agents to get out of California.
“ICE was at SFO airport last night, terrorizing a mother while her daughter watched,” Wiener said. “So much for the ‘hey we’re sending ICE to airports to fill in for TSA’ BS.”