\n The young man was handcuffed by two agents, one of whom put him in a chokehold while he was on his knees on the snow-covered street before forcing him into a gray SUV that appeared to be unmarked as onlookers yelled out in protest, video shows.\n <\/p>\n
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Video shows masked federal agent put Somali US citizen in chokehold\n <\/p>\n
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Video shows masked federal agent put Somali US citizen in chokehold<\/p>\n
0:25 <\/p>\n
\n Mubashir said the agents interrogated him about his immigration status and took him to a federal facility as he repeatedly asserted he\u2019s a US citizen, tried to show them a digital copy of his passport and pleaded with them to let him go.\n <\/p>\n
\n The violent detainment in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood on Tuesday has become another flashpoint in the Trump administration\u2019s new immigration enforcement operation<\/a> targeting undocumented Somali immigrants in Minneapolis and St. Paul as part of its sweeping deportation push that has led to a surge of federal agents in blue cities like Los Angeles<\/a>, Chicago<\/a>, Charlotte<\/a> and New Orleans<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Local and state leaders in Minnesota have decried the operation for singling out the nation\u2019s largest population of people from Somalia who they say are vital to the fabric of the state. As reports of US citizens being detained in the sweeps accumulate, Somalis in the Twin Cities are grappling with rippling fears and heightened anxieties<\/a> as the federal presence looms over their community, against the backdrop of President Donald Trump\u2019s rhetorical attacks describing them as \u201cgarbage\u201d<\/a> who should \u201cgo back to where they came from.\u201d<\/a>\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cAll I did was step outside as a Somali American, and I just got chased by a masked person,\u201d said Mubashir.\n <\/p>\n \n When asked about the incident, the Department of Homeland Security said ICE agents were having a \u201cconsensual\u201d conversation with a suspected undocumented immigrant near a location that has \u201ca high level of criminal activity\u201d when Mubashir \u201cwalked out of a nearby restaurant, turned around, and fled from law enforcement.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The agents, having \u201creasonable suspicion,\u201d chased the man who \u201cviolently resisted officers and refused to answer questions,\u201d DHS said.\n <\/p>\n \n Mubashir, however, has said he was \u201csimply standing still\u201d after initially turning around when he saw a vehicle pull up.\n <\/p>\n \n Video shows Mubashir and the agent bursting into the building hallway after Mubashir appears to open the door.\n <\/p>\n \n The agent then pushes Mubashir against some fencing and can be heard asking, \u201cWhy are you running?\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n A second agent then joins them and appears to help restrain Mubashir, who can be heard repeating \u201cI\u2019m a citizen\u201d and screaming. Several people then come into the hallway from outside and begin filming the interaction and whistling before the agents pull Mubashir outside, video shows.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cA large crowd of agitators descended and began to threaten the officers,\u201d DHS continued. \u201cFor their safety, they temporarily detained the individual to safely finish asking their questions. Once officers finished their questioning, he was promptly released.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has called for a review of all recent federal arrests in a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem<\/a>, expressing concern over the detentions of Mubashir and other US citizens, including some who he said were reportedly documenting federal activity.\n <\/p>\n \n His letter came ahead of Noem\u2019s testimony before a contentious House committee hearing<\/a> Thursday in which she faced tough questioning on the administration\u2019s immigration policies and reports of citizens being detained.\n <\/p>\n \n Mubashir said he has lived in the United States since he was four years old and never expected he would one day be \u201cstanding in front of all these cameras and microphones.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n But after what happened to him, he said, he couldn\u2019t stay quiet.\n <\/p>\n \n Mubashir likened his treatment by the agents to getting \u201ckidnapped\u201d and described the incident as an assault. \u201cIt was inhumane. They dragged me across the road, they slammed me to the ground, choked me. That was uncalled for,\u201d he continued.\n <\/p>\n \n The federal agents who detained Mubashir refused his repeated attempts to show them a copy of his passport on his phone or provide his name and date of birth to prove his citizenship, he said. Instead, they insisted he allow them to take a photo of him to make the verification, according to Mubashir.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI declined, because how will a picture prove I\u2019m a US citizen?\u201d he said, before eventually letting them \u201cscan\u201d his face.\n <\/p>\n \n After several failed attempts to scan Mubashir\u2019s face and fingertips, the agents transported him to the detention center at Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, which houses an immigration court and Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices, he said.\n <\/p>\n \n There, he asked for water and medical assistance for his numb hands and injured back, but his requests were declined, Mubashir added. DHS\u2019s statement did not address these allegations.\n <\/p>\n \n It wasn\u2019t until a woman \u201cfinally\u201d listened to Mubashir that he was allowed to use his phone and show his digital passport copy as proof of his citizenship, he said. He was then released after two hours in custody, but when he asked agents to drive him back to where they took him into custody, they told him to walk back in the snow, Mubashir said. His parents eventually came to pick him up.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIf this is what\u2019s happening to a US citizen on camera, imagine what could happen to your loved ones when there\u2019s no one around to witness what they\u2019re doing,\u201d he said. \u201cThankfully, my incident was caught on camera.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The city\u2019s police chief apologized to Mubashir for what happened to him, \u201cin my city with people wearing vests that say police.\u201d But it\u2019s just one chapter in a larger volume of stories he\u2019s seen in recent days, raising concerns about questionable methods by federal agents that officials are sifting through, Chief Brian O\u2019Hara said at the news conference.\n <\/p>\n \n Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the city is \u201cdemanding accountability\u201d and immediate changes to how the federal immigration operation is being carried out in Minneapolis, while he assured the Somali community<\/a> that they have the \u201cfull support of this city government behind them.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n DHS said allegations from city leaders and other community members that federal agents are engaging in \u201cracial profiling\u201d as they carry out immigration enforcement duties are \u201cdisgusting, reckless, and categorically FALSE.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWhat makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is if they are illegally in the U.S.\u2014NOT their skin color, race, or ethnicity,\u201d the DHS statement reads. The agency said agents are \u201ctrained to ask a series of well-determined questions to determine status and removability\u201d when they encounter people subject to arrest.\n <\/p>\n \n When explaining the immigration push targeting undocumented Somalis, DHS has cited \u201cwidespread fraud, particularly marriage fraud, when it comes to immigration.\u201d Trump has also referenced a $300-million fraud scandal<\/a> in Minnesota in which dozens of people \u2013 the vast majority of them of Somali descent \u2013 were charged.\n <\/p>\n \n The scandal, which diverted money meant to feed children during the pandemic to fraudsters, is one of numerous Covid-19 fraud schemes<\/a> identified nationwide.\n <\/p>\n \n Mubashir\u2019s detainment \u201cunderscores the urgent need for greater oversight and reform in immigration enforcement practices,\u201d said City Council member Jamal Osman, a Somali immigrant who represents many migrants in his district.\n <\/p>\n![\"Immigration](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/c-gettyimages-2250546802.jpg\")
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