Federal immigration agents broke the arm of a U.S. citizen in what a Democratic congressman called a “brutal attack” during a clash with protesters in California.
Video from Saturday’s encounter in Long Beach shows Ricardo Gonzalez, identified as a former city employee, handcuffed and facedown in a gutter, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents kneeling on his back.
Rex Richardson, the mayor of Long Beach, told CNN on Sunday that Gonzalez called emergency responders for help at one point. During an online fundraiser for his medical bills, Gonzalez’s daughter, Leslie, said he was knocked off his e-bike by an unmarked ICE vehicle.
“He was subpoenaed twice, tackled to the ground and taken to the hospital with serious injuries,” Leslie’s fundraiser organizer said. “What ICE did was wrong.”
Richardson said, “When the police arrived, we know he was arrested. He was on a sidewalk. He was injured.”
The episode centering on Gonzalez is the latest in a number of recent violent and sometimes deadly clashes involving federal agents carrying out enforcement actions as part of Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, has not commented publicly on why Gonzalez was arrested. But it frequently presents the actions of its agents as self-defense or as protection of public safety.
The Guardian has contacted ICE for comment.
Congressman Robert Garcia, a Democrat who represents Long Beach, posted on X that he was disturbed by the encounter and called for the abolition of ICE.
“ICE agents brutally attacked and broke the arm of a North Long Beach resident and U.S. citizen,” he wrote.
“The videos are horrific and should concern not only our community but the country. I am proud of the neighbors who documented and defended the family terrorized by ICE.
“Donald Trump and his inhumane and illegal deportation machine must be stopped. Long Beach stands with our community and our immigrant families.”
In a statement, the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) said ICE personnel also called for emergency assistance “due to a vehicle vandalism in progress and a subject in need of medical assistance.” The LBPD statement also said officers arrived to find “a large group of disturbances” involving the federal agents.
“An officer located a handcuffed adult male, in ICE custody, who was bleeding,” the release said. “Officers transported the injured man in handcuffs to a nearby fire station. There, LBPD personnel removed the handcuffs and LBFD personnel transported the man to the hospital for medical treatment.”
The LBPD said it was not involved in any immigration enforcement actions and had not made any arrests. He said ICE agents who followed the agents into a secure parking lot “were then ordered to leave the station.”
“They were then informed that if they wished to file a vandalism report, they could contact the City of Long Beach Communications Center,” the LBPD statement added.
The Gonzalez case in Long Beach has parallels to an incident in Texas on Oct. 10 in which an ICE agent driving an unmarked SUV ran over a man and broke his leg in three places.
Harris County, Texas, District Attorney Sean Teare said he was considering criminal assault charges against the immigration agent after a video emerged showing the vehicle swerving into the man in a Houston-area parking lot.
At a news conference Friday, the Houston-based advocacy group FIEL accused ICE of hitting the man while searching for another who died years earlier. A FIEL official told The Associated Press that he gave Teare a death certificate for the man the group said was apparently looking for.
ICE did not respond to AP’s questions about the matter Friday.
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