Two Texas teenagers say they were assaulted and detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents when they stopped to observe an immigration raid on their way to a U.S. Marines recruitment office.
According to one of the boys' mothers, Teresa Ochoa, the 17-year-olds are both American citizens who had stopped to record enforcement action in Alamo, Texas, on September 11, when agents pulled one out of his car and handcuffed him on the ground. His friend was allegedly assaulted. Footage of the incident was shared on social media, appearing to show an agent hitting one of the boys four times.
Luis Ochoa, who could not be reached for comment on Friday, said agents also deployed pepper spray during the encounter. "[They] arrested me for no reason," he told KRGV.com. "They got on top of me saying, 'Don't resist.' I was never resisting.
They broke my wrist." Ochoa’s mother, meanwhile, said she was troubled by the incident. "He is a minor," Teresa Ochoa told the outlet. "It's traumatic enough for an adult, for something like this to happen to him is really tough.
It was eight hours without hearing from him. They wouldn't give me any information—they behaved very badly." DHS described the two teenagers as anti-ICE agitators who had tried to obstruct federal agents, with a spokesperson telling Newsweek that any violence toward ICE officers would not be tolerated. "Our officers carry out their Congressionally mandated duties in service to public safety and the rule of law,'" a spokesperson said.
"Any bystander or individual who assaults, obstructs, or violently attacks officers will be subject to arrest and prosecution permitted by law." Newsweek reached out to the Alamo Police Department for comment Friday. In the footage, a red car is seen stopped in the middle of the street with individuals believed to be ICE agents in plain clothes standing by the driver and passenger doors. Two of the agents then try to pull the passenger out of the car before using force to place him on the ground and handcuff him.
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