Dramatic moment ICE officer shoves gun in the face of unarmed bystander during tense Hollywood operation
A dramatic video captured the moment an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shoved a gun in the face of an unarmed bystander during a tense operation in California.
The encounter took place on Friday just before 8.30am in North Hollywood after federal agents dragged a man off the sidewalk and into custody, witness Damari Butler told the Los Angeles Times.
Butler, who recorded the violent incident, said he was sitting on his balcony when he suddenly saw a man get tackled by two masked agents without any warning, he told the outlet.
‘There was no asking his name, no ID, nothing. They just grabbed him,’ Butler recalled.
The incident came amid President Trump’s immigration crackdown, which has been one of the biggest successes of his second term, despite frequent criticism over some ICE officers’ behavior.
Republicans are currently seeking to highlight their huge successes in driving down illegal immigration. Polls showing Trump’s unpopular Iran war are set to cost them the House of Representatives and possibly even the Senate in this week’s midterm elections.
The clip first showed two ICE agents taking another man into custody while the bystander walked two dogs.
Then, just seconds later, another agent ran over to the man with the dogs and told him to back away as he picked up a can of pepper spray and appeared to move it out of the way, Butler said.
The third agent, who was also covering his face, then shoved the man into a bush and pointed a gun at his face as the dogs barked, the video shows.
He was soon let go and screamed: ‘What the f** is wrong with you?’
An unarmed bystander had a gun shoved in his face by a masked ICE officer on Friday morning while he walked two dogs
The three agents stood in the street as the man they took into custody screamed.
People in the background were heard asking if someone had recorded the moment as the agents picked the handcuffed man up by his arms and legs and tried to get him in an SUV.
As they did so, the man with the dogs kept asking if someone got the car’s license plate while another SUV pulled up to the scene.
‘They’re hurting him! They’re hurting him!’ the bystander screamed.
One of the masked agents ran after the bystander again as he ran away screaming.
The video then panned back over to three agents who appeared to struggle to get the man in handcuffs inside the car.
He repeatedly screamed as one of the officers appeared to pull a taser on him.
The incident occurred when several federal agents arrested an unknown man who screamed as they tried to get him into a car. He was the only one detained during the incident
The clip ended with a total of four officers hovering over the man as people screamed in terror.
The identity of the man who was detained has not been revealed, nor has the reason for his arrest.
He was the only one detained during the incident.
The Daily Mail contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
