A U.S. citizen claims in an upcoming $1 million lawsuit that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents assaulted him and threw him in lockup because he was recording their activities at a Home Depot, NBC News reported on Wednesday.
The suit, backed by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) says that Job Garcia, a 37-year-old Ph.D. student and photographer, was at the big box hardware store in Hollywood while doing delivery work for an online business, and took out his phone to record agents.
He was then allegedly tackled to the ground violently by agents and detained for more than 24 hours illegally.
MALDEF "submitted the claim against Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Border Patrol and other Department of Homeland Security agencies involved in Garcia's arrest," said the report. "MALDEF also said that Garcia's arrest and detention were racially motivated and that the government agents may have violated his constitutional protections for free speech, his right to remain silent, his freedom from unreasonable search and seizure and his right to due process."
"The Border Patrol and ICE agents unlawfully restrained and detained Mr. Garcia for more than 24 hours without any valid grounds for interfering with his liberty and freedom of movement and they did so based on legally prohibited grounds," MALDEF said in the complaint.
The group said Garcia suffered bruises to his back, neck, arms, face and legs due to the tackling and restraint.
The Trump administration is denying any misconduct, with Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin saying that Garcia attacked the agents and they detained him for this reason.
This is not the first incident involving a citizen being detained by immigration officials. Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, another U.S. citizen, found himself in an ICE lockup after being arrested by a Florida trooper earlier this year. They have also targeted immigrants who are in the U.S. legally, including a Georgia-based Spanish language reporter covering deportation protests.