Human Impact Project

Newly emerged video shows Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICE nurse, shouting at federal agents, spitting toward them and kicking their vehicle's tail light during a January 13 Minneapolis protest before agents pushed and tackled him to the ground and fired gas into the crowd. A representative for Pretti's family confirmed he is the person in the video and said he was injured in the encounter but did not seek medical attention, though he told his family about the incident. The confrontation occurred 11 days before Pretti was shot and killed by Border Patrol officers on January 24. The family's attorney said the earlier assault could not justify his killing, and the Department of Homeland Security said its investigations unit is reviewing the video.

During an anti-ICE protest outside an ICE building in Santa Ana, California on January 13, 2026, a 21-year-old college student named Kaden Rummler was struck in the face by a projectile fired by a federal officer at close range. The incident resulted in permanent blindness in his left eye, skull fractures, and required six hours of surgery. The demonstration was organized in response to the shooting death of Renee Good by a federal agent in Minneapolis. Rummler's family has spoken out about the incident.

Jonathan Aguilar Garcia, a 17-year-old U.S. citizen working at a Target store in Richfield, Minnesota, was tackled to the ground, handcuffed, and forced into a van by federal immigration agents on January 8, 2026, after being asked if he was a citizen. Video captured by Bring Me The News shows Garcia repeatedly shouting, "I'm literally a U.S. citizen," as he presented identification including a passport while being restrained. His sister said on Facebook that he hit his head during the confrontation but was otherwise safe. Garcia was released hours later with injuries at a Walmart parking lot after agents verified his citizenship. A coworker, Christian Miranda Romano, was also detained in the same incident and later released. The Department of Homeland Security said one of the two employees was arrested for assaulting a federal officer, though no charges have been filed. The detention occurred during Operation Metro Surge, an immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota that began December 1, 2025, and is among more than 500 cases ProPublica has documented of U.S. citizens detained by immigration agents under the Trump administration.

ICE agents rammed into Christian Molina's car in south Minneapolis on January 12, 2026, then questioned him about his immigration status. Molina, a U.S. citizen, refused to comply and was not detained. The incident occurred two blocks from where an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good on January 7.

Ava Corey-Gruenes was pepper-sprayed in the face by a masked ICE agent during a confrontation between federal immigration agents and protesters in Mankato, Minnesota, on January 12, 2026. Video shows the agent exiting a vehicle and ordering the crowd to move before spraying her; she had told the agent "I don't pose a threat" moments before being sprayed. The same agent was accused by another protester of using bear spray. The incident drew public anger, with more than 300 residents packing a Mankato City Council meeting afterward to address the use of chemical irritants during ICE operations.

On January 12, 2026, federal immigration agents stopped Christian Molina, a U.S. citizen, in Minneapolis. As agents questioned Molina, residents emerged onto snow-lined streets to protest, filming the encounter. When someone threw a snowball toward the agents, federal officers responded by deploying tear gas into the crowd, pepper-spraying protesters and news photographers at close range, and firing pepper balls that struck journalist A.C. Thompson three times, including above the right eye. Additional team members from FRONTLINE and ProPublica, including director Gabrielle Schonder and director of photography Tim Grucza, were pepper-sprayed as agents departed. A former Department of Justice official later characterized the response as "use of excessive force after use of excess force."

ICE agents rammed the car of Christian Molina, 40, as he drove to meet his wife at a mechanic's shop in south Minneapolis on Jan. 12. Agents questioned his immigration status and asked for ID, but released him after he said he was a U.S. citizen. The incident occurred two blocks from where an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good on Jan. 7, and a crowd that gathered at the scene was met with chemical irritants deployed by agents. Molina and his wife live in Coon Rapids but had lived in south Minneapolis for years.

Brandon Sigüenza, a volunteer legal observer, was arrested and detained for eight hours by ICE agents while documenting enforcement activity near the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis. He and fellow observer Patty O'Keefe had followed agents' vehicles after learning ICE had pepper-sprayed another observer nearby; agents then surrounded their car, sprayed pepper spray into its air intake, shattered the windows, and handcuffed Sigüenza without identifying themselves or giving instructions. He was released without charges. Sigüenza said immigration enforcement in the area had already affected his students, his father, and his neighbors, and his detention occurred amid broader coordinated community efforts to document and warn residents about ICE activity in Minnesota.

Border Patrol agents smashed a car window and dragged a Honduran man from a vehicle during an immigration enforcement operation at a gas station in St. Paul, Minnesota, on January 11, 2026. Video posted by Ford Fischer of News2Share shows agents surrounding the parked vehicle, breaking the window, pulling the man out, forcing him to the ground, and taking him into custody as a crowd gathered. DHS said the man had a final order of removal issued in 2020 and refused to obey orders. After multiple warnings, agents broke the window and arrested him. During the arrest, bystanders surrounded the agents, who fired pepper balls toward the crowd. A U.S. citizen who hit an officer was also arrested. Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino was present at the scene and was heard ordering bystanders to move back. A second individual was also detained during the incident.

A 21-year-old protester named Kaden Rummler was struck in the face by a nonlethal round fired by a Department of Homeland Security agent during a protest outside a federal building in Santa Ana. The impact left shrapnel embedded in his eyes and face, resulting in permanent blindness in his left eye and a fractured skull. The incident occurred during demonstrations against the fatal shooting of Renee Good by a federal immigration agent in Minnesota.

Jorge Elieser Gonzalez Ochoa, a 27-year-old Colombian national seeking asylum, was arrested by plainclothes ICE agents at Bread Garden Market in Iowa City on September 25, 2025, while working and wearing a court-ordered GPS monitor. Agents charged him with document fraud and misuse of immigration documents. A federal judge ruled the DHS actions "indefensible" and found Gonzalez Ochoa was illegally detained, noting agents attempted to circumvent a court order and violated procedural requirements. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to time served plus one day. After several months in federal immigration detention, Gonzalez Ochoa was released following sustained community organizing and protests by groups including the Iowa City Catholic Worker and Escucha Mi Voz Iowa.

Jose Roberto Ramirez, a 20-year-old descendant of the Red Lake Nation, was detained by ICE agents on January 8, 2026, after being pulled over at a Hy-Vee grocery store in Robbinsdale, Minnesota. According to one account, agents struck him on his face and body during the arrest despite his aunt identifying him as a citizen and Native American. Ramirez is not enrolled in the Red Lake Nation due to the tribe's blood quantum requirement and had no tribal identification. He was released after his mother provided his birth certificate. ICE later claimed he assaulted a federal officer; Ramirez denies the charge and has since been charged with assaulting a federal officer. Red Lake Nation's legal department provided assistance with documentation of his citizenship and family tribal connection.

Border Patrol agents, operating under Chief Greg Bovino, detained two U.S. citizen teenagers, Jonathan Aguilar Garcia and Christian Miranda Romano, while they were working at a Target store in Richfield, Minnesota. Agents reportedly targeted them based on their appearance during an immigration enforcement operation. Garcia presented a U.S. passport asserting his citizenship but was still detained; he was injured during the encounter and later released without charges in a Walmart parking lot without transportation assistance. Miranda Romano, a minor with no criminal history, remained in custody at Fort Snelling despite his family's efforts to contact ICE. State Representative Michael Howard criticized the incident as 'pure madness,' and the detentions prompted protests calling for accountability and restrictions on agents entering businesses without warrants.

Britain Rodriguez, 31, an Orange County resident and after-school program supervisor, was shot in the face with a less-lethal round by Homeland Security officers during an anti-ICE protest in downtown Santa Ana on January 9, 2026. The projectile damaged his iris, cornea, and lens, causing a cataract and severe vision loss. Officers gave no warning before firing at protesters demonstrating against ICE deportations and the killing of Renee Good in Minnesota. Rodriguez was unable to work or drive following the injury and faces uncertainty about his vision recovery.

Jose Roberto Ramirez, a 20-year-old member of the Red Lake Nation, was forcibly removed from his aunt's car by ICE agents in Robbinsdale, Minnesota, and struck during the encounter. He was detained for approximately 10 hours. Tribal leaders and members of the Minnesota state legislature's Native American Caucus reported that federal agents were racially profiling Native Americans—U.S. citizens with dual tribal and federal citizenship—mistaking them for immigrants based on skin color. The incident was recorded on camera.

Federal officers drove through a crowd of protesters outside Hartford's federal building on January 8, 2026, striking at least one person with their vehicles. The protest was held as a vigil for Renee Macklin Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. Hartford police are investigating potential hit-and-run and assault charges against the federal officers involved.

ICE agents arrested Alberto Castañeda Mondragón near a St. Paul shopping center on January 8, 2026, and claimed he suffered severe skull fractures and brain hemorrhages by running headfirst into a wall while handcuffed. Medical staff at Hennepin County Medical Center, including doctors and nurses, stated his injuries were inconsistent with that account and suggested he was mistreated by federal agents. Disagreement exists between ICE and hospital staff regarding custody practices and restraint policies.

A man named Julio, an ImmDef Law Center client and father of a U.S. military servicemember, died on February 25 after his health rapidly declined following ICE detention. Despite having a lawful pathway to permanent residency and being medically vulnerable, ICE refused to release him and he was handcuffed to a hospital bed during his final days. His attorney secured his release but the damage to his health was irreversible.

Mar Navarro, a DJ and founder of the Minneapolis club night Gothess, was detained by ICE agents on January 8, 2026, while visiting an immigrant-owned bakery in Northeast Minneapolis. Navarro was cuffed so tightly during the arrest that their wrists ached and required a splint for weeks afterward. They were transported to the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building but ultimately released. The detention occurred during "Operation Metro Surge," a surge of 3,000 ICE agents deployed to Minnesota in early January 2026.

Anna Brauch, a local artist, was detained by ICE agents on January 8, 2026, in Northeast Minneapolis while standing near her car, which bore the message "trans rights are human rights." She was seized and beaten during the arrest, sustaining tendon injuries from rough handling. Brauch was transported to the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building but was ultimately released. The detention occurred during "Operation Metro Surge," a surge of 3,000 ICE agents deployed to Minnesota in early January 2026.