Army veteran tackled and held 8 hours by ICE, denied attorney access in Minneapolis
Jan 23, 2026·Location: Minneapolis, MN
Country of origin: Mexico

William Vermie, a 39-year-old Army combat veteran and Purple Heart recipient, was tackled and detained by ICE agents while standing on a public sidewalk in Minneapolis observing agents detain two young men during an operation the government called Operation Metro Surge. He was taken to the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building and held for eight hours without being allowed to contact an attorney or his family, despite repeatedly requesting legal representation and his wife having already secured a lawyer on his behalf. DHS said Vermie was arrested for allegedly assaulting a law enforcement officer. Four attorneys told ABC News they were denied access to clients held at the same facility, with multiple attorneys reporting similar complaints from others arrested in recent Minneapolis ICE operations and alleging violations of Fifth and Sixth Amendment due process and right-to-counsel protections.
Timeline
Sources
- Army vet detained by ICE for 8 hours says he wasn't allowed to call an attorney
ABC News·Jan 23, 2026·archived copy
goodmorningamerica.com·Jan 23, 2026·archived copy
- Threads
- CourtListener
- Purple Heart recipient detained by ICE for 8 hours says he wasn't allowed to call an attorney
abc7news.com·Jan 23, 2026·archived copy
abc7.com·Jan 23, 2026·archived copy
- king5.com
More incidents in Minnesota
- Venezuelan man shot through door by ICE agent during raid; agent later chargedOct 4, 2026 · Minneapolis, MN
- Guatemalan man re-detained by ICE moments after judge ordered his releaseOct 1, 2026 · Fort Snelling, MN
- ICU nurse and U.S. citizen Alex Pretti shot 10 times by federal agents in MinneapolisSep 30, 2026 · Minneapolis, MN
- Minneapolis mother and legal observer fatally shot by ICE agent during enforcement operationSep 30, 2026 · Minneapolis, MN
- St. Paul man held at Guantánamo, allegedly beaten, deported to Somalia after mother's deathSep 25, 2026 · St. Paul, MN
- Mexican man re-arrested by plainclothes agents seconds after court-ordered releaseSep 25, 2026 · Fort Snelling, MN