‘I thought I was being kidnapped’: U.S. citizen reveals what happened when an ICE agent tackled him on his lunch break, and the video is hard to watch

A 20-year-old U.S. citizen named Mubashir was violently tackled and arrested by federal agents in Minneapolis last week during his lunch break. Mubashir, a Somali American who did not share his last name for safety reasons, spoke about the incident at a press conference with city leaders.

According to HuffPost, video footage from the event showed two agents immediately pushing Mubashir into a stairwell and handcuffing him aggressively. One agent put him in a chokehold and pushed him down into the snow before forcing him into a vehicle. When Mubashir tried to ask what was happening, the agent showed no concern. He said, “I told him, ‘I’m a U.S. citizen, what is going on?’ He didn’t seem to care.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Mubashir was not suspected of any crime. Mayor Frey stated on X that the video showed “Mubashir, an American citizen, someone who has been here nearly his entire life, tackled, handcuffed, taken into custody for simply walking down the street and looking like he’s Somali.”

Local leaders worry about racial profiling as ICE presence grows

This incident highlights concerns local leaders have about racial profiling as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents increase their presence in Minneapolis. The recent operation reportedly focuses specifically on Somali immigrants in the area.

This comes after President Trump has repeatedly attacked members of that community in recent weeks. Legal experts have been discussing how Trump’s immigration policies face court challenges in similar cases.

The Department of Homeland Security gave a very different account of what happened. Tricia McLaughlin, a DHS spokesperson, claimed that an agent confronted Mubashir because he had run away from them. She also said he “violently resisted officers and refused to answer questions.”

Mubashir strongly denies running away and said he did not even see the agent at first. He said when he saw a black-topped car pull up, he simply turned around to go back inside his office. He explained, “I could seen him behind me just running towards me. He pushes me inside the restaurant. I thought it was a random person assaulting me or kidnapping me.” He added that the agent never told him to stop or identified himself as being with ICE.

Mubashir said he repeatedly offered the federal agents multiple ways to verify his citizenship, including showing a photo of his passport and giving his name and date of birth. The agents refused to consider any of that information. Instead, they demanded to photograph and scan his face, which he refused. They also tried to take his fingerprints, but their devices were not working. Civil rights advocates emphasize the importance of knowing your rights when encountering ICE agents in such situations.

The agents then drove him to the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building at Fort Snelling. He says he was denied water and medical care there. The agents put his feet in shackles and detained him before they finally verified his citizenship and released him to his parents. Mubashir spoke out to raise awareness and questioned how agents treat people when cameras are not recording. 

He said, “What happened to me cannot stay quiet. What happened to me was unjust, uncalled for.” His experience is not unique. More than 170 U.S. citizens have reportedly been held by immigration agents over the past year, with many reporting violence during their arrests.