ST. PAUL, Minn. — Federal immigration agents forced open a door and detained a U.S. citizen in his Minnesota home at gunpoint without a warrant, then led him out onto the streets in his underwear in subfreezing conditions, according to his family and videos reviewed by The Associated Press.
ChongLy ''Scott'' Thao told the AP that his daughter-in-law woke him up from a nap Sunday afternoon and said that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were banging at the door of his residence in St. Paul. He told her not to open it. Masked agents then forced their way in and pointed guns at the family, yelling at them, Thao recalled.
''I was shaking," he said. ''They didn't show any warrant; they just broke down the door."
Amid a massive surge of federal agents into the Twin Cities, immigration authorities are facing backlash from residents and the local leaders for warrantless arrests, aggressive clashes with protestors and the fatal shooting of mother of three Renee Good.
''ICE is not doing what they say they're doing,'' St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, a Hmong American, said in a statement about Thao's arrest. ''They're not going after hardened criminals. They're going after anyone and everyone in their path. It is unacceptable and un-American.''
Encounter caught on video
Thao, who has been a U.S. citizen for decades, said that as he was being detained he asked his daughter-in-law to find his identification but the agents told him they didn't want to see it.
Instead, as his 4-year-old grandson watched and cried, Thao was led out in handcuffs wearing only sandals and underwear with just a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.
