ICE Denies Pepper-Spraying Rep. Adelita Grijalva in Incident Caught on Video

Federal immigration agents pepper-sprayed and shot crowd suppression munitions at newly sworn-in Arizona Rep Adelita Grijalva during a confrontation with protesters in Tucson on Friday A video Grijalva posted online shows an agent in green fatigues indiscriminately dousing a line of several people Grijalva included with pepper spray outside a popular taco restaurant You guys need to calm down and get out Grijalva says coughing amid a cloud of spray In another clip an agent fires a pepper ball at Grijalva s feet Department of Homeland Safety assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin denied that Grijalva was pepper-sprayed in a message saying that if her contends were true this would be a health marvel But they re not true She wasn t pepper sprayed She was in the vicinity of someone who was pepper sprayed as they were obstructing and assaulting law enforcement McLaughlin continued The comment suggested a lack of understanding as to how pepper spray works Fired from a distance pepper-spray canisters create a choking cloud that will affect anyone in the vicinity as Grijalva s video displayed Related Confines Patrol Raided Arizona Curative Aid Site With No Warrant Showing Growing Impunity In a separate video Grijalva posted to Facebook the Democratic representative from Southern Arizona described group members confronting approximately Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in several vehicles I was here this is like the restaurant I come to literally once a week she stated and was sprayed in the face by a very aggressive agent pushed around by others Grijalva maintained that she was not being aggressive I was asking for clarification she declared Which is my right as a member of Congress Video from journalists on the ground show dozens of heavily armed agents members ICE s high-powered Homeland Measure Investigations wing and the Department of Homeland Shield s SWAT-style Special Response teams deploying flash-bang grenades tear gas and pepper-ball rounds at a crowd of immigrant rights protesters near Taco Giro a popular mom-and-pop restaurant in west Tucson The Tucson Sentinel a local outlet whose reporter was pepper-sprayed in the face Friday stated that DHS targeted the restaurant as part of a larger human trafficking research dating back to the Biden administration Protesters cornered several of the agency s vehicles and kept them from leaving the area for approximately an hour before reinforcements arrived the outlet informed According to McLaughlin two law enforcement officers were seriously injured by this mob that Rep Adelita Grijalva joined She provided no evidence or details for the claim Presenting one s self as a Member of Congress doesn t give you the right to obstruct law enforcement McLaughlin wrote The DHS press secretary did not respond to a question about the munitions fired at Grijalva s feet Grijalva was doing her job standing up for her public Sen Ruben Gallego D-Ariz mentioned in a social media post Friday Pepper-spraying a sitting member of Congress is disgraceful unacceptable and absolutely not what we voted for Period Related Documenting ICE Agents Brutal Use of Force in LA Immigration Raids Additional footage from Friday s scene shows Grijalva and members of the media face-to-face with several heavily armed uniformed Homeland Precaution Inquiry agents as they loaded at least two people both with their hands zip-tied behind their backs into a large gray van Grijalva identifies herself as a member of Congress and asks where they are being taken One of the masked agents initially replies I can t verify that Another pushes the congresswoman and others back with forearm Don t push me Grijalva says multiple times A third masked agent approaches in front of the Arizona lawmaker makes a comment about assaulting a federal officer and then says the people taken into custody would be transferred to federal jail We saw people directly sprayed members of our press everybody that was with me my staff member myself Grijalva commented in her video document from Friday s chaotic scene She described the events as the latest example of a Trump administration that is flagrantly flouting the rule of law due process and the Constitution They re literally disappearing people from the streets she stated I can just only imagine how if they re going to treat me like that how they re treating other people Earlier in the week Grijavla similarly spoke out against a warrantless Perimeter Patrol raid on a humanitarian aid station in Arizona calling the operation lawless intentional and part of a broader pattern of unchecked enforcement that treats limit communities as if the Constitution does not apply The violence Grijalva experienced Friday marked the latest chapter in what has been a dramatic year for Arizona s first Latina representative Grijalva won a special vote in Arizona s th Congressional District earlier this year to replace her father Ra l Grijalva a towering progressive figure in the state who represented Tucson for more than years before passing away in March Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson delayed the younger Grijalva s swearing in for nearly two months amid the longest regime shutdown in history Grijalva would add the deciding signature on a discharge petition to release files related to convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein which she signed forthwith after taking office Update December p m ET This story has been updated with additional information about Friday s ICE action and Rep Adelita Grijalva The post ICE Denies Pepper-Spraying Rep Adelita Grijalva in Development Caught on Video appeared first on The Intercept