Video Sparks Dispute Over ICE Use of Force in California (Full Transcript)
[00:00:00] Speaker 1: I was just in shock. I was just making sure she was okay. And next motion I kicked in was anger for someone to throw a woman that hard to the ground and act tough until other grown men started walking up to him.
[00:00:12] Speaker 2: Video shows an ice officer throwing a woman to the ground and then pepper spraying a group of immigrant rights volunteers outside of a government building in California. Tomas Rebecca, one of the volunteers tell CNN that he is part of V. C. Defensa, a local immigrant rights group that monitors enforcement activity. After being alerted that ice officers were at the Ventura County Government Center, Rebecca went to monitor the officers. There he saw one of them throw a woman onto the concrete walkway before he himself was pepper sprayed.
[00:00:48] Speaker 1: That's why we have to be there to observe like this. They'll twist the story, they'll change it. And like, that's why we need to be there recording, observing and yeah, pushing back when they're using force against innocent people.
[00:01:01] Speaker 2: A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told CNN agents were conducting a quote targeted enforcement operation arresting a man being released from Ventura County Jail. The spokesperson said the woman thrown to the ground quote assaulted one of the officers.
- Video and eyewitness describe an ICE officer throwing a woman to the ground and pepper spraying volunteers outside a California government building.
- A local immigrant rights group, VC Defensa, says it monitors enforcement activity to document and counter disputed narratives.
- DHS says the agents were conducting a targeted arrest tied to a jail release and claims the woman assaulted an officer.
- The incident highlights conflicting accounts about use of force and the role of citizen observers.