Videos claiming to show ICE agents arresting a 17-year-old US citizen in Minnesota have sparked massive outrage on social media. The online posts identified the boy as Jonathan Aguilar Garcia, who was allegedly arrested while working at a Target store in Richfield, Minnesota.
Several posts claimed that he, along with another US citizen and teenager, Christian Miranda Romano, were targeted because ICE agents simply assumed they were immigrants based on how they looked.
Several posts claimed that when the ICE agents realized Garcia was a US citizen, they “dumped” at a Walmart parking lot.
Among those who condemned the alleged arrest of Garcia was Rep. Jimmy Gomez from California. “This is barbaric. In Minneapolis, MN, 17 year-old Target employee Jonathan Aguilar Garcia, a U.S. citizen, was taken by CBP while on the job because they assumed he was an immigrant. He was later dumped at a nearby Walmart parking lot crying and bleeding when they realized he really was a citizen,” he wrote on Facebook.
Videos spark outrage
Viral videos show a person, identified on social media as Garcia, being arrested by ICE agents as he repeatedly claims that he was a legal US citizen. A bystander can be heard asking the agents why they were “kidnapping” a US citizen.
Several social media users condemned the ICE for the alleged arrests of Garcia and Romano. “Their names are Jonathan Aguilar Garcia & Christian Miranda Romano. They ARE citizens and ICE refused to let them identify themselves. If you think this is about “making streets safer” You are WRONG. They were working and kidnapped. This is not humane at ALL,” a Facebook user wrote, sharing videos of the alleged incident.
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Another user wrote, “Jonathan Aguilar Garcia, a U.S. citizen teenager, was taken by masked ICE agents because they assumed he was an immigrant for being brown. He was dumped minutes later near a Walmart, crying, until a stranger stepped in to help. This was racial profiling.”
Condemning the alleged arrests of Romano and Garcia, one user wrote on Facebook, “This is not a rare exception. ICE agents are grabbing and arresting US citizens in places across the country. They have been doing this for months. For the first time these actions are getting national attention.”
Christian Miranda Romano’s relatives speak out
Itzyy Romano, Christian Romano’s cousin, wrote in a Facebook post that the teen was arrested by ICE without a motive, calling it racial profiling. “My cousin Christian Miranda Romano who is a BORN & RAISED US citizen was arrested by ICE today from work. No warrant, no probable motive for the arrest. was flat out RACIALLY profiled. When we communicated with ICE agents and presented his birth certificate and social security card they stated they didn’t care he was a citizen. They DONT care who you are, if you fit the “profile” you’re a target for them. He is being held at the Fort Snelling detention center with no communication with us. If you were able to record the incident please send me a message,” Itzzy wrote.
Jossi, another family member of Romano, shared a similar Facebook post saying, “Please keep my family in your prayers. My brother, a U.S. citizen, was detained by ICE today while working at Target in Richfield. We have spoken directly with ICE, and they told us they didn’t care that he is a U.S. citizen and refused to release him. We followed ICE after they detained him, and what we saw was heartbreaking and disturbing. The agents were completely heartless. They showed no concern for anyone involved—citizen or not. We also saw other people inside the ICE vehicles, and they appeared completely unresponsive, with no visible movement, which was terrifying to witness.”
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Jossi shared in another post that Romano and Garcia were “merely recording” when ICE came to their workplace, when they were arrested. “For those who say Christian and Jonathan sought their own evil: you are very wrong,” reads the post. “They were merely recording what was happening when ICE came to their job, intending to inform and alert the community. That is not a crime.”
“We all have the right to express ourselves, to document what happens and to speak up. What happened is not good and should not be happening,” Jossi added.
While some Facebook posts claimed Romano was later released, there has been no official confirmation.
These videos surfaced in the aftermath of the death of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was gunned down by federal agent Jonathan Ross after she allegedly struck him with her vehicle. The Trump administration has maintained that Ross shot Good in self-defense.
HT.com has not independently verified the videos, the claims regarding Garcia and Romano’s citizenship or the circumstances of the arrests.
