George Retes Jr. grew up in southern California, and when he was 18 years old, he decided to serve in the American army, he said, because he wanted to be part of something bigger than him.
After a service lap in Iraq, Retes returned to the county of Ventura this year to find a job and spend more time with his wife and two young children. In February, he started working as a contract security officer for glass house farms in his cannabis greenhouses in Camallo. Then, on July 10, everything changed as Glass House ice cream – one of his greatest immigration raids of all time – while he was trying to go to work.
Federal officers surrounded the RESTES and pushed it to the ground. He could barely breathe, he said, when the police knelt on the back and neck. He was arrested, imprisoned for three days and was not authorized to make a telephone call or to see a lawyer, according to the Institute for Justice, a law firm of public interest which represents him.
President Trump’s internal security ministry has never accused crime backpacks. But after writing an editorial on his experience this month, the DHS began to issue new accusations against him – saying that he had been arrested for assault during the raid, which the 25 -year -old veteran denied. RESTES said that he had never resisted and that he was now targeted for reprisals because he spoke of an arrest which he considers illegal.
“My point of view by sharing my story, I try to warn as many people as possible,” he said in an interview this week. “No matter if you are [politically] On the left, right, if you voted for Trump, hate it, love it, it doesn’t matter. This affects us all. »»
On July 10, Retes was heading around 2 p.m., and the narrow road leading to the farm was recorded, he said. He woven his compact white Hyundai forward, passed by cars and demonstrators parked, determined to go to his quarter of work.
He stopped short when he came across a line of federal officers who blocked his way to the farm. RESTES, 25, wearing shorts and a hooded sweatshirt, came out of his car and tried to tell the federal agents he worked on the farm.
The agents ignored him, he said, and rather told him to move away. He therefore returned to his car, and as he tried to retreat, the agents began to lob down lacrymogenic gas cartridges to the crowd to disperse them. RESTES began to hack and cough while the gas infiltrated his car and the federal officers began to beat on the door of his car. He said they had given him instructions to move around that were contradictory.
The agents broke the window of his car, Pepper sprayed it, took it out of the car and stopped it, he said. He was handcuffed, and after his three days in prison, he was released without any explanation.
In his September 16 opinion article for San Francisco Chronicle – entitled “I am an American citizen who was wrongly and owned by ice. Here is why you might be the next one ” – Rettes detailed his test. He began to bring legal action to continue the United States government under the federal law on claims in matters of crime. More than 360 people were arrested during the RAID, including many undocumented immigrants, and a person died.
“I served my country. I wore the uniform, I wanted to look at, and I believe in the values that we say different. And yet here, on our own soil, I was wrongly detained, “he wrote. “Stripped of my rights, treated as if I did not belong and that I am not locked up – all as an American and veteran citizen … If it can happen to me, it can happen to any of us.”
Internal security officials did not answer a request for comments or answered questions at their request for assault.
Previously, an anonymous spokesperson for Homeland Security said that he had been released without accusation, and his case was being examined, as well as others, “for potential federal accusations linked to the execution of the mandate of federal search in Camallo.”
One day after the publication of RESTES DE RESTES, the agency said that RESTES “became violent and refused to comply with the police. He challenged the agents and blocked their route by refusing to take out his vehicle out of the road. The CBP stopped rebellious for aggression. “
The agency denied that American citizens were wrongly arrested by immigration and customs application. The post said that operations were “very targeted”.
“This type of waste has led to an increase of more than 1000% of assaults against law enforcement agents,” said the agency.
RESTES said that he had been amazed to learn the latest agency claims on July 10 – moments captured on video. He says that DHS officials lie.
“I was in shock,” he said. The agency had “the opportunity to say” OK, what we did was bad, we will take responsibility “. … It’s crazy that they are ready to stand at 10 toes and die on a hill of lie and to say that I attacked officers. »»
Anya Bidwell, his main lawyer and lawyer of the Institute for Justice, said that it was significant that the government has chosen to respond only after the publication of its article.
“When the people in this country resist this government, this government responds with Fury,” said Bidwell. “They try to impose their own version of reality. It is so important for people like George to say:” I know who I am and I know what happened to me, you can’t just frame it as something is not. “”
In an aerial video that captured the initial confrontation, the RESTES come up to the agents. He leaves his car and stays alongside the driver while he tries to reason with the agents. About 20 seconds later, he returned to his car while the agents advance. In a few seconds, they surround his car, at the same time, supporting the demonstrators in return as they start to lobs lacrymogenic gas cards.
Inside his car, RESTES starts to record on his phone. He slowly retreats, at an angle, until the tear gas can make it difficult to see where he is going, he said.
“I’m trying to leave!” he said that the agents hit his car. There is a strong crack while breaking its car glass window. “Ok, I’m sorry!”
The agents trap him and hold him and hold him. A video published online shows a group of agents surrounding RESTES, which is facing hidden on the road. Another agent jumps into his car and advances him and on the side of the road.
Rets said that an agent knelt on his neck and another on his back. He was taken to the metropolitan detention center in Los Angeles, and was kept in a cell with a demonstrator who was also arrested. In prison, he said, he missed the third anniversary of his daughter.
After his release, Retes said that he had been suspended from his work without salary for two weeks because of the arrest, and on his return, his regular quarters were no longer available. Staying on would make your family difficult, so he had to leave, he said.
He also had to spend about $ 1,200 for the car window to be repaired and detailed from tear gas, he said.
Despite the actions of the Trump administration, RESTES said that his faith in government and that the responsibility of justice remains stable. As when he joined the army, he said, he always clings to a feeling of unity to defend the values of the country.
“I always believe that justice can be restored-that’s why I get up and speak,” he said. “I think it is more important now more than ever for us to be unified and defend our rights together. Especially when they have the audacity to try to lie, especially to the public. ”
