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The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) said Wednesday they were preparing to initiate a $1 million lawsuit on behalf of a U.S. citizen detained in Los Angeles after recording a raid at a local Home Depot store.
The civil rights organization filed a claim against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regarding the treatment of Job Garcia, 37, a Ph.D. student and photographer.
MALDEF said immigration officers threw Garcia on the ground, then knelt on his back and neck as they handcuffed him for recording the raid and advising a commercial truck driver being questioned not to exit his vehicle or answer questions from law enforcement.
He was held in custody for more than 24 hours, according to the organization.
“Border Patrol and ICE punished me for informing others of their rights and for exercising my own rights,” Garcia said in a Wednesday release.
He said that at no time did the agents warn him to move away or to stop recording before his arrest.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Garcia assaulted and verbally harassed a Border Patrol agent and would be prosecuted to the fullest extent.
“He was subdued and arrested for assault on a federal agent,” McLaughlin told The Hill.
MALDEF alleges that federal agents confined Garcia without legal authority and arrested him without probable cause in a racially motivated effort.
Attorneys said his constitutional rights were potentially violated, including the right to free speech, the right to remain silent, the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure, and the right to due process under the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments.
As a result, Garcia’s lawyers say he suffered economic losses and personal injury.
“Border Patrol and ICE punished Job Garcia simply for exercising his right to record a discriminatory immigration raid at Home Depot,” said Ernest Herrera, MALDEF Western Regional Counsel.
“The Trump Administration must be stopped in its campaign of terror against those who disagree with mass deportations.”
Updated at 6:32 p.m. EDT
