US Citizen: ICE Pulled Me From Minn. Home in My Underwear

Federal immigration agents forced their way into a St. Paul, Minnesota home and detained a U.S. citizen at gunpoint without a warrant, leading him outside in freezing temperatures while he was dressed only in underwear, according to his family and video reviewed by the Associated Press.

ChongLy “Scott” Thao said the incident occurred Sunday afternoon while he was napping. His daughter-in-law woke him to say that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were pounding on the door. Thao told her not to open it. Moments later, masked agents broke down the door, entered the home, and pointed guns at family members while shouting, he said.

“They didn’t show any warrant,” Thao told the AP. “They just broke down the door. I was shaking.”

Thao, a U.S. citizen for decades, said he asked his daughter-in-law to retrieve his identification, but agents told him they did not want to see it. As his 4-year-old grandson cried, agents handcuffed Thao and led him outside wearing only sandals and underwear, with a blanket around his shoulders. Videos of the incident show neighbors yelling at the armed agents and blowing whistles and car horns in protest.

Thao said agents drove him to a remote area, forced him out of the vehicle in the cold, and photographed him. He said he feared he might be harmed. Only then did agents ask for his identification, which he had previously been prevented from retrieving.

After an hour or two, agents determined that Thao was a U.S. citizen with no criminal record, he said. They returned him to his home, asked to see his ID, and then left without apologizing for detaining him or damaging the door.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the ICE action was part of a “targeted operation” aimed at locating two convicted sex offenders. DHS claimed the U.S. citizen lived with the two individuals and said he matched the description of the targets and refused fingerprinting or facial identification.

Thao’s family strongly disputed that account, calling DHS’s explanation false and misleading. They said only Thao, his son, his daughter-in-law, and his grandson live in the rental home, and none are listed in Minnesota’s sex offender registry. The nearest registered sex offender in the area lives more than two blocks away.

DHS did not respond to requests from the Associated Press asking for the identities of the alleged offenders or why agents believed they were at Thao’s residence.

Thao’s son, Chris Thao, said he was stopped by ICE agents earlier that day while driving to work in a borrowed vehicle. Court records show the vehicle owner shares a first name with another Asian man who has a sex offense conviction, but Chris Thao said the two are not the same person.

ChongLy Thao said he plans to file a civil rights lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security.

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