‘They smashed into me’: Activist says video shows ICE rammed his truck. Agents claim the opposite

Video that appears to show federal immigration agents using their vehicle to ram the truck of an immigrant rights activist has sparked controversy and public outrage in the city of Oxnard, an agricultural town that has been the frequent target of immigration raids.

At the center of the controversy is a claim by federal agents that the activist was the aggressor, ramming into their vehicle.

The incident began shortly before 8 a.m. Thursday when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents notified the Oxnard Police Department that their vehicle had been rammed by a civilian’s vehicle near the intersection of 8th and A streets, according to Sgt. Martin Cook.

“We responded, and ICE agents detained an individual, and a crowd started to gather,” Cook said. “We were there to keep the peace and prevent any type of altercation with ICE or any other federal agency.”

Cook said that federal agencies took control of the investigation. He did not know if the person arrested by agents requested a police report and referred all questions to the Homeland Security Department, which oversees agencies including ICE and Customs and Border Protection.

VC Defensa, an immigrant rights group that has been documenting immigration raids in the region, said on Instagram that one of its volunteers, whom the group identified as Leo Martinez, had been arrested.

The group also released video taken by witnesses that they said showed that federal agents’ allegation against Martinez was false.

“ICE intentionally struck Leo’s truck and blocked his exit while Leo was exercising his right to observe ICE activity,” the group stated in one of its Instagram posts.

The video starts with a Jeep Cherokee with tinted windows tailing a dark gray truck before ramming the passenger door on the driver’s side. The driver of the truck then pulls into a dirt lot, where the group says Martinez was arrested.

“This shameful escalation by ICE is nothing more than an attempt to intimidate those of conscience who are standing up against Trump’s assault on immigrants,” the group said on Instagram. “We will not be deterred, and we will continue to keep our communities safe.”

In a statement to The Times, Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin confirmed that ICE officers were conducting a targeted enforcement operation in the area.

“During the operation, officers were confronted [by] an agitator group, who engaged in recording and verbal harassment of the officers on scene,” McLaughlin said. “During the confrontation with ICE officers, two vehicles were involved in a collision. No injuries were reported. This is an ongoing investigation.”

The incident is the latest controversy involving federal immigration agents that has not only sparked outrage among activists and residents but also raised questions about some of the claims agents made previously.

Two months ago, federal immigration officers stopped Francisco Longoria in San Bernardino. During the encounter, Longoria, who was in his truck with his 18-year-old son and 23-year-old son-in-law, said he feared for their safety and drove off after masked officers shattered his car window and an officer fired several rounds at the truck.

Homeland Security officials have said officers were injured during the encounter when Longoria tried to “run them down,” prompting one officer to “discharge his firearm in self-defense.”

Attorneys for Longoria dispute that their client injured the officers or attempted to hit them and have called for an investigation of the shooting.

In June, Arturo Hermosillo was accused of ramming his van against a federal agent’s vehicle when he was instructed by the agents to move his van back to make room for an ambulance for a woman who had been injured during an immigration sweep.

Hermosillo was reversing when he said a federal agent standing near the vehicle pushed in his side view mirror, blocking his view; Hermosillo subsequently bumped into a vehicle behind him. Shortly after, agents pulled him out of the van.

McLaughlin told The Times in an email at the time that a person “rammed his vehicle into a law enforcement vehicle” during the June 19 operation.

“CBP Agents were also assaulted during the operation and verbally harassed,” she said.

Videos that day did not capture any assaults; they showed residents yelling at agents.

The incident in Oxnard echoes a level of aggression by federal agents seen on the streets of Chicago.

A Chicago-area mayor said ICE agents used excessive force when making arrests at a cemetery. A pastor who was protesting at a detention center was shot in the head with a pepper ball. Troubled by the clashes between agents and the public, one federal judge is considering ordering agents to wear body cameras.

Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment from The Times. In a statement to CNN, however, the department said claims that the agency is using “harsher approaches” are “smearing” federal agents who “put their lives on the line every day to enforce the law.”

In downtown Los Angeles on Thursday, just outside the Metropolitan Detention Center where people had gathered with signs that say “Free Leo Now!” and “ICE out of L.A.,” members of the crowd listened to Martinez as he thanked them for their support and their work.

“I knew I didn’t do anything f— wrong; that’s why they released me with pending charges,” he told the crowd. “That’s what they do with pretty much a lot of our volunteers cause we didn’t do s— wrong.

“They smashed into me,” he continued as people clapped. “And then they tried to accuse me of assaulting them, what kind of bulls— is that?”