ICE Raid Shocker: Man Dragged From Home in Underwear?!

Something disturbing happened in St. Paul, Minnesota, this week – an incident that's raising serious questions about the tactics of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). According to reports and video evidence, ChongLy “Scott” Thao, a U.S. citizen, was forcibly removed from his home by ICE agents. The kicker? It allegedly happened without a warrant and while he was wearing only his underwear.

ICE Raid Shocker: Man Dragged From Home in Underwe...

Thao told the Associated Press that it all started Sunday afternoon. ICE agents were reportedly banging on his door. Thao, alerted by his daughter-in-law, instructed her not to open it. But according to him, that didn't stop the masked agents. He claims they forced their way in, guns drawn, yelling at his family. Understandably, Thao said he was "shaking." Crucially, he insists they didn't present a warrant before breaking down the door. This incident comes at a particularly sensitive time, with increased federal agent presence in the Twin Cities already sparking controversy. There have been accusations of warrantless arrests, aggressive clashes with protestors, and even a fatal shooting involving authorities. You can see why tensions are high.

Adding to the outrage, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, who is Hmong American, has already issued a statement regarding the incident. The optics of this are undeniably bad. According to Thao's account, which is backed up by video footage, he asked his daughter-in-law to grab his ID while he was being detained, but the agents allegedly refused to even look at it. Instead, with his young grandson watching and crying, he was led outside in handcuffs, wearing only sandals and underwear, with a blanket draped around him. Can you imagine the trauma for that child?

Videos circulating online show neighbors reacting with shock and anger, blowing whistles and horns, and yelling at the armed agents to leave Thao's family alone. Thao claims he was then driven "to the middle of nowhere" in the freezing weather and forced to get out of the car to be photographed. He feared for his safety, worried he would be beaten. Then, after all that, he says he was asked for his ID – the very ID the agents had initially refused to acknowledge. Apparently, after realizing he was a U.S. citizen with no criminal record, they returned him home an hour or two later. They made him show them his ID again and left without so much as an apology for the unlawful detention and the damage to his door. Unbelievable.

Now, here's where the story gets even more complex. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claims the ICE operation was a "targeted operation" aimed at two convicted sex offenders. According to DHS, Thao "lives with these two convicted sex offenders at the site of the operation," and "refused to be fingerprinted or facially ID’d" and that "He matched the description of the targets." However, Thao's family categorically disputes this version of events. They've released a statement strongly objecting to what they see as DHS's attempt to publicly justify what happened. This is far from over. Expect more developments and potentially legal action as this story unfolds.