The violent ICE detention of a US citizen with disabilities as he walked to his high school has sparked outrage in California where leaders are condemning the incident as racial profiling and calling on authorities to investigate.
asserted
leaders → walk → authorities
Erik Zepeda, a 20-year-old high school student, was stopped by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers last month in the small agricultural city of Santa Maria, famed for its strawberry harvest, where 79% of residents are Latino.
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% → stop → residents
His wrist was broken and later required surgery.
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wrist → break → surgery
Zepeda, who has disabilities that affect his physical reflexes and ability to communicate verbally, told the Guardian in writing that he was “walking to school the same way I do every day” when the ICE agents “tackled me and handcuffed me (and) hurt me”.
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agents → have → me
“I thought they were going to kill me,” Zepeda said.
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Zepeda → think → me
“I did not do anything wrong, and they should never have done that.
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they → do → that
I don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”
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this → want → anyone
An ICE-watch observer who witnessed the incident unfold on 21 October told the Guardian that masked ICE agents approached Zepeda from behind, pinned him face-down on the ground and put him in a car.
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agents → witness → car
The agents then drove the student around for a while before letting him out.
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agents → drive → him
With a black eye and his wrist in severe pain, Zepeda walked the remaining half mile to his school, where staff called an ambulance.
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staff → walk → ambulance
The observer, who volunteers with a local rapid response network to document ICE activity, asked not to be named due to fears of retaliation from federal officials.
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who → volunteer → officials
To independently verify the observer’s account, the Guardian reviewed dashcam and phone videos that the observer recorded of the incident.
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observer → verify → incident
Local activists and US lawmakers are calling the ordeal the latest example of ICE brutality.
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activists → call → brutality
“ICE’s assault and wrongful detainment of Erik Zepeda was grotesque and heartbreaking,” said Adam Schiff, a Democratic US senator from California, in a statement to the Guardian.
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Schiff → say → Guardian
“There must be accountability for what happened to Erik.”
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what → happen → Erik
Democratic representative Salud Carbajal, whose central coast district includes Santa Maria, said during a press conference that he was “outraged” by the incident, calling the ICE agents’ conduct “thuggish” and racial profiling “rampant”.
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he → include → conduct
In an Oct. 29 letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE, Carbajal called for “a full, transparent investigation” into Zepeda’s detention.
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Carbajal → call → detention
The incident comes amid a surge of ICE activity in California that started in early October and has led to multiple hospitalizations.
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that → come → hospitalizations
Days earlier, agents broke the arm of Ricardo Gonzalez, also a US citizen, in Long Beach.
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agents → break → Beach
In videos, Gonzalez appears face-down in a gutter crying out for help while officers kneel on his back.
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officers → appear → back
In the Bay Area, two separate ICE arrests also led to hospitalizations, sparking anti-ICE protests outside of an Oakland hospital.
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arrests → lead → hospital
Santa Maria police chief Christopher Williams told the Guardian that an investigation into the incident was “ongoing” and confirmed that he reported the incident to the county district attorney, the California department of justice, and DHS.
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he → tell → justice
In a statement, Santa Barbara county district attorney John Savrnoch called the incident “deeply troubling.”
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Savrnoch → call → incident
He said his office was “coordinating with the appropriate authorities to gather information and determine the appropriate next steps.”
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office → say → steps
JP Cooney and Molly Gaston, former federal prosecutors who are now senior attorneys at legal nonprofit Democracy Forward, are representing Zepeda.
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who → represent → Zepeda
They told the Guardian in a statement they “look forward to vindicating Mr Zepeda’s rights in court”.
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they → tell → court
Glenn Goldin, is a retired special education teacher who formerly taught Zepeda and remains a close mentor to him.
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who → teach → him
He described Zepeda, who lives in a group home for adults with disabilities, as quiet, sensitive and a caring housemate, who loves the Golden State Warriors and likes to spend time scrolling TikTok.
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who → describe → TikTok
After Zepeda’s terrifying encounter with ICE, Goldin said that he remains shaken and doesn’t plan to return to school for at least several weeks.
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he → say → weeks
Goldin said Zepeda had worked up the courage to begin walking to school by himself last year.
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Zepeda → say → himself
“He’s felt very proud of himself, you know, he’s independent,” Goldin said.
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Goldin → feel → himself
“I feel like they took that away from him.”
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they → feel → him
‘You’re hurting me’
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You → hurt → me
In response to questions from the Guardian about the incident, an ICE spokesperson said its officers were conducting “a targeted enforcement operation” when they encountered Zepeda, who “they believed matched the description of the criminal illegal alien target”, and that their use of force was justified.
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use → say → force
“When the individual resisted officers, refused lawful commands, and assumed a fighting stance with clenched fists, they relied on their training to safely control the situation until they could confirm his identity, whereupon he was released,” the spokesperson said.
uncertain
spokesperson → resist → identity
“Claims that the individual suffered broken bones are FALSE.
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individual → suffer → bones
He never requested medical assistance.”
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He → request → assistance
Cooney and Gaston, Zepeda’s attorneys, said that his hospital discharge records confirmed that he received surgery for his fractured wrist after the incident.
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he → say → incident
“ICE agents illegally assaulted Mr Zepeda and then issued a false public statement to cover it up,” the attorneys said.
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attorneys → assault → it
The volunteer observer’s testimony and videos call key aspects of ICE’s version into question.
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testimony → call → question
…and 37 more, not listed.
The Aporia
