He is a U.S. Citizen and Veteran, Brutally Abducted and Detained by ICE

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The Bulwark @BulwarkOnline
"They put me on suicide watch and they put me in the cell, I'm naked, in like a hospital dress and just a concrete bed with like a mattress, like a thin mattress and, they leave the light on 24/7, there's a glass door, and officers just always standing, like sitting out there, the psychiatric nurse comes and checks on me once a day, and so from Friday morning to Sunday afternoon when I'm released, I'm literally on In that cell, naked just in that room, with the light on this real, like this is a nightmare."

@Timodc talked to a veteran and American citizen who ICE wrongly detained and brutalized

watch:

___George Retes, 25, who works as a security guard at Glass House Farms in Camarillo, said he was arriving at work on July 10 when several federal agents surrounded his car and — despite him identifying himself as a U.S. citizen — broke his window, peppered sprayed him and dragged him out.

“It took two officers to nail my back and then one on my neck to arrest me even though my hands were already behind my back,” Retes said.

The Ventura City native was detained during chaotic raids at two Southern California farms where federal authorities arrested more than 360 people, one of the largest operations since President Donald Trump took office in January. Protesters faced off against federal agents in military-style gear, and one farmworker died after falling from a greenhouse roof.

The raids came more than a month into an extended immigration crackdown by the Trump administration across Southern California that was originally centered in Los Angeles, where local officials say the federal actions are spreading fear in immigrant communities.

https://www.militarytimes.com/veterans/2025/07/17/veteran-and-us-citizen-arrested-by-ice-warns-it-could-happen-to-anyone/#:~:text=A%20U.S.%20Army%20veteran%20who%20was%20arrested%20during,pinned%20down%20by%20federal%20agents%20who%20arrested%20him.


"They are trying to spin the narrative. According to their tweet what they are trying to accuse me of is assaulting agents and being disruptive and not listening," said Retes.

Retes is taking steps to sue the government under the Federal Tort Claims Act, alleging unconstitutional detention.

"The video shows them yelling conflicting orders, banging on my window, telling me to reverse, " said Retes," banging on my window, pulling my door handles, they reversed me out of the way."

Also while in custody he said in his op-ed that his hands were burning from pepper spray and tear gas that he was not allowed to wash off. He was not allowed to make a phone call or speak to a lawyer.

He wrote, "By letting masked agents stop people based on how they look, talk or where they work, protection has become persecution."

https://keyt.com/news/crime/2025/10/01/u-s-citizen-detained-during-ice-raid-responds-to-dhs-accusations-posted-on-x/

Sep 16, 2025
George Retes: I’m a U.S. citizen who was wrongly arrested and held by ICE. Here’s why you could be next

A 25-year-old American citizen, father of two and an Army veteran who served a tour in Iraq, it didn’t occur to me that I was in any danger. As I approached the farm, a protest was underway, with cars bumper-to-bumper, and people walking along the sides of the street. Eventually, I came to a line of masked agents blocking the way.

As a contractor, if I don’t make it to my job site, I don’t get paid. I got out of my car and tried to explain that I was a U.S. citizen and an Army veteran just trying to get to my job.

When they started walking toward me, I got back in my car. But soon, they were banging on my door and gave opposing directions to “pull over to the side” and “reverse” while also trying to open my door. I was able to reverse and get out of the way, but then agents started using tear gas to disperse the protesters, which filled up my car and left me choking.

Again, they approached the car and told me to reverse, but I couldn’t even see where I would be going. And again, agents contradicted themselves, telling me to back up and trying to open the door. Suddenly, an agent smashed my window and pepper-sprayed me. I was pulled from the car, and one agent knelt on my neck while another knelt on my back.

My wallet with my identification was in the car, but the agents refused to go look and confirm that I was a citizen. Instead, I sat in the dirt with my hands zip-tied with other detainees for four hours. When I was sitting there, I could hear agents asking each other why I had been arrested. They were unsure, but I was taken away and thrown in a jail cell anyway.

read more: https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/ice-racial-profiling-21045429.php

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