Video of the encounter shows Ricardo Gonzalez, identified as a former city employee, handcuffed and face down in a gutter, with ICE officers kneeling on his back. Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson told CNN on Sunday that Gonzalez had called emergency responders for help at one point.
In an online fundraiser for his medical expenses, Gonzalez's daughter Leslie said he was knocked off his e-bike by an unmarked ICE vehicle. 'He was tased twice, pinned to the ground, and taken to the hospital for serious injuries,' the fundraiser said. 'What ICE did was not right.'
Richardson said police found Gonzalez detained and injured when they arrived. 'He was on a curb. He was injured.'
The episode is the latest in a number of recent violent and sometimes deadly encounters involving federal officers conducting enforcement actions as part of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, has not commented publicly on why Gonzalez was detained. It frequently portrays its agents' actions as self-defense or protecting public safety.
Congressman Robert Garcia, a Democrat who represents Long Beach, posted on X that he was disturbed by the encounter and called for the abolition of ICE. 'ICE agents brutally attacked and broke the arm of a North Long Beach resident and US citizen,' he wrote. 'The videos are horrific and should concern not just our community but the country.' He said the administration's 'inhumane and illegal deportation machine must be stopped.'
The Long Beach police department (LBPD) said in a statement that ICE personnel had called for emergency assistance 'due to vehicle vandalism taking place and a subject in need of medical aid.' Officers arrived to find 'a large group disturbance' and located a handcuffed, bleeding man being detained by ICE. Officers transported him to a nearby fire station, where LBPD personnel removed the handcuffs and fire department personnel took him to hospital. LBPD said it was not involved in any immigration enforcement action and made no arrests, and that ICE agents who followed officers into a secure parking lot were directed to leave.
The case follows an incident in Texas on 10 October in which an ICE agent driving an unmarked SUV ran over a man and broke his leg in three places. Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said he was considering felony assault charges after video appeared to show the vehicle swerving into the man in a Houston-area parking lot. Houston-based advocacy group FIEL accused ICE of crashing into the man while searching for another who had died years earlier, and said it had turned over a death certificate to Teare. ICE did not respond to the Associated Press's questions on Friday.