Arizona congresswoman says she was ‘pepper sprayed’ at protest against ICE

Key Highlights

• By the time she arrived, she said they had “stopped” a squadron of dozens of mostly masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. The protesters, Grijalva said, were “afraid that they were taking people without due process”. A second video shared by Grijalva’s official account on social media shows a chaotic standoff between federal agents in tactical gear and protesters carrying anti-ICE signs.
• Grijalva, a progressive Democratic congressperson, who has been sharply critical of the Trump administration’s immigration policy, can be seen approaching the officers, urging them to “get out” and coughing.
• An agent holding a spray can orders the group to “get out of the way”. US citizen chased by ICE in New Orleans says she was targeted because ‘I’m brown’Read moreIn a video clip taken from another angle, a projectile lands behind Grijalva, releasing an aerosol mist at the congresswoman’s feet as she steps toward an officer.“When I presented myself as a Member of Congress asking for more information, I was pushed aside and pepper sprayed,” she wrote. In a statement, DHS said immigration agents did not target the congresswoman.“If her claims were true, this would be a medical marvel,” the DHS spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, said.
• “But they’re not true.
• She wasn’t pepper sprayed.