US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is facing intense scrutiny after a video showing a man apparently losing consciousness while holding a child during an arrest in Massachusetts went viral. However, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has called the clip “misleading,” saying that the man had faked a medical emergency to disrupt the operation and that the woman being detained was wanted for a violent crime.The video, obtained by the Boston Globe, captured chaotic scenes inside a vehicle in Fitchburg on Thursday. In the footage, a woman in the passenger seat frantically tries to wake the man in the driver’s seat as a crying child sits between them. Bystanders can be heard shouting, “He’s having a seizure,” while an officer attempts to pull the passengers from the car and another repeatedly orders the crowd to “back up.” One person can be heard saying, “They’re trying to rip the baby out of his hand.”
DHS defends ICE, claims video ‘misleading’
In a statement issued on Friday, DHS said the video omits key details about the incident and the individuals involved. Officials identified the woman as Juliana Milena Ojeda-Montoya, a 26-year-old Ecuadorian national who, according to DHS, is an undocumented immigrant accused of repeatedly stabbing a coworker with scissors and assaulting her victim with a trash can in August.The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is setting the record straight on a misleading viral video from Massachusetts of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrest of Juliana Milena Ojeda-Montoya, a criminal illegal alien from Ecuador who in August repeatedly stabbed her coworker with scissors and then threw a trash can at her victim,” said the DHS.ICE said officers conducted a “targeted operation” to arrest Ojeda-Montoya on November 6. Her husband, Carlos Zapata Rivera, and their young child were inside the vehicle at the time. According to DHS, the child was sitting on the mother’s lap, not in a car seat.When officers informed Ojeda-Montoya of the arrest warrant, they asked her to hand over the child to her husband, officials said. She allegedly refused until Zapata Rivera “pretended to have a medical episode.” DHS said ICE agents immediately called 911, but emergency responders found “no legitimate medical concerns.” The agency added that Zapata Rivera declined medical treatment and appeared “coherent and on his feet moments later.”DHS officials accused critics and sections of the media of spreading a “false narrative” about the incident. “Once again, the media ran with a FALSE narrative about our brave ICE law enforcement officers. As usual, here’s the REAL story: ICE targeted a known criminal who repeatedly stabbed her coworker,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “Medical personnel found there was no legitimate medical emergency. He was even caught on video on his feet and coherent moments later. Our law enforcement officers requested the father take custody of the child, but he refused. He quickly decided to leave with the child once he realized if he didn’t take custody ICE would arrest him for an immigration violation,” it was stated as quoted in the official DHS statement.McLaughlin also said both parents initially told officers they were willing to let the child be placed in state custody. Zapata Rivera ultimately left with the child after realizing he could face immigration charges if he refused, DHS said.During the confrontation, DHS claimed, a “crowd of agitators” gathered and shouted obscenities and threats — including antisemitic remarks — at ICE officers.Ojeda-Montoya and Zapata Rivera, both Ecuadorian nationals, were apprehended by the US Border Patrol near Lukeville, Arizona, in February 2023, and released into the country the following month under the Biden administration. Following her arrest this week, Ojeda-Montoya was taken to Cumberland County Jail in Maine and will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings, according to DHS.
