Warrantless raid and detention account

St. Paul, Minnesota, is at the center of a dispute over federal immigration enforcement after a U.S. citizen, ChongLy “Scott” Thao, said agents detained him at gunpoint inside his home without a warrant and then led him outside in only underwear in frigid weather, according to his family and videos reviewed by The Associated Press.

Thao said his daughter-in-law alerted him on Sunday afternoon that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were banging at the residence. He told her not to open the door, and he said masked agents forced their way in and pointed guns at the family, yelling at them.

“I was shaking,” Thao said. “They didn’t show any warrant; they just broke down the door.”

Thao said as the incident unfolded, a 4-year-old grandson watched and cried. He said Thao was led out in handcuffs wearing only sandals and underwear with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

Thao also said agents drove him “to the middle of nowhere” and made him get out of the car in the cold so they could photograph him. He said he feared they would beat him, and he said agents asked for his identification after previously preventing him from retrieving it.

Videos reviewed by AP show people blowing whistles and horns and neighbors screaming at more than a dozen gun-toting agents to leave Thao’s family alone.

Return after identifying him as a citizen

Thao said agents eventually realized he was a U.S. citizen with no criminal record. He said an hour or two later they brought him back to his house. He said they then left without apologizing for detaining him or breaking the door.

In addition to Thao’s account, his family said his citizenship status was eventually recognized during the operation.

DHS says it was “targeted” and sought two offenders

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security described the operation at Thao’s home as a “targeted operation” seeking two convicted sex offenders.

DHS said in its statement that the “US citizen lives with these two convicted sex offenders at the site of the operation.” It also said the individual refused to be fingerprinted or facially ID’d and that he matched the description of the targets.

Thao’s family said in a statement it “categorically disputes” DHS’s account and “strongly objects” to DHS’s attempt to publicly justify the conduct with “false and misleading claims.”

Thao told AP that only he, his son, his daughter-in-law and his grandson live in the rental home. He said neither his household nor the property’s owner is listed in Minnesota’s sex offender registry, and that the nearest sex offender listed as living in the zip code is more than two blocks away.

DHS later released the names and photos of two people it described as “violent illegal alien sexual offenders” that it was seeking to detain in St. Paul. Thao said he had never seen those men before and that they did not live with him.

AP reported that DHS did not respond to an earlier request asking why the agency believed the targets were present at Thao’s home.

Son’s account and potential name confusion

Thao’s son, Chris Thao, said ICE agents stopped him while he was driving to work before agents went to detain his father. Chris Thao said he was driving a car he borrowed from his cousin’s boyfriend, whose first name matched that of one of the men DHS said it was seeking, and that he did not know the boyfriend’s last name.

City officials criticize enforcement tactics

The operation has sparked backlash from residents and local leaders in the Twin Cities, AP said, citing concerns about warrantless arrests and aggressive clashes with protestors.

St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, a Hmong American, said in a statement about Thao’s arrest that ICE was not doing what it said it was doing. She said, “They’re not going after hardened criminals. They’re going after anyone and everyone in their path. It is unacceptable and un-American.”

Thao’s family said it is particularly upset about Thao’s treatment by the U.S. government because Thao’s mother had fled Laos to the United States after communists took over in the 1970s, according to AP. The family said her life was in danger because she had supported American covert operations in Laos.

Thao’s adopted mother, Choua Thao, was described by AP as having been a nurse who treated CIA-backed Hmong soldiers in the U.S. government’s “Secret War” from 1961 to 1975 against communists, according to the Hmong Nurses Association website. AP also reported that Choua Thao passed away in late December, and that Thao’s daughter-in-law Louansee Moua described her work in a GoFundMe post.

ChongLy Thao told AP he plans to file a civil rights lawsuit against DHS and said he no longer feels secure sleeping in his home.

“I don’t feel safe at all,” Thao said. “What did I do wrong? I didn’t do anything.”