SAN DIEGO — A U.S. Marine Corps veteran mentioned he was shocked to see a video on social media of his father, a landscaper in Southern California, being crushed by masked U.S. Border Patrol officers as he was pinned to the bottom throughout an immigration arrest.
The Saturday arrest of Narciso Barranco, who got here to the U.S. from Mexico within the Nineties however doesn’t have authorized standing, is the most recent to seize widespread consideration because the crackdown on immigration by President Donald Trump’s administration attracts scrutiny and protests.
Witnesses uploaded movies of the arrest in Santa Ana, a metropolis in Orange County between San Diego and Los Angeles. No footage confirmed the complete incident from begin to end as brokers struggled with Barranco exterior an IHOP restaurant.
Narciso Barranco was taken to a federal immigration detention middle in downtown Los Angeles the place he’s within the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Marine veteran Alejandro Barranco, mentioned his father known as him Sunday and instructed him that he was in lots of ache.
“He simply began crying,” Barranco mentioned of his 48-year-old father.
The Division of Homeland Safety mentioned Barranco refused to adjust to instructions and swung his weed trimmer at an agent. The brokers “took acceptable motion and adopted their coaching to make use of the minimal quantity of pressure essential to resolve the state of affairs in a fashion that prioritizes the protection of the general public and our officers,” the e-mail assertion added.
Alejandro Barranco mentioned his father didn’t assault anybody, had no felony file and is type and hardworking. He mentioned the brokers’ use of pressure was pointless and differed drastically from his navy coaching for crowds and riot management. He aided the U.S. navy’s evacuation of personnel and Afghan allies from Afghanistan in 2021.
“It’s uncalled for, not acceptable or skilled in the way in which they dealt with that state of affairs,” Barranco mentioned. “It seems to be like he’s placing up resistance on the bottom however that’s a pure human response and I believe anyone would try this to defend themselves when they’re being crushed on the bottom by 4 males.”
Santa Ana Metropolis Council member Johnathan Hernandez mentioned he will probably be asking for an investigation into the officers’ actions.
“I discovered the video to be horrifying,” he mentioned.
The federal authorities mentioned they’ve seen an uptick in folks interfering with arrests that has put its brokers in danger. Trump has deployed the California Nationwide Guard and Marines to protect federal buildings in Los Angeles and defend federal officers.
DHS posted a video through which Barranco is seen operating with the trimmer within the air as brokers attempt to corral him. At one level, an agent sprays him with pepper spray, and Barranco strikes the trimmer between him and the agent but it surely doesn’t contact him. Behind him, one other officer has his gun drawn as he crosses a busy intersection.
In different video footage, Barranco is seen operating by means of the intersection nonetheless holding his lengthy trimmer upright as a truck strikes to dam his path. He’s then seen darting to a different lane and tries to open a automotive door earlier than brokers deal with him. As he screams and yells, automobiles honk and one motorist shouts: “Depart him alone, bro.”
An agent tells Barranco to provide him his hand as he lies inclined. Video footage from one other angle reveals an officer hitting Barranco repeatedly on the pinnacle and neck as he screams and moans and strikes round. One other motorist is heard yelling in Spanish “why are you hitting him?”
The division mentioned in an e mail that Barranco “swung a weed whacker instantly at an agent’s face. He then fled by means of a busy intersection and raised the weed whacker once more on the agent.”
It added that Barranco was provided medical care however declined.
All three of Barranco’s sons had been born in the US and ultimately joined the U.S. navy. Alejandro left the Marine Corps in 2023. His two brothers are at the moment active-duty Marines.
“We joined the Marine Corps as a result of we love our nation and need to give again,” he mentioned. “Our dad and mom taught us to be appreciative, be grateful of our nation, about being patriots.”
His father was fearful about immigration officers arresting him and the household had appeared into his choices however Alejandro mentioned his dad by no means discovered the time to are likely to the matter as he centered on his landscaping enterprise.
In reality, the very first thing he mentioned to his son after they spoke after the arrest was to verify on his landscaping shopper to verify no mess had been left when he dropped every part and fled from brokers, Alejandro mentioned.