WASHINGTON — A pre-dawn raid on Friday, Oct. 24 at a residential building at Wisconsin Avenue NW and O Street NW jolted Georgetown awake as a multi-agency team forced its way inside, zip-tied residents, and removed at least 10 to 12 people, according to two eyewitnesses who spoke to Migrant Insider on condition of anonymity for fear of government retribution.
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The residents said no warrant was presented. Both described a chaotic operation that began before dawn, around 3:30 a.m., with a helicopter overhead and a perimeter they believed included National Guard members.
“I heard banging and I thought it was a roommate cooking. Then I heard yelling,” one resident said. “Suddenly there were half a dozen U.S. Marshals, [U.S.] Park Police, ICE, and [D.C.] police as well, pointing guns at me. National Guard was providing a perimeter.”
The resident said officers yelled at them in Spanish though they do not speak it. “This was five in the morning. They took me outside and hand-cuffed me,” he said. “They asked me where I was from. I said North Carolina. They said why do you live here? I said, because it’s affordable. They said, ‘Well you’re living with very bad people.’ That set me off because I immediately knew it was racial profiling. I knew the only thing I could do is talk in my American accent since they weren’t going to let me show my passport or license.”…