Additional Coverage:
- US citizen scarred and bruised after she was shoved to the ground and detained by ICE for 2 days (themirror.com)
St. Paul Woman Alleges Brutality, Unlawful Detention by ICE Agents
ST. PAUL, MN – A 23-year-old American woman from St.
Paul is speaking out after a harrowing two-day detainment by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, during which she claims she was physically harmed and subjected to degrading treatment. Nasra Ahmed, a Minnesota-born citizen of Somali-American descent, was released without charges on Friday evening, but not before enduring what she describes as a traumatic ordeal.
The incident unfolded on Wednesday afternoon in a predominantly Somali-American apartment complex in St. Paul.
Ahmed, who lives with her aunt, was reportedly caught in the crossfire of an ICE raid involving a dozen masked agents. Witness video, widely circulated on social media, shows Ahmed, described as petite, being violently pushed to the ground and arrested before being taken into custody.
This event occurs amidst heightened immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities, which began late last year and has seen escalating tensions between residents and federal agents. The situation intensified following the fatal shooting of a 37-year-old Minneapolis mother by an ICE agent earlier this year, an incident that prompted nationwide anti-ICE protests and led to the deployment of over 2,000 federal agents to the state. The Trump administration has also reportedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act as tensions continue to mount.
Following her arrest, Ahmed was held in ICE custody for two days, reportedly without contact with the outside world. Her father, Mohamed, contacted the office of Rep.
Samakab Hussein (D-Minn.) to seek assistance for his daughter. After being moved between different facilities, Ahmed was finally released around 7:45 p.m. on Friday and driven home by a federal public defender.
Since her release, Ahmed has detailed the physical and emotional toll of her experience. Speaking with The St.
Paul Pioneer Press, she described suffering broken skin and bruising on the side of her face from being shoved onto the concrete parking lot. She also revealed that during her detainment, she experienced a stress-induced seizure and was transported to the hospital in arm and leg restraints.
“The way they treated me during that episode, while I was transported, I was cuffed from my hands to my legs. I was covered in chains,” Ahmed recounted.
“They had a padlock on me. … While I was in the hospital, if I needed to go to the restroom or I needed to get up, they had chains on me like Hannibal Lecter, pretty much.”
Ahmed further explained that her arrest occurred around 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday as she was leaving her apartment for an errand. She claims she became entangled in the situation after two Somali-American men ran past her in the parking lot.
She was then surrounded by masked agents who demanded her identification, which she says she provided. However, Ahmed alleges the situation escalated when an agent used a racial slur and made a comment about “making America great again” before she was violently arrested.
“They used a lot of force to arrest me,” she told The St. Paul Pioneer Press.
“They pinned me. I have a bruise on my head.
I’ve been having head pain since that incident. My whole body is aching.
… I was crying. I was screaming.”
She emphasized, “I gave them my ID since they asked. I did everything they asked.”
Ahmed’s father, Mohamed, also expressed his frustration to the local outlet, stating his belief that the Trump administration is unfairly targeting members of his community.
“What is going on is not right,” he said. “It’s wrong.
Everyone can see. They’re not going after the ‘worst of the worst.’
They’re terrorizing the community. They’re terrorizing mostly communities of color, but everybody is being targeted now.”
He concluded, “Nasra committed no crime, but they put her in jail. She’s got bruises.”