An incident on Friday in Tucson, Arizona, involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and Representative Adelita Grijalva has escalated into a controversial clash, with Grijalva claiming she was pepper-sprayed during a protest outside Taco Giro, a local Mexican restaurant subject to an ICE operation. ABC15 reported that Grijalva posted a video alleging she was pushed and pepper-sprayed while attempting to gather information about the raid.
Grijalva, recently elected to Congress, has been vocal about her opposition to the current immigration policies; following her presence at the ICE raid, she has shared a video on her official social media in which she’s seen approaching federal agents and then coughing, after which the representative can be heard asking officers to “calm down,” as an agent sprays an orange chemical near her and the protesters, The Guardian reported.
However, the Department of Homeland Security has countered these claims, stating “She wasn’t pepper-sprayed, she was in the vicinity of someone who was pepper-sprayed as they were obstructing and assaulting law enforcement,” as noted by DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, and the ICE statement emphasized that presenting oneself as a ‘Member of Congress’ does not exempt an individual from obstruction of legality, adding that further information would be forthcoming. According to ABC15, ICE conducted searches resulting in the arrest of 46 individuals from Mexico for immigration and tax violations in concert with the Homeland Security Task Force…