A US Army veteran who was detained last week during a massive immigration attack in Ventura County said Wednesday he wanted a “full investigation” into how he was detained behind bars for three days despite being an American citizen.
“What happened to me was not just a mistake,” he said in writing. “It was a violation of my civil rights. It was an overpowering force.”
At a press conference Wednesday, Retes, the 25-year-old father of two, said he was heading to work as a security guard at Glass House Farms on July 10th. [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agent. ”
Retes focuses on her 3-year-old daughter’s upcoming birthday party, and has not noticed that Glass House, one of California’s biggest legal cannabis operations, is being attacked by many armed immigrant agents.
Officers from the Department of Homeland Security later said they detained more than 360 people in the attack, including many undocumented migrants charged with crimes. Many workers fled in panic as agents moved through the company’s greenhouse. One worker, Jaime Alanis Garcia, 56, died after turning three stories while trying to avoid capture.
Meanwhile, protesters and workers’ families gathered at Glass House Gates on Laguna Road to face federal agents who deployed chemicals and non-fatal ammunition.
Retes said he worked at Glass House as a contractor for security company Securitas for seven months. He said he unconsciously headed into the brawl as he drove down the Laguna road to report his afternoon shift.
“I had no clue about it,” he said. “When I got up, I saw all the cars, I saw all the traffic, and I was just trying to walk my own path.”
He didn’t go to work. Instead, he said the agent smashed the windows of his car, scattered peppers, and dragged him out at the muzzle.
“I let the ice agent know that I am a US citizen and that I am an American,” he said. “They didn’t care. They never told me my bill. They sent me out.”
Likuz, who worked in Iraq, said he never told him why the agent was being held at a federal metropolitan detention center in downtown Los Angeles. He was stuffed, without phone calls, access to lawyers, or even a way to clean up pepper spray residue from his clothes or face, he said.
During his custody, he was so distressed he was subjected to suicide surveillance, but he said he was not yet permitted to contact his lawyer.
Meanwhile, his sister and wife gave tearful interviews with local television stations, pleasing information about where he is.
“We don’t know what to do,” his sister, Destiny Majana, told KABC-TV Channel 7 last week. “We’re just asking you to let go of your brother. He’s a US citizen. He’s done nothing wrong. He’s a veteran and disabled citizen. That’s what he says to his car.”
“I don’t know where he is. I’ve been awake since 6am after calling the sheriff, the police station, Oxnard, Camarillo and Ventura,” added his wife Guadalupe Torres. “They say they don’t know.”
Finally, on Sunday, a security guard came to his phone and told him he was being released.
“The policeman walked me downstairs,” he recalls. “I signed the paper to get my stuff back. That was it. They let me go.”
In a statement, a Department of Homeland Security official said: [U.S. attorney’s office] He has reviewed his case along with dozens of other people about potential federal charges related to the enforcement of a federal search warrant in Camarillo. ”
Rickes says he is home in Ventura now, spending time with his children, “I enjoy being free. I took it for granted.”
He retrieved the car, but he said there were still destroyed windows, numerous dents and sharp chili spray.
However, he said he plans to file a lawsuit against the government over the way he was treated.
“What they did is not right,” he said. “I’m talking for everyone who doesn’t have the opportunity to talk here.”
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