ICE Arrests Two Men in Charlottesville Courthouse After Charges Dropped

Men who claimed to be Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents took Teodoro Dominguez Rodriguez from a courthouse in Charlottesville, Virginia, moments after unrelated charges against him were dropped.

It is not clear whether Dominguez Rodriguez is a citizen or immigrant. Another man was taken similarly in the courthouse about an hour earlier.

One of the purported agents wore a balaclava, which is illegal in Virginia. Video footage from a bystander showed two women confronting the men inside Albemarle County Courthouse, demanding that they identify themselves and asking them to show a warrant. “Do not impede me in my lawful duties, that is a crime,” the most vocal of the men said. The men refused to show identification and were in plain clothes with no insignia.

One woman grabbed the most vocal man by the arms to keep him away from Dominguez Rodriguez. The man told her, “Get off me or I am calling the US attorney and prosecuting for assault on a federal officer.” She raised her arms in the air but continued to ask to see a judicial warrant, which the men ignored.

From the video, it is impossible to tell whether the detention is an arrest or a kidnapping.

In the middle of the day without advance notice, a crowd soon gathered outside the courthouse and protested against Dugan’s arrest. Balaclava, no identification, no warrant equals abduction, not arrest.

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