A U.S. citizen who was detained by immigration agents and accused of obstructing an arrest, before her case was ultimately dismissed, said she is still traumatized by what happened.
Andrea Velez was in downtown Los Angeles on June 24 when she was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. She was charged with assaulting a federal officer while he was attempting to arrest a suspect.
The Department of Justice later dismissed her case without prejudice. the agency did not immediately return a request for comment on tuesday.Velez, who works as a production coordinator for a shoe company, recalled seeing federal agents when her mother and sister dropped her off at work.”It was like a scene,” she told NBC Los Angeles. “They were just ready to attack and chase.”
Velez said she felt someone grab her and slam her to the ground. She said she tried to tell the agent, who was in plainclothes, that she was a citizen, but he told her that she “was interfering with what he was doing, so he was going to arrest me.”
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