Governors must charge ICE agents with state crimes.

Everywhere I look, I see ICE (any law enforcement agency acting as ICE or assisting and abetting ICE) agents committing use of force violations. In federal law enforcement, agents are trained to follow strict use of force guidelines in their official training from their various academies. I received this training back in 1995, and it is still used today. As you see in the chart from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, as the subject’s resistance increases, the agent can increase their response to gain control of the subject or situation. The response by the agent is required to be equal to the amount of resistance according to federal law.

The still picture featured comes from the video below which shows a man standing and talking to a Border Patrol agent. The agent orders him to step back, and the man replies that he is not doing anything but standing on a sidewalk. Words are not considered to be harmful or life threatening. Federal agents cannot touch a person or fire non-lethal ammunition at them for simply using words no matter how offensive those words may be. 

While the Border Patrol agent did give the man what is considered to be a “lawful order” and the man did resist the order, he resisted passively. This means he did not threaten the agent. He merely pointed out he is on a public sidewalk and asked why he was being ordered to step back. As the chart above shows, the agent may respond with “contact controls.” These are responses such as grabbing the man’s wrist, turning him around and pushing him away. 

But chokeholds which include grabbing the man’s throat as seen in the video are not allowed in the Border Patrol according to this 2021 press release from the Department of Justice that shows it was updated as of February 2025 under the current administration.

Neither are the carotid artery restraints Border Patrol agents lovingly call “Mexican heart attacks.” The quickness with which this agent goes to this man’s throat when his arms are at his sides tells me he likely does this chokehold often.

The agent is so threatened by this man’s presence, he takes the time to sling his assault rifle onto his back as the man waits for his reply as to why he has to leave a public sidewalk. Once his weapon is on his back, it is the agent who then walks up and presses his body against the civilian. It is not the civilian who is threatening in this moment, but the agent who is instigating. The man keeps his hands at his side and begins to speak when the agent suddenly grabs him by his throat with his left hand and then grabs his genitals with his right hand while body slamming him onto the ground.

According to the FLETC use of force continuum, the man was exhibiting passive resistance. The agent responded by escalating the situation with an illegal chokehold, a genital hold and a body slam. This means the agent responded with bodily harm that possibly could have led to deadly force as chokeholds and carotid restraints often cause death. All agents are trained that chokeholds and carotid artery restraints are illegal and can cause death or significant injuries. These tactics are only allowed as a last resort to save your own life or the life of another. This is what this incident looks like on the continuum:

This was a clear use of force violation according to federal law. The agent did not use or even attempt to use contact controls or compliance techniques. He went straight to defensive tactics known to cause bodily harm and to deadly force with the chokehold. 

This is not an opinion, not a gray area. 

While it is not likely that a US Attorney would prosecute this agent for this crime during this lawless administration, it is important for the man to file a federal complaint. I would be surprised if he was not severely injured from this agent’s actions. The agent is also easily identifiable; few Border Patrol agents are Black and even fewer have long dreads. And while the federal government will refuse to file criminal charges against the agent and agency, because they are well protected by qualified immunity, the man could still sue civilly in federal court.

But there is another avenue that our leaders have so far been unwilling to go after - state law violations. Even if the federal government will not press criminal charges, every local and state court could file use of force violations. They could even file charges against the agents for all the times they have handcuffed people and held them for hours against their will just to see if they are citizens or not. 

Each state has its own constitution, law and guaranteed rights that these agents are knowingly violating. And while the agents and their agencies are sure to claim the Supremacy Clause, that the federal law trumps state law, they are required to be acting lawfully when applying this defense. 

As I just demonstrated, this agent was clearly not acting within state or federal law.

As Christopher Armitage pointed out in an excellent piece discussing this issue, the agencies will push to move the trials to federal courts. At the same time, it will send a message that agents will be held accountable and that we will not back down to their violence and human rights crimes. The only problem is that so far, our governors, mayors and police seem unwillingly to enforce the law. As Armitage stated in his article:

Here’s what you do today:

Call your governor and say exactly this: “Federal agents are committing state felonies including burglary, kidnapping, and assault. File criminal charges now. If local law enforcement refuses to do their jobs then they can be fired or arrested. We elected you to protect us. Do it. If you don’t take this seriously then expect us to begin contacting all of your donors to ask if they are aware of your compliance.”

This assault and violation of use of force occurred in Chicago, Illinois on Kedzie Street. Governor Pritzger and Mayor Brandon Johnson must charge this agent if they intend to keep their promises of protecting their constituents. 

Otherwise, the people must start protecting themselves.