No matter how you want to spin it, the use of ICE to intimidate and separate families is just evil. We’ve seen multiple examples in the news regarding people who have been injured or disappeared due to ICE intervention. Now, a California car wash owner is among them. The elderly Egyptian-American was tackled to the ground at his California business, which led to severe injuries. Now, he’s moving forward with an all-too-necessary lawsuit.
The video of the incident was posted to r/PublicFreakout and it’s brutal. In the video, you see the 79-year-old car wash owner being kicked and beaten to the ground inside Valley Car Wash by an ICE agent. As ICE agents tried to do the same to his employees, 79-year-old Rafie Ollah Shouhed came to their defense. You can see another agent taking ahold of Rafie and struggling with him as they thrown him to the ground forcefully.
Apparently, ICE came to detain him and five of his employees. They asked for his documents and then the struggle ensued. A total of three ICE agents jumped on him and sat on him, despite the fact that he has a heart condition. In that moment, they just didn’t care. After he was thrown to the ground, he requested medical attention. Instead, the ICE agents put him in handcuffs and took him to a nearby detention center. He begged to be let go so that he could go home and access his medication. He was released hours later, which is when he was able to go to the hospital. In an interview, he shows several serious injuries and bruising.
Rafie says that he told agents he could help them. He said he had official documents for his employees but they didn’t listen and continued to injure him. Now, Rafie is filing a legal claim for “assault, battery, civil rights violations, and deliberate indifference to serious medical conditions.” Excessive force was used against his man and he deserves his day to stand up for himself.
One commenter said, “I hope this man files a lawsuit and wins big. This is disgusting and those agents all need to be fired and charged.” However, other commenters stated that it’s nearly impossible to sue the federal government and they’ll claim they were well within reason when it comes to their actions. One commenter stated, “Stop pretending that there’s going to be any consequences for this stuff. There isn’t going to be. The sooner we address reality the better.” It’s still important for people to use their voice and manage the best they can in the face of adversity. Hopefully, this isn’t the end of the story for Rafie and he gets much-needed retribution.
