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Recent accounts of ICE brutality have been flooding out of Minnesota. Edith, an indigenous Sisseton Wahpeton woman, shared a heartbreaking video recounting one such instance. Through tears, Edith describes her recent interaction with ICE agents, in which she was illegally detained and brutalized, sustaining several serious injuries and lasting trauma.
Edith Describes the Assault
Edith describes the terrifying moment in which she, alone in her car, was approached by three ICE agents in unmarked, plateless vehicles. When the agents approached her window, she told them that she is an enrolled member of a federally recognized tribe, an American citizen, and a mother of five. This didn’t deter the agents from dragging her from the vehicle, slamming her on the hood, and throwing her headfirst onto the concrete. During this assault, Edith sustained several injuries.
‘I had to have surgery yesterday. I won’t know if I’m blind or not, they said 24-48 hours… They tore my left rotator cuff, fractured my shoulder, and they herniated three discs. I have to go get my MRI done here. One out of three surgeries.’
Thankfully, Edith was sharing her location with a trusted handful of people. Two of those people, her attorney and law professor adviser, came to the scene. They called the sheriff, Edith says, but no local Minnesota police came. Eventually, they managed to run off the agents themselves. She says she was in shock, concussed, and incoherent after hitting the ground, and fears what else would have happened had people not shown up for her.
‘If it wasn’t for my attorney and advisor that showed up, I would have been kidnapped. My son wouldn’t have had a mom. I don’t feel safe here, in my home… I don’t trust my neighbors. I’m traumatized. Be safe out there, because they just do whatever they want.’
Edith closes her video with an address:
What they did to me… just imagine the ones that are in custody, that are hurt…To my brown brothers and sisters – this country was built by immigrants, slavery, and genocide. The government is attacking us… Hau mitakuyapi, be safe, I love you guys.’
Reactions
Edith’s video is heartbreaking, most of her words shared through choked-up tears. Commenters are sympathetic and, rightfully, furious. One commenter stated: ‘I want y’all to listen to that again. “The sheriff didn’t come. The SHERIFF DIDN’T COME.” We HAVE to defend ourselves AND our neighbors OURSELVES. The law is NOT on our side. I’m so sorry this happened to you, my love. I’m so sorry.’, with another saying, ‘This isn’t a situation where “sorry this happened” is sufficient. If you’re not sitting here livid and shaking, you’re apathetic. If not this, then what? Rage and retribution are the only acceptable responses.
