🇱🇷 U.S. citizen says encounter with ICE agents in Brooklyn Park landed him in the hospital

 U.S. citizen claims Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents left him hurt and hospitalized after an encounter in the Twin Cities.

Emmanuel Sackie, a Liberian-born, naturalized citizen, says he was stopped in the parking lot of Family Dollar in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, on Monday afternoon.

Sackie says he was inside the store when his fiancée, Amanda Tuonyon, called him and stated immigration agents were surrounding their vehicle. 

Tuonyon says agents told her the vehicle was registered to someone named Joseph. That’s when Sackie said he came out and showed the agents his driver’s license.

“They asked me, ‘Can you give me more proof that you’re a citizen?’ I told them I don’t have the proof on me right now,” Sackie said. 

A video recorded by his fiancée shows the start of the encounter outside the store. In the video, you can hear Sackie saying he doesn’t know who a man named Joseph is. You can also hear Tuonyon pleading with agents to let them go and that her fiancé is a citizen. 

Sackie says the situation escalated quickly. Another video recorded by a bystander shows a struggle between Sackie and federal agents. In the video, Sackie is handcuffed before being put in a federal vehicle.

“I am a legal citizen, and this is my first time being in handcuffs in my whole life,” he said. 

Sackie says he was taken to an unknown location before being let go. During the encounter, he says he was badly bruised and went to the hospital. 

Sackie says he immigrated legally to the U.S for a better life and to reunite with family. He says this situation has left him shaken and questioning whether citizenship paperwork offers protection during this immigration operation. 

“America is the place of dreams, equal opportunity, equal rights, but that is not how I was treated yesterday,” Sackie said. “I’ve been treated like an animal and it really hurt me.”

WCCO reached out to ICE for comment on this case, but hasn’t heard back.