Immigrant whose skull was broken in eight places during Minn. ICE arrest says beating was unprovoked

MINNEAPOLIS -- Alberto Castañeda Mondragón says his representation was truthful jumbled aft a beating by migration officers that helium initially could not retrieve helium had a girl and inactive struggles to callback treasured moments similar the nighttime helium taught her to dance.

But the unit helium endured past period successful Minnesota portion being detained is seared into his battered brain.

He remembers Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pulling him from a friend's car connected Jan. 8 extracurricular a St. Paul buying halfway and throwing him to the ground, handcuffing him, past punching him and striking his caput with a alloy baton. He remembers being dragged into an SUV and taken to a detention facility, wherever helium said helium was beaten again.

He besides remembers the exigency country and the aggravated symptom from 8 skull fractures and 5 life-threatening encephalon hemorrhages.

"They started beating maine close distant erstwhile they arrested me," the Mexican migrant recounted this week to The Associated Press, which precocious reported connected however his lawsuit contributed to mounting friction betwixt national migration agents and a Minneapolis hospital.

Castañeda Mondragón, 31, is 1 of an chartless fig of migration detainees who, contempt avoiding deportation during the Trump administration's enforcement crackdown, person been near with lasting injuries pursuing convulsive encounters with ICE officers. His lawsuit is 1 of the excessive-force claims the national authorities has frankincense acold declined to investigate.

He was wounded truthful severely helium was disoriented for days astatine Hennepin County Medical Center, wherever ICE officers perpetually watched implicit him.

Officers claimed helium ran headfirst into a wall

The officers told nurses Castañeda Mondragón "purposefully ran headfirst into a ceramic wall," an relationship his caregivers instantly doubted. A CT scan showed fractures to the front, backmost and some sides of his skull - injuries a doc told AP were inconsistent with a fall.

"There was ne'er a wall," Castañeda Mondragón said successful Spanish, recalling ICE officers striking him with the aforesaid metallic rod utilized to interruption the windows of the conveyance helium was in. He aboriginal identified it arsenic an ASP, a telescoping baton routinely carried by instrumentality enforcement.

Training materials and constabulary use-of-force policies crossed the U.S. accidental specified a baton tin beryllium utilized to deed the arms, legs and body. But striking the head, cervix oregon spine is considered perchance deadly force.

"The lone clip a idiosyncratic tin beryllium struck successful the caput with immoderate baton is erstwhile the idiosyncratic presents the aforesaid menace that would licence the usage of a firearm - a lethal menace to the serviceman oregon others," said Joe Key, a erstwhile Baltimore constabulary lieutenant and use-of-force adept who testifies successful defence of police.

Once helium was taken to an ICE holding installation astatine Ft. Snelling successful suburban Minneapolis, Castañeda Mondragón said officers resumed beating him. Recognizing that helium was earnestly hurt, helium said, helium pleaded with them to halt but they conscionable "laughed astatine maine and deed maine again."

"They were precise racist people," helium said. "No 1 insulted them, neither maine nor the different idiosyncratic they detained maine with. It was their character, their racism toward us, for being immigrants."

The Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, did not respond to repeated requests for remark implicit the past 2 weeks connected Castañeda Mondragón's injuries.

It is unclear whether his apprehension was captured connected body-camera footage oregon if determination mightiness beryllium further recordings from information cameras astatine the detention center.

In a caller bid to boost transparency, DHS announced a wide rollout of assemblage cameras for migration officers successful Minneapolis arsenic the authorities besides draws down ICE's beingness there.

ICE deportation serviceman William J. Robinson did not accidental however Castañeda Mondragón's skull was smashed successful a Jan. 20 declaration filed successful national court. During the intake process, it was determined helium "had a caput wounded that required exigency aesculapian treatment," helium wrote successful the filing.

The declaration besides stated that Castañeda Mondragón entered the U.S. legally successful March 2022, and that the bureau determined lone aft his apprehension that helium had overstayed his visa. A national justice aboriginal ruled his apprehension had been unlawful and ordered him released from ICE custody.

Video shows him stumbling during arrest

A video posted to societal media captured the moments instantly aft Castañeda Mondragón's apprehension arsenic 4 masked men locomotion him handcuffed done a parking lot. The video shows him unsteady and stumbling, held up by ICE officers.

"Don't resist," shouts the pistillate who is recording. "Cause they ain't gonna bash thing but bang you up immoderate more."

"Hope they don't termination you," she adds.

"And y'all gave the antheral a concussion," a antheral bystander shouts.

The witnesser who posted the video declined to talk with AP oregon supply consent for the video's publication, but Castañeda Mondragón confirmed helium is the handcuffed antheral seen successful the recording.

At slightest 1 ICE serviceman aboriginal told unit astatine the aesculapian halfway that Castañeda Mondragón "got his (expletive) rocked," according to tribunal documents filed by a lawyer seeking his merchandise and nurses who spoke with AP.

AP interviewed a doc and 5 nurses astir Castañeda Mondragón's attraction astatine HCMC and the beingness of ICE officers wrong the hospital. They spoke connected information of anonymity due to the fact that they were not authorized to sermon diligent attraction and feared retaliation. AP besides consulted an extracurricular physician, who affirmed the injuries were inconsistent with an accidental autumn oregon moving into a wall.

Minnesota authorities instrumentality requires wellness professionals to study to instrumentality enforcement immoderate wounds that could person been perpetrated arsenic portion of a crime.

An HCMC spokeswoman declined to accidental this week whether anyone astatine the installation had done so. However, pursuing the Jan. 31 work of AP's archetypal communicative astir Castañeda Mondragón's arrest, infirmary administrators opened an interior enquiry seeking to find which unit members person spoken to the media, according to interior communications viewed by AP.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz posted a nexus to AP's anterior communicative astir Castañeda Mondragón, but his bureau has not said whether authorities authorities would prosecute answers.

"Law enforcement cannot beryllium lawless," Walz wrote successful the station connected X. "Thousands of aggressive, untrained agents of the national authorities proceed to injure and terrorize Minnesotans. This indispensable end."

Castañeda Mondragón's apprehension came a time aft the archetypal of 2 fatal shootings of U.S. citizens successful Minneapolis by migration officers, triggering wide nationalist protests.

Elected officials telephone for accountability

Minnesota legislature leaders and different elected officials, including St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, called this week for an probe of Castañeda Mondragón's injuries.

The Ramsey County Attorney's Office, which oversees St. Paul, urged Castañeda Mondragón to record a constabulary study to punctual an investigation. He said helium plans to record a complaint. A St. Paul constabulary spokesperson said the section would analyse "all alleged crimes that are reported to us."

While the Trump medication insists ICE limits its operations to immigrants with convulsive rap sheets, Castañeda Mondragón has nary transgression record.

"We are seeing a repeated signifier of Trump Administration officials attempting to prevarication and gaslight the American radical erstwhile it comes to the cruelty of this ICE cognition successful Minnesota," Sen. Tina Smith, a Minnesota Democrat, said successful a statement.

Rep. Kelly Morrison, different Democrat and a doctor, precocious toured the Whipple Building, the ICE installation astatine Ft. Snelling. She said she saw terrible overcrowding, unsanitary conditions and an astir implicit deficiency of aesculapian care.

"If immoderate 1 of our constabulary officers did this, you cognize what conscionable happened successful Minnesota with George Floyd, we clasp them accountable," said Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum, whose territory includes St. Paul.

A autochthonal of Veracruz, Mexico, Castañeda Mondragón came to Minnesota astir 4 years agone connected a impermanent enactment visa and recovered jobs arsenic a operator and roofer. He uses his net to enactment his aged father, who is disabled and diabetic, and his 10-year-old daughter.

On the time of his arrest, helium was moving errands with a person erstwhile they abruptly recovered themselves surrounded by ICE agents. They began breaking the windows and opening the doors of the vehicle. He said the archetypal idiosyncratic who deed him "got disfigured with maine for being Mexican" and not having documents showing his migration status.

About 4 hours aft his arrest, tribunal records show, Castañeda Mondragón was taken to an exigency country successful the suburb of Edina with swelling and bruising astir his close oculus and bleeding. He was past transferred to the Minneapolis aesculapian center, wherever helium told unit helium had been "dragged and mistreated by national agents," earlier his information deteriorated, tribunal records show.

A week into his hospitalization, caregivers described him arsenic minimally responsive. As his information dilatory improved, infirmary unit handed him his cellphone, and helium spoke with his kid successful Mexico, whom helium could not remember.

"I americium your daughter," she told him. "You near erstwhile I was 6 years old."

His caput injuries erased past experiences that for his girl are unforgettable, including day parties and the time helium near for the U.S. She's been trying to revive his representation successful regular calls.

"When I turned 5, you taught maine however to creation for the archetypal time," she reminded him recently.

"All these moments, really, for me, person been forgotten, helium said.

He showed gradual betterment and, to the astonishment of immoderate who treated him, was released from the infirmary connected Jan. 27.

Long betterment lies ahead

He faces a agelong betterment and an uncertain future. Questions loom astir whether helium volition beryllium capable to proceed to enactment his household backmost successful Mexico. "My household depends connected me," helium said.

Though his bruises person faded, the effects of his traumatic encephalon injuries linger. In summation to the problems with his memory, helium besides has issues with equilibrium and coordination that could beryllium debilitating for a antheral whose enactment requires going up and down ladders. He said helium is incapable to bathe himself without help.

"I can't get connected a extortion now," helium said.

Castañeda Mondragón, who does not person wellness insurance, said doctors person told him helium needs ongoing care. Unable to gain a living, helium is relying connected enactment from co-workers and members of the Minneapolis-St. Paul assemblage who are raising wealth to assistance supply food, lodging and aesculapian care. He has launched a GoFundMe.

Still, helium hopes to enactment successful the U.S. and to supply again someday for his loved ones. He differentiates betwixt radical successful Minnesota, wherever helium said helium has felt welcome, and the national officers who bushed him.

"It's immense luck to person survived, to beryllium capable to beryllium successful this state again, to beryllium capable to heal, and to effort to determination forward," helium said. "For me, it's the champion luck successful the world."

But erstwhile helium closes his eyes astatine night, the fearfulness that ICE officers volition travel for him dominates his dreams. He is present terrified to permission his apartment, helium said.

"You're near with the nightmare of going to enactment and being stopped," Castañeda Mondragón said, "or that you're buying your nutrient somewhere, your lunch, and they amusement up and halt you again. They deed you."
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Biesecker reported from Washington. Mustian reported from New York, and Attanasio reported from Seattle.
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Brook is simply a corps subordinate for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is simply a nonprofit nationalist work programme that places journalists successful section newsrooms to study connected undercovered issues.