NEED TO KNOW
- In a June 21 incident recorded on video, Narciso Barranco is seen being pinned down and assaulted by Border Patrol agents
- A DHS spokesperson said in a statement to PEOPLE that Narciso “assaulted federal law enforcement,” but his son Alejandro, a Marine Corps veteran, claimed his dad “just got scared” by masked agents “with guns out”
- A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family following the incident and pay for legal counsel
A Marine Corps veteran whose two brothers are active-duty Marines is speaking out after his father, who is currently in ICE custody, was beaten and arrested by masked federal agents.
“It’s hard for us,” Alejandro Barranco, 25, said in an interview with CNN on Monday, June 23. “We feel hurt, we feel betrayed.”
The incident occurred on Saturday, June 21, outside an IHOP in Santa Ana, Calif., where his dad, Narciso Barranco, 48, was doing landscaping work, Alejandro told CNN and The Los Angeles Times.
In video footage shared by CNN and ABC affiliate KABC, the masked men, who were wearing vests that read “US Border Patrol Police,” can be seen pinning down Narciso on the street and punching him before taking him into custody.
When reached for comment by PEOPLE, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that an “illegal alien” was arrested by Border Patrol agents after trying to “evade law enforcement.”
McLaughlin also claimed he “turned and swung a weed whacker directly at an agent’s face” – echoing a comment the agency shared on social media, claiming he “assaulted federal law enforcement.” (In that video, Narciso is seen holding the equipment, but, as noted by CNN and the Associated Press, it did not appear to touch any officers.)
“He then fled through a busy intersection and raised the weed whacker again at the agent,” McLaughlin continued before confirming that Barranco was in ICE custody.
Speaking with CNN, his son Alejandro claimed his dad likely “just got scared” by being approached with masked agents “with guns out.”
Alejandro also said the force used against his father was “uncalled for.”
“It looks like he’s putting up resistance on the ground but that’s a natural human reaction and I think anybody would do that to defend themselves when they are being beaten,” he told the AP.
In his interviews with CNN and The Los Angeles Times, Alejandro said that his father is undocumented, but doesn’t have a criminal record. He also told KABC that he first spoke with his father in a phone call on Sunday, June 22.
“He was hurt still, said he hadn’t received any medical attention and then he said he was very thirsty. He hadn’t ate,” he told the local TV station of his father’s condition. (In their statement, DHS claimed that Barranco “was offered medical care which he declined.)
Alejandro, who said that during the same call his dad also asked him to finish the landscaping job he’d been working on at the time of his arrest, described Narciso as a good father.
“He always made sure we had food on the table. He always taught us to respect, to love our country, to always give back,” he told CNN.
“Both my parents always taught us to respect everyone, respect this country, thank this country and then that led us to join the Marine Corps and kind of give back to the country and be thankful,” Alejandro told KABC. “This I don’t think is right.”
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A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family following the incident and pay for legal counsel. As of Tuesday afternoon, it has raised nearly $160,000.
“Narciso’s family continues to work tirelessly to secure legal assistance and to bring him home after his unjust detainment,” read an update on the fundraiser page. “The strength and solidarity from our community are what give them hope.”
PEOPLE reached out to the GoFundMe organizer for additional information.
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