Alberto Castañeda Mondragón said he suffered eight skull fractures and five life-threatening brain hemorrhages
AP Photo/Mark Vancleave
NEED TO KNOW
- Alberto Castañeda Mondragón claimed that he was beaten up so badly by ICE agents while being detained that he suffered eight skull fractures and five life-threatening brain hemorrhages
- The Mexican immigrant said that he plans to file a complaint against the federal law enforcement agency
- ICE claimed in court documents that the man “purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall” and needed medical attention
A Mexican immigrant claimed that he was beaten up — unprovoked — by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minnesota.
Alberto Castañeda Mondragón, 31 claimed in an Associated Press interview published on Friday, Feb. 6, that he did not “purposefully” run “headfirst into a brick wall,” as ICE agents claimed in court documents, while he was being detained last month.
He told AP that he was pulled from a friend’s car outside a St. Paul shopping center on Jan. 8 by ICE agents who allegedly threw him to the ground, handcuffed him, then punched him and hit his head with a steel baton. He also claimed that he was dragged to an SUV and transported to a detention center where he was beaten again.
“They started beating me right away when they arrested me,” he added.
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Castañeda Mondragón said he remembered being transported to an emergency room at Hennepin County Medical Center and feeling intense pain. A CT scan of his brain showed fractures to the front, back and both sides of his skull.
He said he was informed by medical staff that he had eight skull fractures and five life-threatening brain hemorrhages, per AP, and that he was left disoriented for days following the incident.
While ICE agents claimed that he “purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall,” workers at the hospital told AP that they doubted the claims, as Castañeda Mondragón’s injuries as shown on scans, were consistent with a fall. An outside physician also substantiated the claims to AP.
“There was never a wall,” Castañeda Mondragón said, claiming that the agents used excessive force to detain him and that ICE officers used a metal rod, which he later identified as an ASP or a telescoping baton routinely carried by law enforcement, per AP.
He told AP that officers used the baton to break in the window of his car and also strike him. He plans to file a complaint against ICE.
In a Jan. 20 declaration filed in federal court, ICE deportation officer William J. Robinson noted that Castañeda Mondragón entered the U.S. legally in March 2022 and determined after his arrest that he had overstayed his visa. Robinson also noted in the filing that the 31-year-old “had a head injury that required emergency medical treatment."
ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the agency, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE for comment.
Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty
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Minn. Gov. Tim Waltz has spoken out against the “aggressive” way Castañeda Mondragón and others have been detained in a post on X.
“Law enforcement cannot be lawless,” he said. “Thousands of aggressive, untrained agents of the federal government continue to injure and terrorize Minnesotans. This must end.”
Other elected officials, including St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, called for an investigation of Castañeda Mondragón’s injuries earlier this week, per AP.
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