George Retes served his country in Iraq. Last week, he says his country turned on him.
The 25-year-old U.S. Army veteran and American citizen says he was pepper-sprayed, tear-gassed, and violently dragged from his car during an immigration raid at his job — all while clearly identifying himself as a U.S. citizen.
“It took two officers to nail my back and then one on my neck to arrest me even though my hands were already behind my back,” Retes said.
The July 10 raid hit two marijuana farms in Southern California. Hundreds of federal agents in tactical gear stormed the properties. More than 360 people were arrested. One farmworker died after falling from a greenhouse roof.
Retes, a security guard at Glass House Farms in Camarillo, says he had just arrived for work when the agents swarmed his car.
He says they ignored him when he told them he was a U.S. citizen. Instead, they shattered his window, gassed him, and dragged him out.
Retes was taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles. There, he says he was placed on suicide watch. He was never told why he was arrested. He wasn’t allowed to call his family or a lawyer.
“I was locked up for three days with no reason and no charges,” Retes said. “They gave me nothing I could wrap my head around.”
He missed his 3-year-old daughter’s birthday. He says he wasn’t allowed to shower or change clothes, even though he was covered in tear gas and pepper spray. “My hands burned all night,” he said.
On Sunday, they released him. No charges. No explanation.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, confirmed Retes’ arrest but wouldn’t say what he was accused of. “George Retes was arrested and has been released,” she said. “He has not been charged.”
Retes is now planning to sue.
“The way they’re going about this entire deportation process is completely wrong,” he said. “Chasing people who are just working, especially trying to feed everyone here in the U.S. No one deserves to be treated the way they treat people.”
Retes isn’t the only U.S. citizen swept up in the raid.
Jonathan Caravello, a professor at California State University Channel Islands, was also arrested. Witnesses say he was trying to move a tear gas canister stuck under someone’s wheelchair when agents grabbed him.
Agents allegedly didn’t identify themselves or explain why he was being taken. Like Retes, Caravello wasn’t allowed to contact his family or a lawyer.
He’s now out on bond and scheduled to appear in court Aug. 1.
California Governor Gavin Newsom blasted the raids. “You got someone who dropped 30 feet because they were scared to death and lost their life,” he said. “People are quite literally disappearing with no due process, no rights.”
Retes says his arrest proves no one is safe.
“I want everyone to know what happened. This doesn’t just affect one person,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if your skin is brown. It doesn’t matter if you’re white. It doesn’t matter if you’re a veteran or you serve this country. They don’t care. They’re just there to fill a quota.”
MSNBC’s Chris Hayes has more on the story in the video below:
