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🚨 AOTR URGENT ALERT: Authors of the Resistance Elevate the Ojeda-Montoya/Zapata family and their one and a half year old daughter. Authors of the Resistance Elevate the Fight Against Aggressive ICE Tactics in Fitchburg, MA

We stand with Carlos Zapata, 24, who suffered an apparent seizure while holding his wife and crying toddler during a violent federal immigration arrest in Fitchburg, MA, on Thursday, November 6th.

TRAFFIC STOP TURNED VIOLENT: Zapata was driving his wife, Juliana Milena Ojeda-Montoya, and their 18-month-old daughter, when they were aggressively surrounded by ICE officers. Zapata reportedly told a newspaper that he lost consciousness after agents pushed and hit him and pressed on his neck as he shielded his family.

THE INCIDENT:

Agents initiated a high-stress, chaotic traffic stop involving a toddler.

Zapata experienced what witnesses shouted was a seizure while agents reached into the car.

Homeland Security officials publicly accused Zapata of faking the medical emergency.

PATTERN OF IMPUNITY: This confrontation reflects a culture where federal agents use excessive force—even against non-targets and in the presence of children—and then publicly deny and mock the resulting trauma. Zapata’s desperate words highlight the resistance: "I wasn’t letting go of my wife because they wanted to take her away."

CALL TO ACTION: Our communities deserve safety and respect. We demand accountability for the aggressive tactics used against the Zapata family and an end to dangerous, unchecked federal operations that prioritize force over human dignity.

Defend your neighbors. Support the families under attack. We take care of each other.

#JusticeForZapata #ICEAccountability #ProtectOurChildren #NoImpunity #fitchburgma

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Transcript
00:00Radio Transmission A Message from Authors of the Resistance
00:03Say Their Names
00:04Julian A. O. Hayda Montoya, Carlos Zapata and One-and-a-Half-Year-Old Daughter
00:09Stop Sign Chaotic Arrest Raises Questions Over ICE Tactics in Massachusetts
00:14In Fitchburg, Massachusetts, a chaotic traffic stop by federal immigration agents has sparked
00:19controversy after video surfaced showing a man having what appeared to be a seizure while
00:23shielding his wife and toddler. The incident occurred Thursday morning when agents stopped
00:28a car carrying 24-year-old Carlos Zapata, his wife Juliana Milena Ojeta Montoya, and their
00:34one-and-a-half-year-old daughter. Agents were seeking Ojeta Montoya on charges of assault and
00:39battery with a dangerous weapon, related to an alleged stabbing of a co-worker with scissors
00:43in August. Widely circulated bystander video shows a masked agent reaching into the car
00:48as Zapata is seen shaking violently, with onlookers shouting, he's having a seizure.
00:53Zapata, who along with his wife is an asylum applicant from Ecuador, told the Boston Globe
00:58that he lost consciousness and had convulsions after agents pushed him and pressed on his neck
01:03as he tried to keep them from taking his wife. He said, I wasn't letting go of my wife because
01:08they wanted to take her away. However, Department of Homeland Security officials have fiercely disputed
01:13this account. In a news release, they accused Zapata of faking a seizure to help a criminal
01:19escape justice. They stated that medical personnel found no legitimate emergency and that Zapata
01:24was seen on his feet and coherent moments later. Ojeta Montoya is now in custody pending removal
01:30proceedings, while the viral video continues to fuel debate over the aggressive nature of the arrest.
01:36Say their names. Julian Aoyada Montoya, Carlos Zapata and one-and-a-half-year-old daughter.
01:42This has been a message from AOTR.
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