A Minnesota man told Reuters on Monday he felt fear, shame and desperation when ICE officers broke down his door with guns drawn, handcuffed him and dragged him into the snow wearing shorts and Crocs. - REUTERS
00:00This is the moment 56-year-old Chong Li Tao was arrested by ICE at his home in St. Paul, Minnesota.
00:07Officers broke down his door, handcuffed him, and dragged him into the snow, wearing just shorts and sandals.
00:15Tao, who goes by the name Scott, was returned home later on Sunday without explanation or apology.
00:21He spoke to writers, recounting the fear and shame he felt.
00:24My daughter-in-law came to the room and said, Dad, there's ICE out there.
00:30I said, okay, just open the door.
00:33So I locked my bedroom, and then Sunday they break in.
00:38They just came to the room and locked in the door.
00:42So I said, okay, just open the door, see what they want.
00:44And then Sunday just guns pointed at us.
00:48I said, whoa.
00:49And then they go, you, come out here.
00:53I go, okay.
00:55And then I came out there with my hand up, and then they put my hand on my back.
01:03So I did, and then Sunday they just handcuffed me.
01:07Tao said he tried presenting his ID.
01:09They didn't ask for my ID or anything until after they handcuffed me.
01:14And then they asked me, do I have my ID?
01:17I go, yeah, it's in the room.
01:19And then my daughter-in-law, she tried to get my ID, but they didn't want to see it no more.
01:25Yeah, they just took me out there with no clothes on, and they just covered with my grandson's blankets.
01:35Yeah, they just took me out there.
01:38And I was like, man, this is embarrassing.
01:43Tao said his parents brought him from Laos to the United States in 1974, and he became a U.S. citizen in 1991.
01:52After officers photographed him and took his fingerprints, he was returned home.
01:56In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said officers were investigating two convicted sex offenders at the address.
02:05Spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said a U.S. citizen living there refused to be fingerprinted or be facially identified,
02:11and that he matched the description of an offender.
02:14She added that it's standard protocol to hold all individuals from a house involved in an operation for the safety of the public and law enforcement.
02:22Tao's son, Chris, says what happened makes him wonder if America is still a good place to be.
02:27If this is America, if this is America, it's what it looks like.
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