Immigration and Customs Enforcement denied hitting Ricardo Gonzalez with a car while he was cycling in Long Beach, California, before detaining him, but video footage obtained by The New York Times contradicts the agency's statement. The footage shows an SUV driving the wrong way down a one-way street and swerving toward an oncoming bicyclist, after which an officer jumps out and appears to draw a weapon.
In the video, Gonzalez can be heard saying, "I'm a U.S. citizen!" Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson, a Democrat, submitted a complaint to the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General and said Gonzalez has worked for the city.
The incident, reported by Just Security's early edition roundup of October 21, adds to a string of disputed immigration enforcement encounters under the Trump administration's aggressive deportation campaign. ICE did not immediately explain the discrepancy between its denial and the video evidence. The case has drawn attention as part of broader scrutiny of federal agents' conduct during street-level immigration operations in California cities.