Wild video footage captured the shocking moment federal agents tackled a Venezuelan migrant into an innocent elderly bystander inside a New Hampshire courthouse before banishing him to a detention center in Texas.
Arnuel Marquez Colmenarez, 33, was shown on an elevator camera in the Nashua Circuit Court alongside federal agents.
As the elevator stopped, a federal agent tapped Colmenarez on the shoulder and gestured for him to come over.
Colmenarez attempted to make his getaway, darting away from the elevator as agents ran after him and tackled him to the ground.
During the chaos, an elderly man with a cane was taken out and fell to the ground, seemingly in pain.
Onlookers moved out of the way as multiple law enforcement officials handcuffed Colmenarez.
Jared Neff, a court liaison officer said in an incident report that he was in the prosecutor’s office when he heard voices yelling and a loud bang, which sounded like a fall.
Neff added that he helped the officers restrain Colmenarez as he actively resisted arrest, the Associated Press reported.
Wild video footage captured the moment federal agents tackled a Venezuelan man in a New Hampshire courthouse
The agents were seen tapping Colmenarez on the shoulder before he fled the elevator and they tackled him to the ground
Agents said they went to the courthouse on orders to detain immigrants in the country illegally
The wild chain of events occurred on February 20 after Colmenarez was charged with drunken driving, driving without a license, and failing to provide information after an accident.
Federal agents apprehended Colmenarez at the courthouse on orders to detain undocumented migrants.
The prosecutor handling the case was reportedly not contacted by federal agents before the arrest.
After the shocking arrest, Colmenarez was sent to an ICE detention center in Texas, miles away from the New Hampshire courthouse.
The arrest is the latest in a string of apprehensions by ICE to crack down on illegal immigration with orders from the Trump administration.
Undocumented migrants typically were not arrested by ICE in courthouses, places of worship, hospitals, or schools, due to a 2011 policy, but President Trump recently repealed it.
Federal agents consistently showed up at courthouses during Trump’s first term and have increased their presence since the president was re-elected.
The current policy now allows ICE agents to make arrests in or around courthouses when they receive credible information that leads them to an undocumented migrant.
An elderly man was caught in the crossfire and fell to the ground after agents tackled Colmenarez and handcuffed him
The policy has received pushback with a judge in Boston claiming a suspected undocumented migrant was denied his right to a fair trial when ICE detained him while on trial for an unrelated matter.
Wilson Martell-Lebron was on trial for lying on a license application form when an ICE agent detained him.
The agent, Brian Sullivan, was waiting in plain clothes to apprehend Martell-Lebron, and was later held in contempt for ‘violating’ a defendant’s right to a fair trial.
‘It couldn’t be more serious… Brian Sullivan and other agents of ICE conspired in a premeditated manner to take the defendant into custody, but not just that, to not return him to court for his trial,’ the judge said.
The Trump administration has ramped up deportations since he took office in January, but has maintained that the raids are targeting criminals.
However, immigration activists and government officials in sanctuary cities have questioned the validity of the increased deportations.
