A man who says he was badly injured during an immigration arrest on Columbia Pike is demanding a criminal investigation.
Protesters gathered outside the Arlington County Justice Center this morning (Friday) in support of Jose Mejia Hernandez, who says he suffered a brain bleed and other injuries after Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers reportedly chased him and shot him with a Taser earlier this month.
Mejia Hernandez’s counsel filed a police report seeking a criminal investigation from the Arlington County Police Department. They planned to meet with investigators today to discuss Mejia Hernandez’s arrest on Aug. 11 in a parking lot in an apartment complex at Columbia Pike and S. Courthouse Road.
Attorney Denisse Gastélum described Mejia Hernandez fleeing from masked officers who approached him without warning. She also shared two videos from bystanders that show immigration enforcement tending to injuries on her client’s face immediately after the incident.
“As he’s walking to the bus stop, he recalls strangers approaching,” Gastélum said. “He didn’t know who they were. He didn’t recognize them. They didn’t look like police officers. He was concerned and he started running.”
Mejia Hernandez has said that he has a gap in his memory between getting hit with a stun gun and waking up in a hospital bed. He says that he lost consciousness, although bystander video of the incident shows him sitting upright and ultimately standing up, surrounded by ICE agents.
Carlos Jurado, Mejia Hernandez’s immigration attorney, said that he has many unanswered questions about ICE officers’ actions during the incident, although he says his client suffered a traumatic brain injury resulting in brain swelling and a brain bleed.
“What did they do? I have no idea,” Jurado said. “That’s why we’re here. We’re trying to piece it together.”
In a letter to ACPD, Gastélum alleged that witnesses reported Mejia Hernandez being struck by an officer’s vehicle while he was on foot. However, available videos only show the aftermath of whatever happened.
The Department of Homeland Security told HuffPost that Mejia Hernandez is undocumented and that he “attempted to flee from the scene, requiring ICE to use necessary force to gain control of the situation.”
“Allegations that he was unconscious and woke up in a hospital bed are FALSE,” the agency said. “According to officers, they rendered aid, asked the individual, who was responsive, if he was okay after evading arrest, and followed their training.”
Arlington County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti told ARLnow that ACPD “has been examining available information concerning this incident” and that “the filing of a police report is a catalyst for a more robust investigation.”
“ACPD does not participate in federal immigration enforcement, and our Trust Policy prohibits initiating contact with ICE,” de Ferranti said. “Although the law does not permit the County to interfere or intervene in ICE operations, we are and will do everything we can within the law to provide support and to protect the safety of all our residents, documented and undocumented.”
Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti also delivered brief remarks at the press conference, saying that she supports “a full investigation.”
“Without pre-judging what the results of this investigation will be, it is absolutely necessary to send a message that nobody is above the law,” Dehghani-Tafti said.
Mejia Hernandez said in Spanish that in the weeks after the incident, his brain injury has prevented him from going to work and affected his ability to eat, sleep and form sentences.
In addition to seeking a criminal investigation, attorneys are pursuing a U visa, a form of documentation for victims of certain crimes, along with civil litigation against the U.S. government.
Mejia Hernandez’s detainment took place amid a large-scale ICE operation in the D.C. area that resulted in the arrests of over 1,300 people, according to the Department of Homeland Security. It is unclear how many of these were in Arlington.
“How does a man walking to a bus stop on his way to work end up bleeding from his brain after an encounter with ICE?” Gastélum and Jurado wrote in a press release. “Mr. Mejia Hernandez deserves that answer. The public does too.”
