ICE Arrested Half-Naked Man While Looking for Someone Already in Jail

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents dragged a half-naked elderly grandfather out into the snow in handcuffs while on a manhunt—but the person they were looking for was already in custody.

The Department of Homeland Security tried to justify dragging ChongLy “Scott” Thao out into the snowy streets of St. Paul, Minnesota, over the weekend by claiming that ICE had been conducting a “targeted operation” to arrest two convicted sex offenders who were “AT LARGE.”

But Minnesota Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell revealed Thursday night that one of the targets of that operation, Lue Moua, who was allegedly wanted for assault of a minor, was already in custody.

“He is in fact in prison and subject to a detainer,” Schnell said, during an interview on CNN’s OutFront with Erin Burnett. Schnell said ICE had previously been notified that Moua was not actually “at large.”

Schnell explained that while ICE’s coordination with local law enforcement was “long-standing,” ICE was not well coordinated with state law enforcement. “This is happening at a much higher level, a political level, and I think that’s part of the challenge here,” he said.

Clearly, DHS has been using the alleged presence of undocumented immigrants with heinous criminal records to justify countless cruelties in Minnesota, but the stories it’s spinning are simply fiction, and the so-called criminals it’s looking for aren’t even on the streets anymore.

Earlier this week, DHS demanded that leaders in Minnesota give it access to county jails and state prisons in order to deport an alleged 1,360 inmates who may be subject to deportation. The Minnesota Department of Corrections said the number of inmates DHS had actually identified was closer to 300 people—who would historically be released to federal officials after they’d finished serving their sentences.