As our own Sam J. reported last week, the troll account Republicans Against Trump — run by a Democrat — claimed that ICE had pulled a 15-year-old from her car and slammed her on the ground. “I’m 15!” she cries out in the video. “I’m not resisting!” "What has America become?" asked the account.
Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Trish McLaughlin stepped in to say that the footage didn't involve ICE at all.
Imagine being so desperate to demonize law enforcement you post a video from a burglary arrest Chicago Police made over a year ago.
— Tricia McLaughlin (@TriciaOhio) October 12, 2025
This isn’t even ICE. https://t.co/2NhJybMsri
Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi believes that McLaughlin is lying and that the arrest took place last Friday. He says, "It's real, and I'm demanding accountability," right after saying that "it appears to show a child being violently detained by ICE."
Despite what some, including at DHS, are claiming, this video isn’t from a year ago in Chicago. It was Friday in Hoffman Estates, in my district, a street I’ve walked myself. It appears to show a child being violently detained by ICE. It’s real, and I’m demanding accountability. pic.twitter.com/1s9X814xp8
— Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (@CongressmanRaja) October 14, 2025
Further complicating matters is this report from CBS News Chicago, which, over the chyron "Teen Shaken After Encounter With ICE," claims that it was Friday and it was ICE. However, they also report that the girl was 18, not 15 as she claimed.
Reporter Marissa Sulek talked to Evelyn's parents, who don't seem to clarify anything, only that they feared they'd never see their daughter again. CBS News Chicago also received a statement from the chief of the Hoffman Estates Police Department, which doesn't clear up anything either. In the video, you can clearly see a black-and-white police car.
ICE "violently" arrest U.S. citizen teenage girl—caught trying to blame Chicago PD.
— LongTime🤓FirstTime👨💻 (@LongTimeHistory) October 14, 2025
Detained for hours—her parents began to worry if they'd ever see daughter again.
ICE claimed video was of "burglary arrest Chicago police made over a year ago."
But local police said ICE agents… pic.twitter.com/BAKqBF1HaN
The post continues:
… were in fact conducting an operation in the Hoffman Estates neighborhood.
Evelyn's parents, Gerardo and Jazmin, said the images from the incident are something they cannot get out of their minds.
"I couldn't protect my child," Gerado said.
Now they are exploring legal action—to make sure someone will be held accountable. #DemsUnited
Why would we lie about this, asks Eveyln's father Gerardo. I can think of a few reasons. Why did the daughter lie about her age? What is her age?
Maybe I'm biased (OK, so I'm biased), but I'm not sold on CBS News Chicago's reporting. How tough would it be for Sulek to confirm if the video was from Friday or from a year ago? Who shot the video? Where did the video originally appear? Someone must have shot it and uploaded it. When?
Krishnamoorthi is demanding accountability. Demand all you want, bud. There are way too many questions surrounding this story for me to claim that "it's real."
***
