Back in January, a video went viral of ICE agents dragging U.S. citizen Aliya Rahman from her car. Rahman said she was driving to a doctor’s appointment when she encountered an ICE operation during Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis. In February, she testified before Congress about the incident. ICE says she was deliberately blocking their operation and refused to move her car. Rahman told The Independent that she has an autism-related auditory issue that makes multiple voices in a crowded space all sound like they’re the same volume, and that the ICE agents were masked and had their mouths covered. She told Congress she was monitoring traffic and couldn’t drive her vehicle because she was also watching for pedestrians.
ICE brought its own receipts, saying Rahman "clearly had enough room to move herself and her vehicle out of the way. Officers even walked away from her vehicle, thinking she was going to leave the scene. Instead, she remained at the location, continued to impede our officers, and found out the hard way." Unfortunately, the video ICE posted seems to have been deleted. Fortunately, someone saved it. Here's how it went down.
Rahman's 15 minutes of fame was extended when Rep. Ilhan Omar invited her as her guest to the State of the Union address.
HuffPost's Jennifer Bendery reports that Rahman sued the U.S. government on Tuesday.
NEW: Remember Aliya Rahman, the Minneapolis resident whose image went viral earlier this year after ICE agents violently dragged her out of her car as she was driving to a doctor’s appointment? Today, she sued the U.S. government. https://t.co/MPC2P2v9ij
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) November 10, 2026
Rahman, a U.S. citizen who is autistic and has physical disabilities, was en route to a doc appt on Jan. 13 when ICE agents surrounded her car, smashed her window, dragged her out + put her in detention center, where she endured severe medical neglect, requiring hospitalization.
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) November 10, 2026
Bendery doesn't sound biased at all.
An eyewitness captured the incident on film, and footage of Rahman’s encounter with ICE went viral. She later testified to Congress about the violence she endured that day that she believes nearly killed her.
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) November 10, 2026
"Nearly killed her." That's new.
Her lawsuit today lays out 8 counts against the federal government, including assault, battery, false arrest and false imprisonment, negligent supervision, and negligence. “I am one of many who have been impacted by this government’s vile abuse of power," Rahman said.
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) November 10, 2026
Her attorneys today scoffed at the idea ICE agents can claim immunity from legal action. DHS told them they had that -- the day agents dragged Rahman from her car. "There’s no immunity defense that they just automatically have." “We will find the names." https://t.co/MPC2P2v9ij
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) November 10, 2026
Heard back from DHS on this: "We are aware of the lawsuit and look forward to vigorously defending ourselves in court."
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) November 11, 2026
It's George Floyd syndrome again. An emotional image goes viral, and facts go out the window.
@jbendery There's way more to that story than the way you've framed it.
— Glugulugula (@Glugulugula) November 11, 2026
@jbendery Why don't you tell the whole story?
— Någon (@LiEriks) November 11, 2026
@jbendery Wasn't she obstructing officers from doing official duty?
— Trevor Hunter (@HunterTrev22502) November 10, 2026
@jbendery She was obstructing ICE operations. When asked to move her car she refused Then refused to get out of the car. She FA and FO And what's laughable she is autistic and suffered a severe brain injury, but capable of driving LMAO https://t.co/T4i87wEkTK
— Louie K (@LouieK42289) November 11, 2026
@jbendery You mean the lady who was following around the ice agents and giving everyone their locations and acted like a complete freak? It’s called obstruction dumb fuck.
— DeMarkis (@demadi2022) November 11, 2026
@jbendery Oh you and your case can get fucked. https://t.co/mHry3bJja7
— Unreelness (@Unreelness) November 11, 2026
@jbendery And she will be paying lots of money because guess what she was told to leave and she refused to do it. That's called breaking the law
— Hope Otto (@otto_hope) November 10, 2026
@jbendery Shouldn’t block and interfere with law enforcement
— Gonzales (@Unsuspend_meee) November 11, 2026
@jbendery She was interfering with federal agents and refused to comply with orders. She’s going to lose her frivolous case.
— Morning Glory 🇺🇸🌼🇺🇸 (@DoryBeutel) November 11, 2026
@jbendery She had no appointment, she had no evidence even where her appointment was, she was there to harass ICE, and lawsuit to get some cash as usual these people try to get, will not go anywhere, but the charges against her should!
— Lori_Maga24 🇺🇸🙏 (@lori_o1120) November 11, 2026
@jbendery She will lose. Don’t fuck with federal agents.
— Rowdy (@Rowdy2735) November 10, 2026
@jbendery She also violently resisted the lawful arrest.
— Thomas Korn (@kornholiokapk) November 11, 2026
@jbendery Don't resist arrest, even if you're retarded.
— The Critical Conservative (@critcon24) November 11, 2026
@jbendery You left out the part where she was blocking the road and refused to get out of the car. It was caused by her own stupidity.
— Stay Viglant (@Stephan82614805) November 11, 2026
@jbendery Self proclaimed activist. Not a victim. She's swindling everyone. 😠 https://t.co/NIQBLnaGk3
— Sea-bee (@4freedom321) November 11, 2026
@jbendery That was it. She was just driving to an appointment and she was dragged out of her car. I think we need a little bit more clarity here don’t you?
— JAlva05 (@JAlva05) November 11, 2026
Bendery will probably testify as a character witness.
@jbendery LMFAO. The poster child for everything wrong with America today. https://t.co/DKCPBZZYPz
— MNSortaNice (@MN_SortaNice) November 11, 2026
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