Now DHS is lying about scary immigrants with weed whackers

As Los Angeles and surrounding Southern California cities continue to be besieged by ICE raids, violent detainments, and protests, one case is sparking exceptional anger and outrage across the region.

Narciso Rodriguez was doing his job as a landscaper outside of an IHOP restaurant on Saturday in the heavily Latino city of Santa Ana when seven masked agents jumped out of unmarked vehicles and approached him. Video of his resulting arrest went viral because the men are clearly shown beating Rodriguez and punching him in the head as he’s on the ground.

Local news station KTLA accurately described the assailants as “masked men wearing U.S. Border Patrol vests,” a nod to widespread criticism of the agents’ refusal to identify themselves as they kidnap brown people off the streets without warrants or cause and throw them into unmarked vehicles.

And the truth hurts, as evidenced by the Department of Homeland Security’s defensive response to the latest controversial encounter.

“He ASSAULTED federal law enforcement with a WEED WHACKER,” said an official DHS post on X Monday. “Perhaps the mainstream media would like our officers to stand there and be mowed down instead of defending themselves? What a completely slanted portrayal of what actually happened.”

The whiny post was accompanied by additional video of Rodriguez’s detainment, which showed a frantic man trying to run away from several armed men and pepper spray while holding a work tool. Oddly, the video had no sound, which makes it impossible to determine whether the weed whacker was even running. In the background, a masked man can be seen pointing a gun at a passing car, which only illustrates the chaos and terror these unhinged “agents” are unleashing on innocent people whose only crime is looking “illegal.”

Related | Trump and his minions keep lying about heinous ICE raids caught on camera

It’s no wonder DHS is pushing back against the resulting uproar that sparked more protests in Santa Ana: It turns out Rodriguez is the father of three U.S. Marines, including two on active duty.

“I feel betrayed,” former Marine Alejandro Barranco told the Orange County Register. “My dad has no criminal history. He wasn’t doing anything bad. He was just working. The way they (federal agents) attacked him, I don’t think it’s right.” 

Alejandro Barranco, who served in Afghanistan, told the Register his father has no criminal history and was in the process of applying for parole-in-place, which can grant undocumented family members of active-duty military permission to stay in the U.S. for an undetermined period.

The veteran told community newspaper The Santanero that his father was able to call him from a Los Angeles detention facility and “humbly asked him to ‘finish the job he was doing when he got detained.’”

Democratic lawmakers, including Reps. Mike Levin and Lou Correa, denounced the action and called for an end to the indiscriminate raids and detentions.

“This is just madness,” Correa told the Register. “You have a family of three kids that took an oath for the country, ready to lay down their lives for this country, and their parents can’t stay here?”

DHS is continuing a pattern of lying about its actions during raids and detainments. Officials lied about agents trying to gain entry to the Dodger Stadium parking lot, and also lied when they claimed New York City Comptroller Brad Lander was arrested for assaulting ICE agents while he was escorting immigrants at a courthouse.

They also lied and said Sen. Alex Padilla of California was manhandled and detained for not announcing his identity when trying to ask a question during a press conference being held by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, when video of the incident included clear audio of Padilla identifying himself.

Related | California senator gets roughed up by Noem's DHS thugs—for asking a question

The community has rallied around the Barranco family, donating to a GoFundMe to cover legal expenses and continuing to hold raucous protests outside of Orange County hotels housing ICE agents and Border Patrol officers while they’re in town doing their dirty work. But the racist Trump administration’s stubborn refusal to admit any wrongdoing, as shown in their tireless persecution of wrongfully deported Maryland man Kilmar Abrego Garcia, means Narciso Barranco’s eventual freedom is far from guaranteed.