A grandmother planning to document ICE arrests at the San Diego courthouse instead became the story Tuesday after video of her own arrest began circulating.
An ICE agent accused the woman of pushing her. After she spent hours in custody, she denied that to NBC 7 on Wednesday.
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The latest video to send shock waves from San Diego immigration court through the immigrant community is actually not of an immigrant, but rather of a 71-year-old U.S. citizen, Barbara Stone.
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Stone was handcuffed and held by federal agents for eight hours on Tuesday, according to her family.
“I have a large bruise there," Stone said on Wednesday. "I feel mentally and physically traumatized.”
In video of the incident, which was shared with NBC 7, viewers can see the moment tensions boiled over. An officer says Stone pushed her.
NBC 7 made several attempts to contact ICE about the incident but was referred to the Federal Protective Service, a different agency, and has yet to hear back.
NBC 7 spoke with Stone’s husband, Gershon Shafir, the day his wife was detained.
“She is a soft-spoken person who was here to protect innocent refugees, and she is the last person in the universe who would hit an agent or interfere with their work," Shafir said.
Stone was at the court to observe proceedings and how the federal agents act, which is legal and, according to Ruth Mendez of Detention Resistance, is a 1st Amendment right.
“The fear is very, very real here," Mendez said, "and the volunteers that are showing up today are now coming, knowing that there might be a risk of our own detention.”
No charges have been pressed against Stone, but her family said her phone was confiscated.
Mendez worries there will be invisible impacts — like people deciding not to volunteer. In fact, an officer in the video can be heard suggesting that more people could get detained.
“The message that it sent was very clear: For us to be afraid to come back and do the work that we're doing,” Mendez said, adding that “all Americans should know that this is how their taxpayer money is being spent, and that it is really a crying shame. The people who are actually suffering are the people who are seeking asylum.”
For her part, Stone said she would volunteer again.
EasterEggArt on July 11st, 2025 at 02:45 UTC »
I think people need to remember that there are two key reason ICE received a bigger budget than the FBI and DHS (edit it since I used the wrong term) combined.
mass deportations they full well know a ton of people will inevitably sue and until the supreme court allows for "illegal arrests under the auspice of immigration verification and detention" they know they will need itNone of this is accidental. Even before this happened there was a memo floating around that ICE would need a legal fund.
Stupidamericanfatty on July 11st, 2025 at 02:38 UTC »
How do these people (ICE AGENTS) go home to their families after doing such meaningless ghoulish acts.
HORROR_VIBE_OFFICIAL on July 11st, 2025 at 02:34 UTC »
Props to her for saying she’ll keep volunteering after that. Grandma got more backbone than half of Congress.