Outrage After Video Captures ICE Pepper-Spraying Protester Directly In The Face While He's Pinned Down

Anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis continue to grow in the weeks since an ICE agent killed Renee Nicole Good. Now people are crying foul after a different agent was filmed spraying a man directly in the face with a chemical irritant while he was pinned to the ground by two other ICE agents.

In south Minneapolis, near West 28th Street and Blaisdell Avenue, agents pinned a person to the ground and sprayed a bright orange chemical irritant directly into their face. The clashes between federal agents and local residents erupted shortly before 2 p.m. Wednesday, after the detention of two people near the intersection drew dozens of protesters who began shouting at officers.

A man can be heard screaming, "What the hell?" during the incident. Another yells, "What are you doing?" at the agent who sprayed the man, who promptly walks away after the assault, according to video footage from the scene.

You can watch what happened in the video below.

The incident occurred shortly after the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocked a lower court order that aimed to stop immigration agents from detaining and pepper-spraying protesters and bystanders. In granting the federal government’s request, the appeals court did not provide an explanation for its decision.

The footage of the assault quickly went viral, angering observers.

Just days before the Eighth Circuit issued its ruling, federal Judge Katherine Menendez of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota issued a preliminary injunction that placed limits on how ICE and other federal agents could act during protests tied to what the federal government has referred to as Operation Metro Surge.

Under her order, agents were barred from retaliating against, arresting, detaining or using force such as chemical irritants against peaceful protesters and observers. The ruling also specified that drivers who safely followed agents at a distance could not be stopped or detained absent a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.

Menendez found that the Department of Homeland Security and ICE were likely violating protesters’ First Amendment rights and observers’ Fourth Amendment rights with certain tactics.