A criminal investigation has been launched in Ramsey County, Minnesota after a shocking arrest involving ChongLy Thao, a US citizen who drew national attention. The case surfaced after a viral image showed him being escorted out of his home in freezing weather wearing Crocs, shorts and wrapped in a plaid blanket.
Officials are now investigating Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers over the incident as a potential case of kidnapping, burglary and false imprisonment.
Who is Chongly Thao?
ChongLy Scott Thao is a US citizen living in St Paul, Minnesota in the Twin Cities area. He has no criminal record. He did not know the men immigration agents were looking for and told the Associated Press that those individuals had never lived with him. Before the January incident, Thao was an unknown private citizen and it was the viral photo of him being led out of his own home, underdressed in freezing weather that drew the national spotlight.
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What happened that day?
On January 18, immigration agents came to ChongLy Thao’s home in St Paul. Thao was taken out of his house in freezing weather while wearing very little and was kept in a vehicle away from his home for over an hour while agents questioned him, according to Ramsey County Attorney John Choi.
Later, agents realized they had the wrong person. Thao was a US citizen with no criminal record and had nothing to do with the men they were looking for. He was taken back home after a couple of hours, he told AP.
The Department of Homeland Security said its officers were at the house to find two convicted sex offenders and were acting on a warrant. But Thao told the AP he did not know the men and said they had never lived with him. The Minnesota Department of Corrections also confirmed that one of the men agents were searching for was still in prison at the time of the raid.
Ramsey County officials said Monday there is “no indication” the agents had a warrant, either to enter the home or to make any arrest.
Choi added that authorities are investigating possible “felonious conduct by federal law enforcement officials” linked to people detained during “Operation Metro Surge,” saying, “(We) are all working as a team to investigate all of the allegations that have come forward,” while noting, “But there are still more facts that we need.”
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Federal government says ‘ICE does not ‘kidnap people’
Later, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement to CNN that “ICE does not ‘kidnap’ people.”
The statement also called the investigation “nothing but a political stunt to demonize ICE law enforcement who are facing a 1300% increase in assaults against them as they arrest for the worst of the worst.”
DHS said Thao refused to be “fingerprinted or facially ID’d” during the operation and that it was “standard protocol to hold all individuals in a house of an operation for safety of the public and law enforcement.”
However, DHS did not respond to the county’s request for evidence.
