Fitchburg, Massachusetts– A Massachusetts man seen on video having an apparent epileptic seizure during a struggle with immigration agents while holding his wife and crying toddler said he lost consciousness after agents pushed him, hit him and pressed his neck.
Department of Homeland Security officials accused him of faking a medical emergency to prevent agents from arresting his wife, who was wanted for stabbing a co-worker with scissors.
Carlos Zapata, 24, said: “I did not leave my wife because they wanted to take her away.” Boston Globe In Spanish. He spoke to the newspaper on Friday, a day after his wife was detained in a chaotic traffic stop.
Bystanders shouted and recorded the confrontation as Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers surrounded the family’s car Thursday morning in Fitchburg, a city about 40 miles (65 kilometers) northwest of Boston. Agents were searching for Juliana Melina Ojeda Montoya, who was inside the car with her husband and 1-1/2-year-old daughter, according to a DHS news release.
A widely circulated video shows Zapata behind the wheel, his body trembling, the whites of his eyes visible as masked agents arrive at the car.
“He’s having a seizure!” The screams of passers-by can be heard.
Zapata told the newspaper that the agents were pushing him, his wife, and the child between them, and that he lost consciousness after the agents pressed his neck.
He said: “I had convulsions or something like that. I don’t know what they did to me.” He said that when he regained consciousness, agents were handcuffing him.
Zapata said he and his wife are from Ecuador and entered the country illegally several years ago. He said they have since applied for asylum in a pending case and are authorized to work. He said he was driving his wife to work at Burger King when they were stopped.
The Department of Homeland Security responded to the video on Friday, saying, “Imagine faking a seizure to help a criminal escape justice,” in a social media post.
“Medical staff found that there was no legitimate medical emergency,” Tricia McLaughlin, the department’s assistant secretary, said in a news release. “He was even captured on video getting to his feet and after a solid moment.”
The department said officers were conducting a targeted operation to arrest Ojeda Montoya for allegedly stabbing and throwing a trash can at her co-worker in August. She was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, the Globe reported.
Ojeda Montoya was being held awaiting deportation proceedings, according to the Department of Homeland Security.