MIRAMAR, FLA. (WSVN) - A woman experienced a scary moment during her drive through Key Largo when she was stopped by federal agents, violently pulled from her car and briefly detained.
Cellphone video recorded by Miami Herald reporter David Goodhue captured the moments federal agents, most of them with their faces covered, pulled the screaming woman out of her stopped car in front of Pink Plaza at Mile Marker 103.4, early Wednesday morning.
“I’m a U.S. citizen. Please help me!” the woman yelled on the video. “This is unfair. Why are you doing this to me?”
The woman continues screaming as agents place handcuffs on her.
Dozens of drivers on their early morning drive witnessed the takedown of the woman. One of them was Goodhue, who spoke to 7News later in the day about the disturbing detainment.
“I think they’re asking her for her ID. Didn’t appear like she had her identification on her, and then, after a while, things got rough, as you can see,” he said.
The video showed a Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputy directing traffic as federal agents surrounded the woman’s Toyota Corolla.
“It looked like [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol, with the local sheriff’s office doing some backup,” said Goodhue.
7News is independently working to obtain more information about the woman, the reason for her detainment and which agency detained her.
“They pulled her out, cuffed her. She was screaming. At one point, she said she’s a U.S. citizen, and then they put her into one of their SUVs, and then about 10 minutes later, they let her go,” said Goodhue.
Ultimately, authorities allowed the woman to leave in her own car after she sat in an agent’s patrol car for a few minutes.
According to The Miami Herald, similar enforcement operations have been happening in the area for a few weeks.
“I saw federal agents from several agencies this morning in Key Largo pulling people over from Mile Marker 104 down to the Pink Plaza, where this happened,” said Goodhue.
The reporter said the arrest he captured on camera was powerful to see.
“I don’t want to, you know, we’re reporters and want to stay objective, but just happened to be there when that happened. I mean, it was pretty powerful to see, especially when it turned out, in the end, they really didn’t have any reason to detain her,” said Goodhue.
7News has reached out to several agencies, including ICE, CBP and the Department of Homeland Security, to obtain more information about this detainment. As of Thursday afternoon, none of these agencies have responded.
MCSO said in a statement to 7News that they were part of this traffic stop, but only “to help keep the peace and keep traffic flowing.” They added the stop was conducted by federal agents.
There is a planned protest in front of the Islamorada Public Library Branch scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday.
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