George Retes, 25, the U.S. Military veteran and father who made headlines earlier this yr after he was stopped and arrested by ICE on his strategy to work, is talking out in a brand new advert marketing campaign launched to fight the Division of Homeland Safety’s huge recruitment efforts.
“What’s happening right now isn’t right. We’ve got to get accountability. [What happened to me] doesn’t define who we are as Americans,” Retes mentioned in the video launched by Dwelling of The Courageous, an initiative opposing President Donald Trump.
George Retes / Dwelling of the Courageous / Institute for Justice.
Rete, who labored as a safety guard at Glass Home Farms in Camarillo, was arrested throughout an immigration raid at a Southern California marijuana farm over the summer season as a part of Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement.
He recalled the arrest throughout the advert, saying he informed ICE brokers he’s a U.S. citizen who was simply making an attempt to get to work. Nevertheless, the brokers acquired “hostile” and finally threw tear fuel behind his automobile and pepper-sprayed him within the face.
“I’m just there coughing, eyes watery, can’t breathe. They approach my car, telling me to do different things, contradicting each other, I’m just trying to plead with them that I’m leaving. My driver’s side window just shatters,” Retes mentioned.
Retes mentioned had ICE had simply checked out his ID, they’d have seen that he’s a U.S. citizen.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin confirmed on the time that Retes had been arrested however was launched.
On Wednesday, McLaughlin alleged in an announcement to HuffPost that Retes “became violent and refused to comply with law enforcement” throughout the raid, “blocking their route and refused to move his vehicle out of the road. ”
She mentioned officers arrested Retes for assault.
“No surprise, he’s part of an ad campaign to smear our federal law enforcement,” McLaughlin mentioned in an announcement. “This type of garbage being spread by agitators like Retes is directly responsible for the more than 1,150% increase in assaults against ICE law enforcement officers and an 8000% increase in death threats against our officers and their families.”
Retes is among the many at the very least 170 U.S. residents who’ve been detained by immigration brokers, regardless of Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem claiming final month that “no American citizens have been arrested or detained.”
Within the advert, he spoke out about his first evening at an ICE detention heart in downtown Los Angeles, stating he hardly slept and was positioned on suicide watch. When a guard knowledgeable him he was to be launched, Retes mentioned he was not given an evidence or an apology.
“I was locked up in here for no reason. I missed my daughter’s birthday for no reason, and it was just the loudest silence you could think of,” he mentioned.
Dwelling of The Courageous mentioned in a press launch that its advert with Retes is “a direct response to the administration’s $51 million propaganda blitz that’s being funded by the American taxpayers in order to recruit ICE agents who will do Trump’s bidding.”
Throughout Trump’s second time period, ICE and DHS have poured thousands and thousands of taxpayer {dollars} into their recruitment efforts, which have concerned hiring voiceover actors and the disturbing use of AI.
The company has additionally run advertisements on streaming providers akin to HBO Max and Spotify, which obtained backlash and sparked a motion for listeners to cancel their paid subscriptions. Retes’ $250,000 video advert marketing campaign will now run on these “streaming platforms targeting audiences exposed to DHS’ propaganda ads.”
