A woman has released videos showing an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent pointing a gun at her face after a verbal exchange during immigration operations in Falls Church, Virginia. The woman, identified as Carolina Molina, shared two videos on Instagram depicting the incident that occurred on Monday.
Molina stated she was driving to attorney offices to drop off business cards when she encountered the agents. In one video, she is heard shouting obscenities, including calling an agent "a ho," as she drove past them at a distance. She then turned her car around.
According to the videos and Molina's account, as she attempted to pass an agent's parked vehicle, it moved forward and stopped in front of her car. The agent then exited the vehicle with his firearm drawn and pointed it toward her open driver's side window, accusing her of following them and nearly running them over.
"I was looking down a barrel, and he could have shot me, and he could have gotten away with it," Molina told local station WUSA9. She asserted her rights as an American citizen, stating she should not have a gun pointed at her for calling an agent a derogatory name.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, ICE's parent agency, stated that officers conducted a vehicle stop after Molina allegedly drove "in circles" around agents and attempted to "harm officers by weaponizing her vehicle against them." The spokesperson added that Molina's "necessary background information" was collected and that she could face criminal prosecution.
Local U.S. Representative Don Beyer (D-Virginia) condemned the agent's actions. "While I am relieved that she is safe, the habitual dishonesty and dangerous and unjustified escalation seen in this video matches what we have seen from ICE agents across the country," Beyer said in a statement. "This kind of misconduct and threat of force against members of our communities cannot be tolerated."