An ICE agent dropped a pistol and then briefly pointed it at onlookers during a chaotic arrest made in the middle of a busy intersection this week, a viral video shows.
The scene played out Wednesday morning in Hyattsville, Maryland, just seven miles northeast of the White House, according to the local photographer Raphi Talisman, who says he recorded the clip during rush hour.
ICE has not released any details about the arrest, and did not respond to a request for comment. However, a nearly 10-minute-long video captured by Talisman has been shared thousands of times on social media.
The clip begins with Talisman exiting a vehicle at a red light and walking toward ICE officers who had pinned a man who seemed to be resisting arrest. Talisman said he was driving home from dropping off his child at school when the traffic in front of him came to an abrupt halt.
In the opening seconds of the clip, an officer can be heard screaming, “Give me your f–king arm.”
The camera gets closer to reveal that two agents, one wearing a balaclava and a vest that reads “POLICE ICE,” had a man pinned on the asphalt. Their suspect appeared to be refusing to put his left arm behind him to be placed in handcuffs, and he repeatedly yelled for help in English and Spanish.
The detainee continued to fight against being placed in handcuffs, so a second ICE agent briefly got on top of him. While maneuvering, the agent’s pistol fell to the ground, and the man being detained reached for it and smacked it—sending it about three feet away.
The agent who dropped the pistol immediately lunged to retrieve it, going prone. As he returned to a crouched position, he briefly pointed the weapon in the direction of onlookers. It is unclear if he believed there was a threat in the crowd, but the second officer, who also drew his gun, returned it to his holster just seconds later.
Some have criticized the officer who dropped the weapon for not handling it properly.
Is this proper gun handling procedure? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/KuhwbipIq7
— LongTime🤓FirstTime👨💻 (@LongTimeHistory) September 25, 2025
The officer who dropped the pistol kept it in his hand for the remainder of the video, ignoring pleas from onlookers to “put the gun down.” Bystanders yelled at the arresting officers and taunted the agent who had his pistol drawn. One man can be heard yelling, “What, you going to shoot me? Go ahead, shoot me. Shoot me, go ahead.”
Cars can be seen passing through the traffic light as the scene unfolds. Eventually, those in the lanes blocked by the officers began laying on their horns, adding to the chaos.
The man being arrested pleaded with officers throughout the video, at one point repeatedly calling out, “I love America,” and “I love you, America.” At one point, he said that he was “born in D.C.”
The agent who dropped his pistol briefly spoke to onlookers five minutes into the clip.
“Do you want to take him home?” the officer asked the witnesses. “Do you want him? Are you going to take care of him?”
An onlooker responded by asking, “Why are you arresting him?”
The agent shouted back, “Because he is a criminal. How about that?”
All the while, agents continued to struggle to get their man into custody. One agent told the detainee, “Bro, I do not want to break your arm.”
After seven minutes, more officers in ICE gear arrived to assist in taking the man into custody. Officers then placed him in the back of a Dodge minivan with a Florida license plate as he yelled out for someone to call his wife.
With the suspect in custody, the ICE agent wearing a balaclava walked toward the group of onlookers and appeared to ask, “Want to be next?”
Talisman told the Daily Beast he knows nothing about the man being detained, just that the arrest was “brutal and by ICE.”
Talisman said he has flagged the incident to his representatives, including Democratic senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks, as well as the Democratic Rep. Glenn Ivey.
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