By Karim Hammam
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents violently detained a 20-year-old U.S. citizen with disabilities as he walked to his high school in Santa Maria, California, last month, leaving him with a broken wrist and prompting condemnation from lawmakers and civil rights advocates.
Incident details
Erik Zepeda, a student who has physical reflex and verbal communication impairments, was stopped on October 21 by masked ICE officers who pinned him face-down on the ground, handcuffed him, and placed him in a vehicle. He was driven around briefly before being released with a black eye and a fractured wrist that required surgery. Zepeda told the Guardian he thought the agents were going to kill him and that he had done nothing wrong.
Witness account and video evidence
A volunteer observer with a local rapid-response network recorded dashcam and phone footage of the encounter. The videos show agents approaching Zepeda from behind as he walked along a sidewalk, restraining him on the grass, and loading him into a government vehicle. The observer said that in the 20 minutes before Zepeda's detention, the same ICE team pulled over two separate dark-skinned drivers and released them after brief questioning.
Official responses
Democratic Senator Adam Schiff called the assault "grotesque and heartbreaking" and demanded accountability. Representative Salud Carbajal, whose district includes Santa Maria, labeled the agents' conduct "thuggish" and racial profiling "rampant," and sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security requesting a full investigation. Santa Maria's police chief confirmed an ongoing investigation and reported the incident to the county district attorney, the California Department of Justice, and DHS.
ICE statement and dispute
An ICE spokesperson said officers were conducting a targeted enforcement operation and believed Zepeda matched the description of a criminal target. The agency claimed Zepeda resisted, refused commands, and assumed a fighting stance, justifying the use of force, and denied he suffered broken bones. Zepeda's attorneys, citing hospital discharge records, said he underwent surgery for a fractured wrist and accused ICE of issuing a false statement to cover up an illegal assault.
Broader pattern of ICE activity
The detention occurs amid a surge in ICE arrests across California since early October, with more than 280 arrests recorded in three central coast counties alone. A federal judge recently blocked immigration agents from stopping people solely because they appear "low-income or working-class and Latino" across the central district, citing bodycam footage and text messages with racial slurs as evidence of profiling. Community groups say the incident has heightened fear among Latino residents, and hundreds of students staged a walkout at Santa Maria High School protesting ICE's presence.
