A U.S. citizen on her way to a medical appointment was dragged from her car by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis. Her name is Aliya Rahman — and her case exposes how quickly basic rights can evaporate during aggressive enforcement operations.
The incident occurred on January 13, 2026, amid a sweeping federal immigration crackdown in Minneapolis that has already resulted in dozens of arrests and at least one fatal shooting.
A video of Rahman’s arrest — viewed millions of times — shows masked agents smashing her car window, cutting her seatbelt, and forcibly removing her from the vehicle while protesters scream and blow whistles nearby.
Rahman says she was detained, denied medical care, lost consciousness in custody, and was only taken to a hospital after collapsing.
Federal officials dispute her account.
“I’m disabled… I’m trying to go to the doctor”
Rahman says she was on her way to a routine appointment at the Traumatic Brain Injury Center when she encountered immigration officers blocking an intersection.
Video footage captures agents shouting commands amid what the article describes as a “cacophony of whistles, car horns and screams from protesters.”
In the footage, Rahman can be heard repeatedly explaining why she could not move her vehicle:
“I’m disabled trying to go to the doctor up there, that’s why I didn’t move.”
Later, as officers pull her arms behind her back, she shouts:
“I am an autistic disabled person, I’m trying to go to the doctor.”
Despite these statements, one masked agent smashes the passenger-side window. Others cut her seatbelt and drag her out through the driver’s side door. She is carried by her arms and legs toward an ICE vehicle.
A no-win scenario
According to Rahman’s attorney, Alexa Van Brunt, director of the MacArthur Justice Center, her client was placed in an impossible position.
“Her only options were to move her car forward in the direction of ICE officers and risk being accused of trying to harm them — which led to Renee Good’s death — or stay stationary, which in the end led to physical violence and abuse.”
Van Brunt described Rahman as being caught in a “terrible and confusing position” with “nowhere to go.”
The reference to Renee Good is critical. Just days earlier, Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent during a similar operation in Minneapolis.
Federal response: “agitator” and “obstruction”
The Department of Homeland Security rejected Rahman’s account.
In an emailed statement, DHS said Rahman was:
“An agitator who ignored multiple commands by an officer to move her vehicle away from the scene.”
Officials said she was arrested along with six other people accused of impeding enforcement actions. One individual was accused of jumping on an officer’s back.
DHS did not specify whether Rahman was formally charged. It also did not respond to questions regarding her claim that she was denied medical treatment.
Detention and loss of consciousness
After being taken into custody, Rahman says she repeatedly asked to see a doctor.
She says those requests were ignored.
“It was not until I lost consciousness in my cell that I was finally taken to a hospital.”
According to her counsel, Rahman was treated for injuries consistent with assault and has since been released.
Rahman thanked hospital staff for their care, saying:
“They gave me hope when I thought I was going to die.”
She added:
“Masked agents dragged me from my car and bound me like an animal, even after I told them that I was disabled.”
Part of a larger pattern
Rahman’s case is far from isolated.
In recent days, videos from across Minneapolis have shown:
- Agents breaking vehicle windows
- Use of pepper spray on protesters
- Detentions of both immigrants and U.S. citizens
- Armed raids on private homes
- Warnings to observers not to follow agents through public spaces
In one video, immigration agents used a battering ram to enter Garrison Gibson’s home while his wife and nine-year-old child were inside.
A voice inside the house asks:
“Where is the warrant?”
“Can you put the guns down? There’s kids in this house.”
In another incident, ICE agents — including Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino — detained two U.S. citizen employees at a Target store in Richfield, Minnesota. Both were later released.
“We’re hypervigilant every time we leave our houses”
Monica Bicking, a nurse who works at a homeless shelter, recorded footage showing a federal agent kneeing a man in the face while others held him down.
She says she doesn’t attend protests — but now carries a whistle in case she encounters ICE while commuting.
“We’re hypervigilant every time we leave our houses, looking for ICE, trying to protect our neighbours, trying to support our neighbors, who are now just on lockdown.”
The official line
ICE officials say the crackdown is necessary — and escalating.
ICE official Marcos Charles told Fox News:
“We will be arresting anybody that interferes or impedes in any of these enforcement actions.”
“We’ve already arrested 60… that have got in our way, impeded us or assaulted an officer.”
According to DHS:
“As officers carried out their law enforcement duties, a significant crowd surrounded them and began impeding law enforcement operations — a federal crime.”
When rights depend on compliance
Aliya Rahman is a U.S. citizen.
She was not accused of an immigration violation.
She was on her way to a medical appointment.
She told officers she was disabled.
None of that stopped what happened next.
Her case raises a question that goes far beyond Minneapolis:
If citizenship, disability status, and medical necessity are not enough to prevent violent detention — what is?
The Immoral List 
Leave a comment