The Longer Video Changes the Picture
A longer clip released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows Long Beach resident Ricardo Gonzalez in a physical struggle with a federal officer during an operation. ICE says the footage shows Gonzalez tackling the officer to the ground, a detail missing from the short clips that spread online. Those first videos showed Gonzalez face-down in a gutter, shouting that his arm was broken and that he was a U.S. citizen. That image quickly became the preferred version of events for critics of ICE. The longer footage makes the early “unprovoked victim” story look incomplete. Apparently, the internet’s first draft once again arrived before the full video.
How the Initial Account Spread
Groups including StopICE.net shared the early clips, and local officials amplified the allegations. The reaction included protests outside Long Beach City Hall, demands for an investigation, and a GoFundMe started by Gonzalez’s daughter, Leslie Gonzalez. In the fundraiser, she wrote that her father was struck by an unmarked federal vehicle while riding an e-bike, was tased twice, pinned to the ground, and taken to a hospital. The fundraiser had raised nearly $29,000 toward a $30,000 goal for medical bills and recovery. Mayor Rex Richardson identified Gonzalez as a former city employee and father, said he had spoken with him, and filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General. Rep. Robert Garcia, Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, Rep. Nanette Barragán, and other California lawmakers sent a letter demanding a review of the use of force, according to KTLA. Rep. Pramila Jayapal posted the partial video and said another U.S. citizen had been assaulted, while calling for congressional action against what she described as Trump’s rogue militia.
What ICE Says Happened
ICE and the Department of Homeland Security described a different chain of events. Officials said agents were carrying out a targeted operation to arrest an at-large criminal illegal alien when anti-ICE agitators tried to block the operation, threaten officers, and damage government vehicles. They said Gonzalez smashed the mirror of a government vehicle and was arrested, while warning that resisting arrest can lead to injury. The agencies denied that agents struck him with a vehicle and said officers used the minimum force necessary. ICE later responded to Jayapal’s post with additional footage and said Gonzalez was clearly tackling a law enforcement officer. The agency also condemned attacks on law enforcement. Whatever one thinks of the operation, the additional footage makes it much harder to describe the encounter as a simple e-bike ride interrupted without context.
Police Account Adds More Context
Long Beach police said they responded after ICE requested help with vehicle vandalism and a person needing medical aid. Officers found Gonzalez handcuffed and bleeding, removed the restraints at a nearby fire station, and turned him over for medical transport. Assaulting or impeding a federal officer is a federal crime. The GoFundMe remained active after ICE released the longer video. The footage places Gonzalez in a physical confrontation with an officer, a far different picture from the one presented in the first clips shared online.
Radical sanctuary city politicians have spent days screaming obscenities at ICE officers for their arrest of this individual shown CLEARLY tackling a law enforcement officer to the ground.
There is no place in our society for attacks on law enforcement. https://t.co/M4FFrOHSE1 pic.twitter.com/Ss3reCrkyt
— U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (@ICEgov) October 22, 2026
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