Biometric Scan Threatens Due Process in ICE Incident

The case of a 20-year-old American citizen being tackled, choked, and detained by masked federal agents in Minneapolis—all for refusing a biometric “face scan” to prove his citizenship—has ignited a firestorm over government overreach. This incident, captured on video and fueling national outrage, lays bare the risks of a sprawling post-9/11 security apparatus and the threat its rapidly expanding tools pose to the constitutional rights and liberties of law-abiding Americans.

Story Snapshot

A 20-year-old Somali-American U.S. citizen was tackled and handcuffed by masked ICE agents in Minneapolis during his lunch break.
Agents allegedly refused to accept his passport or biographical info at first, insisting on a biometric “face scan” to verify citizenship.
Video of the incident has fueled outrage over civil-rights violations, racial profiling, and federal abuse of power.
The case exposes how post‑9/11 security tools and databases can threaten due process and liberty for law‑abiding citizens.

From Lunch Break to Chokehold: What Happened in Minneapolis

On a winter day in Minneapolis’ Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, 20-year-old Somali-American U.S. citizen Mubashir stepped outside on his lunch break and suddenly saw a masked man sprinting straight at him. Before he could fully react, the man—an ICE agent, according to later reporting—slammed him back into a restaurant, tackled him, and dragged him outside. In the snow, witnesses say agents handcuffed him, forced him to the ground, and put him in a chokehold as bystanders began recording.

During the takedown, Mubashir repeatedly told the agents he is a U.S. citizen and demanded to know what was happening. Reports say the agent did not initially identify himself as law enforcement, leaving the young man believing he was being assaulted or even kidnapped. Bystander video—later widely shared by national and local outlets—shows agents yelling, shoving, and dragging the restrained citizen through the snow before hauling him away in handcuffs, despite his ongoing protests about his citizenship.

This US citizen went on his lunch break and ended up in a chokehold by a masked federal agent and detained, video shows https://t.co/Iz6BfO7m7V

— Josh Watson, Ph.D. (@joshuatodPRprof) December 14, 2025

Biometric “Face Scans” and the Erosion of Due Process

Once agents had Mubashir restrained, the confrontation reportedly shifted from physical force to digital control. According to his account, ICE personnel repeatedly insisted on taking a photograph to “scan” his face and determine whether he was a U.S. citizen. He pushed back with common-sense questions many readers will share: how can a face scan prove citizenship, and why would federal officers ignore basic documentation like a passport or driver’s license in favor of an opaque database match?

Mubashir says he offered to show his passport, stored on his phone, and volunteered his full name and date of birth—standard information any honest officer could run through official records. Instead, agents allegedly rejected those options and kept pressing for the biometric scan. He reports being left outside in the snow as leverage, told he would not even be allowed into the vehicle unless he submitted. Eventually, shivering and desperate to get out of the cold, he agreed to the scan, which still failed to resolve his status.

Inside ICE Custody: A Citizen Trapped in the System

After the face scan did not clear him, agents transported Mubashir to an ICE facility where he saw other detainees being held in cells. There, he says, his hands were numb and he asked for medical attention related to the tackle and chokehold, only to be informed there was no medical staff available. For a conservative audience that values law and order, this raises a troubling issue: if the federal government can physically injure a citizen, then shrug off basic medical responsibility, what does that say about accountability in the system?

Roughly 20 to 30 minutes later, an agent finally allowed him to show his passport from his phone. Only then did they verify what he had been saying from the start: he is an American citizen. Despite earlier assurances he would be driven back to where he was taken, he says he was told to walk in the snow. His parents eventually picked him up. The entire ordeal—from the initial tackle through the detention and release—lasted close to an hour, all for a man who had committed no crime and was simply on his lunch break.

A US citizen went on his lunch break and ended up in a chokehold by a masked federal agent.

Power, Profiling, and What Conservatives Should Be Watching

In the days after the video spread, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey stood beside Mubashir at a press conference and blasted the incident as a violation of the Constitution, saying an American citizen was tackled and taken into custody “for simply walking down the street and looking like he’s Somali.” While many conservatives disagree with Frey on policy, the core issue he describes should concern anyone who believes in equal protection under the law and opposition to unchecked federal power.

The case highlights a deeper problem that long predates the Trump administration: a sprawling post‑9/11 security bureaucracy armed with aggressive enforcement tactics and rapidly expanding biometric tools. When agents can tackle a citizen, demand a face scan to unlock a government database, and ignore his own documents until public scrutiny forces a reckoning, that is not limited, constitutional government. It is precisely the kind of mission creep and faceless bureaucratic power conservatives have warned about for years—and it will take sustained oversight and clear rules to stop incidents like this from becoming the new normal.

Watch the report: Video shows ICE agents forcefully arresting U.S. citizen in Minneapolis