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Marine Corps veteran’s dad becomes target of violent arrest – NBC Los Angeles [1]
['Hetty Chang', 'Helen Jeong']
Date: 2025-06-23 17:45:57+00:00
After a gardener in Santa Ana was pinned down and violently detained Saturday by federal immigration agents, his son, who has served in the U.S. Marine Corps, expressed anger, sadness and a sense of betrayal.
A video clip outside a Santa Ana IHOP on Ritchey Street and Edinger Avenue shows Narciso Barranco being punched repeatedly in the head last Saturday.
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The Department of Homeland Security shared on social media that Barranco assaulted a federal agent with a weed whacker, which prompted federal agents to respond aggressively.
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But his family said the longtime landscaper was just trying to protect himself from Mace and several armed agents.
“I felt a lot of anger because it doesn’t take four or five 200-plus-pound guys to get a 5’7” and 150-pound guy,” Alejandro Barranco, the landscaper’s son and a Marine Corps veteran, said.
In the same video from the arrest, a man is heard yelling, “Why are you hitting him?”
Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin of the Homeland Security Department claimed that the gardener tried to run away from federal agents through a busy intersection in Santa Ana.
“(He) raised the weed whacker again at the agent. The illegal alien refused to comply every step of the way, resisting commands, fighting handcuffs and refusing to identify himself,” McLaughlin said in a statement.
But the manager of the IHOP disputed the claim, saying he saw what happened during the arrest.
“He was protecting himself,” Guilermo Villarreal said. “He’s not attacking (anybody). They were beating him so hard.”
The Marine Corps veteran said his dad, a hardworking man with no criminal history, did not attack or provoke the agents. Barranco's two other sons are currently serving in the Marine Corps.
“I felt betrayed because these are my people,” Barranco said. “My dad is my people. The community is my people. Military is my people. At the end of the day, it’s my people against my people. I feel hurt.”
The younger Barranco said he spoke with his father as he is held at a Los Angeles detention center. The father told the son that his shoulder hurt, and he was sprayed with Mace at a close distance.
“The video appears his shoulder was dislocated,” the son said. “(He said) it hurt a lot, and he said his eyes burned. He was thirsty and hungry.”
The family tried to talk with an immigration attorney about the Parole in Place, an immigration benefit for service members, helping undocumented families of the military to stay in the U.S. But Barranco said his father did not have time or the resources to follow up with the attorney as he worked seven days a week to support the family.
The Marine Corps veteran pleaded with the Trump administration to have compassion for people like his dad.
“It breaks my heart because I love my country, I love what I did in the Marine Corps,” he explained. “At the same time, I love my parents, I love my roots. I think there needs to be an easier pathway to legal status here in the U.S.”
In a statement to NBCLA, the Department of Homeland Security said Monday the man was in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
"Border Patrol Agents arrested an illegal alien who tried to evade law enforcement, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. "The illegal alien ran, then turned and swung a weed whacker directly at an agent’s face. He then fled through a busy intersection and raised the weed whacker again at the agent. The illegal alien refused to comply every step of the way—resisting commands, fighting handcuffs, and refusing to identify himself. The agents took appropriate action and followed their training to use the minimum amount of force necessary to resolve the situation in a manner that prioritizes the safety of the public and our officers. He is now in ICE custody."
McLaughlin said reports that the man's shoulder was dislocated in the altercation were false.
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[1] Url:
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/video-marine-corps-veterans-father-becomes-target-of-violent-ice-arrest/3730818/
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