Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who has faced sustained criticism over years of misleading statements about his Vietnam War service, is now promoting claims about an Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest in Minneapolis that appear more contested than his public framing suggests.
Blumenthal amplified the testimony of Minneapolis activist Aliya Rahman following her detention during a January protest targeting ICE, portraying her account as settled fact despite the emergence of video footage and agency statements that complicate that narrative.
“Aliya Rahman was assaulted & violently dragged from her car by immigration agents & then detained without access to medical care. Despite the severe physical & mental toll, she is unafraid to demand accountability.”
Rahman later testified before a congressional forum, describing what she portrayed as a chaotic and violent encounter in which ICE agents shattered her car window without justification, ignored her repeated statements that she was disabled, and denied her urgent medical care.
“January 13, on the way to my 39th appointment at Hennepin County’s Traumatic Brain Injury Center, I encountered a traffic jam caused by ICE vehicles and no signs indicating how to get around it… I had not wanted to pull into a blocked, chaotic intersection, but verbally agreed to do so… Then the glass of the passenger side window flew across my face… I was carried face down through the street by my cuffed arms and legs while yelling that I had a brain injury and was disabled.”
While Rahman’s testimony was emotionally powerful, video footage from the incident and contemporaneous accounts circulating online suggest the encounter may not have unfolded exactly as described. One widely shared post compares her sworn testimony with video showing officers issuing repeated commands and stepping away from her vehicle, appearing to expect her to leave the scene.
“Democrats telling rioters to record federal agents is turning detrimental to their narrative.Meet Bangladesh-American activist Aliya Rahman from Minneapolis. Rahman went in front of a congressional forum and lied through her teeth playing the victim while describing the moment she interfered with federal officers and got arrested.She said she was monitoring traffic and couldn’t drive her vehicle because she was also watching for pedestrians, even though there were no cars or pedestrians in front of her.”
ICE has also publicly disputed Rahman’s account, stating that video evidence shows she had plenty of room to move her vehicle and chose instead to remain at the scene, impeding officers during an active enforcement operation.
“Unfortunately for the media, we have the receipts.As shown in our video, Aliya Rahman clearly had enough room to move herself and her vehicle out of the way. Officers even walked away from her vehicle, thinking she was going to leave the scene. Instead, she remained at the location, continued to impede our officers, and found out the hard way.18 U.S.C. § 111 criminalizes impeding or interfering with federal officers.”
Rahman’s testimony also included claims that detainees were routinely referred to as “bodies” and that she was denied medical attention for more than an hour.
“I continue to hear the word ‘bodies,’ because that is how agents refer to us… ‘Where do I put them? We can’t use that room. There’s already a body in there.’… I pleaded for emergency and medical care for over an hour… It was denied.”
What is clear from the video is that Rahman remained inside an active enforcement area after being told to leave. That fact is central to ICE’s explanation for the arrest and is largely missing from her testimony.
The difference between Rahman’s account and what the footage shows raises serious questions about how the incident has been portrayed. Rather than an unprovoked assault, the video supports ICE’s claim that officers acted only after she continued to interfere with a lawful operation.
The video also highlights a familiar pattern in high-profile ICE incidents. Testimony from self-described victims is quickly accepted and spread across social media, while video evidence and official accounts are discounted or ignored. In this case, the footage does not add nuance to the narrative. It shows what actually happened.
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