U.S. citizen, an Army vet, sues U.S., claiming false imprisonment after California immigration raid

A U.S. citizen and Army veteran who was detained by federal immigration authorities for three days last summer filed a civil rights lawsuit against the United States government this week.

George Retes, born, raised and still living in Ventura, claims officers violated his constitutional rights, were negligent and assaulted him, among other claims, during and after he was detained in an immigration enforcement raid in Camarillo in Ventura County in July.

The lawsuit, filed in California’s Central District court on Wednesday, Feb. 18, claims Fourth and Fifth Amendment violations, assault and battery, negligence, false imprisonment and false arrest and violations of the Tom Bane Civil Rights Act and Westfall Act.

“Seeking accountability through the courts is not an act of division, it is an act of faith in the system our nation was built on,” Retes said at a press conference in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday. “I am pursuing this case not out of anger, but out of principle, so that what happens to me does not happen to someone else.”

Retes, who worked for Securitas as a security guard, was driving to his job at Glass House Farms, a licensed marijuana-growing facility, on July 10, arriving near the farm at about 2:35 p.m. when his car was blocked by a line of federal agents.

Attorneys representing Retes say in a complaint filed in federal court that Retes got out of the car and tried to explain to the agents that he was a U.S. citizen and that he was headed to work, but instead one agent allegedly told him, “Work is closed today” and he needed to go home.

Agents never made an attempt to verify Retes’ identity or his status, the complaint says.

A short time later, as Retes was attempting to back away from the line and leave, federal agents descended upon his car, the complaint says. One shattered a window with a gun while others used tear gas. Retes was pulled from the car and thrown to the ground.

“George did not resist,” the complaint says. “Using his military training to stay calm, he voluntarily placed his arms behind his back to show compliance. Still, officers knelt on his back and neck, zip-tied his hands, and detained him for hours at the farm – without ever telling him what he was accused of.”

The Department of Homeland Security, in a response to what it says were false claims in a New York Times story on the raids, claimed that Retes was arrested for assault and detained because he “became violent and refused to comply with law enforcement.

“He challenged agents and blocked their route by refusing to move his vehicle out of the road,” the statement continued.

Miller said Thursday that the video from his arrest refutes that story.

The lawyers representing Retes are from the Institute of Justice, a nonprofit, public interest law firm whose stated mission is to end abuses of government power and violations of Americans’ Constitutional rights.

After his arrest, Retes was taken to a Navy base where agents took a sample of his DNA. They then took him to a federal jail in Los Angeles, where he was strip-searched and detained for three days.

During that time, the complaint says, Retes was not allowed to shower so he could remove the chemicals he’d been sprayed with; nor was he allowed to make phone calls.

All the while, none of the agents told him what he was being detained for, even after he was released without charges, the complaint says.

At no time did authorities obtain a warrant, or give any probable cause or explanation for Retes’ detention, the complaint says.

“George missed work, lost professional standing with his employer, and missed his daughter’s third birthday party,” the complaint says. “The traumatic experience exacerbated injuries he had sustained during his military service. And throughout his detention, no federal officer could provide an answer to the simplest question: ‘Why am I here?’ ”

Federal authorities said they made about 200 immigrant arrests during the raid, which also included tense standoffs between protesters and agents. One farm worker died after falling off a greenhouse roof during the raid.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.

“This case is not about politics, it is not about immigration enforcement, it is about something much more fundamental,” his attorney, Marie Miller, said Thursday. “U.S. citizens must be able to hold the federal government accountable for depriving them of basic civil liberties guaranteed in the Constitution.”