Fact Check: Is the viral video showing ICE agents beating unarmed minor migrant real?
Lynwood, CA — Footage shows an ICE agent pistol whipping a 16-year-old boy in the face with a handgun as the teen appears to be raising his hands and unarmed. Other officers violently force him to the ground, kneeling on his back into a curb, in the presence of an attack dog, as… pic.twitter.com/5mBP8bApka
— good morning, bad news (@GoodMornBadNews) January 31, 2026
LYNWOOD, CALIFORNIA: Amid the protests over the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown, a video has been circulating on social media that appears to show federal agents using force against a teenager. The post claimed that the boy was being assaulted. Let us analyse the viral video and fact-check the claim.
Claim: ICE agents assaulted a 16-year-old boy
The viral video shared on X on January 31 states, “Footage shows an ICE agent pistol-whipping a 16-year-old boy in the face with a handgun as the teen appears to be raising his hands and unarmed. Other officers violently force him to the ground, kneeling on his back into a curb."
Similar posts spread across other social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, with some claiming the video is from California.
The video is spread with the call to defund the agency tasked with carrying out President Donald Trump's mass deportation policies.
Fact Check: False, no federal agents were involved in the video
According to Anaheim Police Department public information officer Matt Sutter, the clip out of California is unrelated.
"This was a robbery suspect and had nothing to do with immigration," Sutter said in a February 3 email, adding that the law enforcement in the footage were Anaheim police and that no federal agents were involved.
In the video, the words 'Anaheim Police' are legible on the back of one officer's vest.
In a statement shared by Sutter, the department reiterated that 'the incident did not involve any federal agents and was not related to immigration enforcement.'
According to the statement, the arrest took place on January 30 in Lynwood, California. It involved a 17-year-old South Gate resident identified as 'the ninth suspect wanted in connection with a jewelry store 'smash-and-grab' robbery that occurred on January 23, 2026, in Anaheim.'
Massive protest against Donald Trump's immigration policy
The video surfaced amid the death of Alex Pretti, setting off protests and renewed anger in Minneapolis, already unsettled by a similar deadly shooting weeks earlier.
The incident occurred amid heightened tensions over federal immigration enforcement operations under the Trump administration.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in Minneapolis following the shooting, demanding accountability and calling for the withdrawal of federal agents from the city.
Demonstrators cited both the killing and broader concerns over federal enforcement tactics.
