Grandpa Talks About ICE Keeping Him In His Underwear At Home; Officials State that they were hunting 2 sex predators

YOU NEED TO KNOW

• ChongLy “Scott” Thao, a US citizen and grandfather living in Minnesota, was detained at his home by ICE agents on Sunday, January 18th.

• He had to leave in only underwear, sandals and a blanket in 12-degree weather, according to his family, who are seeking legal action

• An ICE spokesperson says agents were looking for two criminal suspects at the property

An American citizen and grandfather is speaking out after being removed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from his St. Louis home. Paul, Minn., in their underwear in subfreezing conditions – although federal authorities say they were looking for two other criminal suspects on the property.

On Sunday, January 18, ICE agents detained ChongLy “Scott” Thao, who emigrated from Laos and has been a US citizen for decades, according to the Associated Press.

The videos of the meeting quickly went viral.

“I was shaking,” Thao told the AP. “They didn’t show any warrant; they just broke down the door.”

Thao was kept in roughly 12-degree weather in the rental home he shares with his son, Chris Thao, his daughter-in-law and his 4-year-old grandson, family relative and spokesperson Louansee Moua said in a statement to PEOPLE.

Thao said the agents handcuffed him in front of his crying grandson.

The Department of Homeland Security was looking for two “convicted sex offenders,” said Lue Moua and Kongmeng Vang, ICE spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin, who claimed Thao lives with them.

Public records indicate that both men have criminal criminal histories but neither is listed on Minnesota’s sex offender registry, even though ICE describes them as sex offenders.

Thao’s family has strongly denied this version of events, including Thao living with the two ICE suspects.

McLaughlin also alleged that Thao “matched the description of the targets.”

Louansee Moua, the spokesman for the Thao family, says his treatment by federal officials was “sad and degrading.”

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“Mr. Thao did not resist and went with agents voluntarily, despite the lack of explanation for his detention at the time,” she says, adding, “The family asks the media to avoid speculation and to respect their privacy while they pursue appropriate legal remedies.”

It remains unclear what, precisely, drew ICE to Thao’s residence given these competing accounts. ICE did not respond to follow-up questions.

But before the agents arrived at his doorstep, they stopped Chris, Thao’s son, on his way home from work, according to the AP.

Chris was driving a car he borrowed from his cousin’s boyfriend and owned by someone with the same name as a person DHS was seeking to locate, the AP reported, citing DHS officials.

A review of public records by PEOPLE indicates no property connection between Thao and the two ICE suspects.

Thao told the AP that “he had never seen these men before” and that they did not live with him.

When agents arrived, they knocked on his front door and he did not answer, according to the AP. Armed ICE agents forced their way in and pointed their guns at the family.

While the agents were at the residence, Thao said, he tried to prove his citizenship by asking his daughter to find his identification. (ICE claimed he “refused to be fingerprinted or provide facial identification.”)

Thao says the agents rejected his attempt at identification. He was then escorted away in just his underwear, sandals and a blanket and was subsequently taken “into the middle of nowhere,” he said, before agents sought to take a photo.

He was asked for his ID that day, he said, and the authorities went on to confirm his citizenship. He was back home in a few hours.

The agents left without apologizing for the arrest or the property damage, according to the AP.

Thao told the shopkeeper that he didn’t “feel safe” in his home, adding, “What did I do wrong? I didn’t do anything.”

McLaughlin, with ICE, defended the decision to detain Thao, saying in part in her statement: “Like any law enforcement agency, it is standard protocol to detain all individuals in an operating facility for the safety of the public and law enforcement.”

An ICE spokesman later identified the men they were looking for as Lue Moua and Kongmeng Vang.

Moua “is wanted for sexual assault of a minor, rape, kidnapping, and domestic violence,” and Vang “is wanted for sexual assault, gang activity, and assault,” the spokesman said.

Neither man has legal status in the country and “has final orders of removal” from an immigration judge, the spokesman said.

Thao family spokesperson Louansee Moua says the family is “aware” of the DHS account and that the “main assertions” do not reflect “their own knowledge of the events or the living situation at the residence.”

The Thao family filed complaints with the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota and the Office of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, says Louansee.

According to the AP, they are also seeking an attorney and intend to file a civil rights lawsuit against DHS.

Read the original article on People