Army Vet Says ICE Detained Him for 8 Hours, Blocked Access to Lawyer

ICE beat, cuffed, and jailed an army veteran and Purple Heart recipient for protesting in Minneapolis—and then the Department of Homeland Security lied about his charges.

On Friday, ABC News reported that 39-year-old William Vermie was arrested while watching ICE agents go after two young men in his community. He was taken to the Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, where he said he was detained for eight hours and never given the opportunity to call a lawyer.

“They read me my rights and asked me if I wanted to answer any questions without a lawyer, and I said no,” Vermie told ABC News. “And then they said, ‘You’ll have an opportunity to contact one later.’”

“I have privilege,” Vermie added. “I was medically retired, I’m a combat vet, I’m white, I’m middle class. If I can’t advocate for people who need it, then who else is going to do it? Who else is going to stand up and speak truth to power?”

The DHS used its X account to call Vermie a liar after his story was published.

“FACT CHECK. This individual was arrested for assaulting a law enforcement officer—a felony and a federal crime. All detainees have the opportunity to communicate with their family and lawyer,” the agency wrote. “These smears from the media have directly lead to a 1,347% increase in assaults on DHS law enforcement and a 8,000% uptick in death threats.”

In reality, as ABC reported, no charges against Vermie were filed. Bystander video shows Vermie’s arrest on the sidewalk but doesn’t capture evidence that he assaulted an agent.

This is not a fact-check; it’s just another baseless claim from an administration that believes enough of its citizens are gullible enough to buy whatever version of reality it’s selling. People at the highest levels of government, from the president on down, have lied profusely to us about what has occurred this month in Minnesota, and for months in the rest of the country.