By HOLLY RAMER
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A Venezuelan man going through misdemeanor costs in New Hampshire was apprehended in a courthouse by federal brokers who additionally knocked over a bystander as they tackled him.
Not too long ago launched safety digicam footage from Nashua Circuit Court docket exhibits two brokers throwing Arnuel Marquez Colmenarez to the ground and handcuffing him on Feb. 20. An older man utilizing a cane to stroll additionally ended up flat on his again.
Marquez Colmenarez, 33, had been charged Feb. 9 with drunken driving, driving with no license and failing to offer data after an accident. He was heading to his arraignment on these costs when he was apprehended, Nashua Police say.
Jared Neff, the court docket liaison officer for the Hudson Police Division, stated he was within the prosecutor’s workplace when he heard a loud commotion close to the elevators.
“There were voices yelling ‘Stop!’ and then a loud ‘bang’ which sounded like people had fallen on the ground and were actively fighting and struggling,” he wrote in an incident report.
Neff stated he helped restrain Marquez Colmenarez, whom he described as actively resisting makes an attempt to handcuff him. The brokers have been engaged on orders to detain immigrants within the nation illegally, Neff stated. They advised Neff that they had tried to detain Marquez Colmenarez quietly within the elevator, however he had fled.
A decide later issued a bench warrant after he failed to look for his arraignment. The prosecutor dealing with the case wasn’t contacted by federal brokers earlier than the arraignment and didn’t witness the arrest, police stated.
Immigration officers have been a rising presence at courthouses throughout President Donald Trump’s first time period, prompting pushback from judges and different native officers. The president has gone additional in his second time period by repealing a coverage in place since 2011 for brokers to usually keep away from such locations as colleges, homes of worship and hospitals.
Below present coverage, immigration officers could make arrests “in or near courthouses when they have credible information that leads them to believe the targeted alien(s) is or will be present” and so long as they aren’t prohibited from doing so by state or native regulation.
In Boston, an ICE agent was held in contempt final month after he detained a suspect whereas he was on trial.
Initially Revealed: April 14, 2025 at 2:47 PM EDT
