ICE agents are a lethal combination of sadistic and stupid. They’re hopped up on a personal power trip, buoyed up by a presidential insistence that they’re above the law, and force-fed a diet of propaganda that tells them that – despite all evidence to the contrary – they’re actually secretly the heroes of this story.
Observable reality suggests otherwise. At this point, spotting incidents of ICE barbarism and thuggishness is like shooting fish in a barrel, but yesterday they really went above and beyond by terrorizing a completely innocent family of U.S. citizens.
This is Disgusting: ICE drags a half-naked old man into the snow, in single digit temperatures in St. Paul, MN, refusing to give him a coat.
— Really American
The cruelty is the point.pic.twitter.com/X8OYlp3iaL(@ReallyAmerican1) January 19, 2026
As originally reported by Reuters, on Sunday ICE goons smashed their way into a family home without a warrant and humiliatingly dragged a handcuffed grandpa out into the freezing 14F (-10C) street in his underwear. They shoved him into a van and apparently only then realized they had the wrong man, dumping him back home an hour later without a word of apology.
This was 56-year-old ChongLy Thao, a fully naturalized US citizen born in Laos who has no criminal record whatsoever, and appears to have been snatched because “he matched the description of the target”. Thao later told reporters:
“I was praying. I was like, God, please help me, I didn’t do anything wrong. Why do they do this to me? Without my clothes on.”
The Thao family – who had to replace their front door at the height of winter – accurately described the incident as “unnecessary, degrading, and deeply traumatizing.”
“God, please help me, I didn’t do anything wrong”
Heartbreaking scene in St. Paul, MN: ICE agents raided a home on Jan 18, 2026, dragging elderly Hmong-American U.S. citizen ChongLy Scott Thao outside in freezing snow—wearing only underwear, Crocs, and a blanket—in front of his crying 5-year-old grandson.
— Brittanie J (@thatbasedbabe) January 20, 2026
No criminal record.… pic.twitter.com/9SRwp9NDrn
None of the above is a mistake: intentionally inflicting degradation and trauma is baked into the ICE agents’ training and mindset. The whole idea is to create an aura of fear and intimidation around them, with them doing everything in their power to underline that the law simply doesn’t apply to them and, if they so choose, they can simply execute you in the street and get away scot-free.
As for Thao? He and his family came to America legally to pursue a better life, following all official routes to obtain citizenship and embracing a new way of life. After this?
“We came here for a purpose, right? … To have a bright future. To have a safe place to live. If this is going to turn out to be America, what are we doing here? Why are we here?”
If that’s not an accurate snapshot of the ugly face the United States is currently showing the rest of the world, what is?
