MS NOW host Stephanie Ruhle on Thursday reacted to footage of immigration agents in Houston violently detaining a teenage U.S. citizen being driven to school by his dad — leaving him hospitalized with damage to his neck and spine.
“I want you to put down your drink, definitely put down your smartphone if you’re scrolling, and please pay attention to this,” said Ruhle on “The 11th Hour” before playing portions of the footage, which was obtained by fellow MS NOW journalist Antonia Hylton.
The incident on Oct. 23 reportedly began when Arnulfo Bazán-Carrillo was driving his 16-year-old son, Arnoldo, to school after leaving a McDonald’s, and several unmarked vehicles flashing their emergency lights ordered the father, who is an undocumented immigrant, to pull over.
Arnoldo previously told Houston Public Media that his dad pulled into a parking lot when two of the vehicles blocked them in and masked law enforcement officers exited their vehicles with no identifying badges before hitting the windows of his van.
When the father and son drove off in fear, the federal officers followed and repeatedly rammed their van. Arnoldo, who captured the incident on his phone, told the outlet he and his father then pulled into a parking lot and exited their van.
Ruhle on Thursday watched portions of the footage with Hylton, who shared further details.
“And after this scene here, they end up being violently detained on the ground inside a restaurant sort of depot lot,” Hylton said. “And the agents put Arnoldo, a U.S. citizen and a minor, in a chokehold so tight … that he ends up having to go to a children’s trauma unit.”
She added that Arnoldo, who can be heard in the video panicking during the chase, had “damage to his neck and spine that lasted for weeks” and was given morphine for the pain.
“For what?!” Ruhle exclaimed Thursday about the incident. “This father has been here since the 1990s. He has no felonies on record. He’s taking his boy to school. Like, what — I’m assuming you’ve spoken to Homeland Security about this. How did they rationalize this?”
Hylton said the agency told her a “very interesting” version of the story, noting that they weren’t aware she was in possession of the video when they claimed Arnulfo Bazán-Carrillo rammed his van into the vehicles of the immigration agents.
“That’s not what happened,” Ruhle replied.
Hylton noted that bystander footage of Arnoldo’s detainment showed an officer grabbing his phone, which the family later tracked using location services to the Montgomery ICE Processing Center — before it was sold at an electronics trade-in kiosk.
Hylton went on to confirm that Arnulfo Bazán-Carrillo has since been deported to Mexico, and that Arnoldo and his three siblings are now “basically raising themselves.” Ruhle was visibly taken aback by the case and told Hylton, “This is such important reporting.”
She continued, “So many of us are living our lives and our heads are down and we’re in our houses. And this might not be happening in our city or our community, and if you weren’t sharing this reporting that is happening on U.S. soil, we would not know.”
Hylton discussed the case further during an appearance on “All In With Chris Hayes.”