Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent outside the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in Los Angeles. Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents raided four southern California museums and an art gallery, as part of a multi-year investigation into alleged illegal smuggling of Southeast Asian and Native American artifacts. The museums targeted were the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art in Santa Ana, the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena and the Mingei International Museum in San Diego. (Photo by Ted Soqui/Corbis via Getty Images)
Santa Ana, California – A disturbing video circulating widely on social media has ignited protests and raised serious questions about law enforcement accountability after bystanders witnessed a group of masked men wearing U.S. Border Patrol vests violently detaining a man in Santa Ana over the weekend.
The footage, posted by the Instagram account @SantaAnaProblems, shows at least seven men dressed in tactical gear, hats, and face coverings surrounding and restraining a man identified by family members as Narciso Barranco, a Tustin resident and father of three. One of the men repeatedly strikes Barranco in the head as others stand watch. The group then forces him into the backseat of an unmarked silver SUV. The incident occurred Saturday outside an IHOP restaurant on Edinger Avenue, where Barranco was working as a landscaper.
The men did not display visible identification beyond the Border Patrol vests. Their faces remained covered, and as of Monday, no local or federal agency has claimed responsibility for the operation. The Santa Ana Police Department confirmed awareness of the video but offered no further information. Neither state nor federal authorities have confirmed whether the masked men are affiliated with any official agency.
The video has prompted widespread public backlash and sparked a grassroots fundraising effort for the Barranco family, who say Narciso has lived in the area for years. His three sons all serve in the U.S. Marine Corps. One son, 25-year-old Alejandro Barranco, told KTLA that his father was pepper-sprayed and repeatedly punched in the face during the arrest. As of Saturday evening, the family was still trying to locate him.
“He is a good, hard-working man. He has raised his family here and has established himself here,” reads the family’s GoFundMe page. “Please help the Barranco family with whatever you can to ensure he is able to receive the proper legal counsel to represent him.”
The detainment and the lack of transparency surrounding it have only added to tensions in a region where immigration enforcement remains a deeply divisive issue. The violence captured on video—conducted in broad daylight, on a busy street, by unidentified individuals—has left many residents shaken and uncertain about who, exactly, is operating in their communities.
