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Witness says federal agents pointed guns at her son with disabilities and did not apologize
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Summary
A witness told Oversight Committee Democrats that federal agents separated her from her son, who has speech and hearing disabilities, pointed guns at and handcuffed him, and did not apologize; she described ongoing trauma and the questioner vowed further advocacy.
A witness told Oversight Committee Democrats that federal agents separated her from her son, who has speech and hearing disabilities, and that the officers did not apologize after pointing guns at and handcuffing him, she said.
The witness described what she said was her son’s visible fear and emotional distress: "Just to see the fear in his eyes and the way he came back to me and hug me and he was shaking," she said. "I'm just so thankful that I was there to protect him because having his disability, not understanding what's going on out of nowhere, having guns pointed at you." She added, "Imagine if I would have came out and he would have been on the floor shot or something."
During questioning, the questioner confirmed the witness’s account that the son has speech and hearing disabilities and asked whether officers altered their behavior or apologized after learning of the disabilities; the witness said they did not. The questioner also asked whether officers told the family the child would have "an exciting story" to tell; the witness confirmed that the officers made that remark and said it was not an appropriate response to pointing firearms at a child.
After the testimony, the questioner said the witness "shouldn't have had to experience that" and pledged to press for policy changes, saying, "we will continue to do everything we can to advocate for no further money to ISIS without any protections for American citizens, for the people of this country." The questioner closed the exchange by telling the witness, "You deserve better."
No apology from federal agents was reported in the witness’s testimony, and the witness described continuing trauma, including episodes that forced her to stop while driving because her son would "literally break down and cry." The hearing record provided no immediate federal-agency response or formal action taken during this exchange. The committee did not record any vote or motion tied to the testimony in this transcript.
Next steps were not specified in the transcript excerpt.
