Fullerton police says ICE agent pointed gun at woman although "no crime had occurred"

An agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement pointed a gun toward a woman in Orange County on Sunday who was later allowed to leave the scene because it was determined she hadn't committed a crime, according to police.

The Fullerton Police Department detailed the incident in a post on social media on Sunday afternoon after a video circulated online.

According to the department, an officer had just finished taking an inmate from an unrelated case to Orange County Jail in Santa Ana when he found two vehicles stopped in the intersection of Santa Ana Boulevard and Shelton Street. The officer indicated that the man then exited one of the vehicles and pointed a gun toward the woman behind the wheel of the other.

The Fullerton PD officer said he didn't know who the man was or the circumstances surrounding the situation, so he stopped to assist. When he intervened, the man told him that he was an ICE agent and presented credentials proving his identity.

The agent told the officer that the woman was following and filming him, according to Fullerton PD. In a later statement, the Department of Homeland Security claimed the woman tried to "cause a collision."

"To defend himself, following the aggression of the driver and her refusal to follow law enforcement commands, our officer followed his training and drew his weapon," Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.

Fullerton PD said the officer "informed the agent that he could not assist with someone following or recording him if no crime had occurred."

The woman then left the scene, and the officer reiterated to the ICE agent that he couldn't do anything if she hadn't committed a crime. McLaughlin disputed the officer's account, claiming he "declined to help our law enforcement, stating it was an immigration matter."

"ICE is a federal law enforcement agency, and Fullerton Police Officers will assist them, and any other local, state, or federal law enforcement agency, in situations involving immediate officer safety," Fullerton PD said in a statement. "However, Senate Bill 54 prohibits local law enforcement from participating in immigration enforcement. The Fullerton Police Department has not and will not participate in immigration enforcement efforts."