Minneapolis teacher files legal claim against federal government following ICE encounter outside high school

Taken down by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent with a knee to his back, then led off in handcuffs, a Minneapolis teacher now wants the federal government held accountable. 

Surveillance video shows the moment Quentin Williams came face to face with federal agents. It was Jan. 7, after an agent had shot and killed Renee Good hours earlier.

Feds, including former Border Patrol Commander at Large Greg Bovino, were outside Roosevelt High School during dismissal. That's when Williams stepped in and was tackled. He says an agent put his knee into his back.

"I felt like I could have been just another name, you know? It's just crazy how much I feel blessed to be alive," he said.

The entire interaction was caught on camera.

"At first it was in shock, and then it was watching videos," Williams said.

Legal documents filed Tuesday say agents took Williams to the Whipple Federal Building and took his stuff. His belongings, including a necklace containing some of his mother's ashes, were confiscated.

Williams was detained for four hours that day and released without charges.

Weeks later, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, along with several government accounts, were posting his mugshot, referring ot him as a "violent, anti-ICE anarchist."

"DHS posts, all the social media, some people thought it was true," Williams said.

Attorneys from MacArthur Justice Center filed a federal tort on Tuesday, paving the way for a civil lawsuit down the road.  

"They used him. They used his face, his likeness; they posted the city he lives in, and then once they were done, they moved on," Danielle Berkowsky, a civil rights attorney with the MacArthur Justice Center, said. "We would hope that the government would correct the record, take the posts down, but we also want accountability in the sense of putting his story out there, naming the people out there."

WCCO reached out to the Department of Justice and Homeland Security, but has yet to hear back.