70-Year-Old Air Force Veteran Considers Civil Suit After Arrest and Injury at Anti-ICE Protest

Dana Briggs, a 70-year-old Air Force veteran, is weighing a civil lawsuit after prosecutors dropped felony assault charges following his arrest at an anti-ICE protest in Broadview, Illinois. Video of the encounter shows federal agents advancing on Briggs and knocking him to the ground; a magistrate judge agreed to dismiss the case after reviewing body-worn camera footage that had been kept from public release.

What happened

Federal prosecutors previously alleged Briggs committed assault by "making physical contact with an agent's arm while the agent attempted to extend the safety perimeter" around the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility. U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes reviewed agent body-camera footage and the Department of Justice subsequently moved to dismiss all charges.

Briggs says that just before he was knocked over he had addressed the agents guarding the Chicago-area facility, asking: "How do you go home at night and explain to your community and family what you are doing to other people who look like you?" After his arrest and initial detention at the Broadview facility, Briggs says he was taken to Loyola University Medical Center, handcuffed to a hospital bed and treated for "cuts and bruises on both my forearms and wrists from being knocked down and zip-tied."

Prosecutors' response

In the court filing that sought dismissal, Andrew Boutros, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, did not provide a public explanation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Fitzpatrick said the office is "constantly evaluating new facts and information relating to cases and investigations arising out of Operation Midway Blitz," describing the review as part of an effort to ensure the interests of justice are served.

Broader context and related incidents

Briggs's case drew national attention and criticism from decorated veterans in Congress. It is among several incidents in which U.S. military veterans were arrested or injured in confrontations with federal agents tied to heightened immigration-enforcement operations.

One recent case involved Afghanistan war veteran Sean Charles Dunn, who was acquitted by a Washington, D.C., jury after a widely circulated video showed him throwing a sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection officer and shouting at deployed troops. Advocates and veterans' groups argue these prosecutions raise free-speech and public-safety concerns.

Another incident in Portland is the subject of a Federal Tort Claims Act complaint alleging an agent grabbed Afghanistan veteran Daryn Herzberg by the hair and slammed his face into the ground. Homeland Security officials disputed those allegations, saying Herzberg is "well known for acts of violence outside the ICE facility" and had used fake blood to falsify injuries; Herzberg's attorney denies those claims. He has not been charged.

Responses from advocacy groups

"Dissent is not a crime," said Jose Vasquez, executive director of the veterans' advocacy group Common Defense, calling Briggs and other veterans examples of citizens exercising their First Amendment rights. "Dana, like so many veterans who continue to exercise their first amendment rights in the face of injustice, was exercising the same courage and moral conviction he once showed in uniform."

Briggs has said he is considering a civil suit to seek accountability for how he was handled during the protest. It remains unclear whether he will file a lawsuit and, if so, what claims he would bring. The Department of Homeland Security did not provide a comment for this report.