A California man who says border patrol agents singled him out because of his race is now questioning his vote for Donald Trump. In an interview published Monday, Jason Brian Gavidia said he has been struggling with guilt ever since a tense encounter with federal agents in June.
“I truly believe I was targeted because of my race,” Gavidia told KNBC. “I believe I was racially profiled. I believe I was attacked because I was walking while brown. Where is the freedom? Where is the justice? We live in America.” Gavidia is one of five plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Southern California. The suit accuses the Trump administration of using race as a factor in immigration enforcement operations across several counties.
A federal judge moved last month to block the administration from carrying out broad immigration stops and arrests in seven California counties. The administration responded by asking the Supreme Court to lift that order, keeping the legal fight active. The incident involving Gavidia was captured on video on June 12 and later released by the Los Angeles Times.
It shows two border patrol agents wearing masks and sunglasses pushing him against a metal gate at a tow yard. In the footage, Gavidia tries to assert his identity.
“I’m American, bro,” he says.
“What hospital were you born in?” one agent yells back.
“I don’t know, dawg,” Gavidia replies, then offers to show his ID.
The lawsuit claims the agents twisted his arm during the questioning and confiscated his phone. Although he was eventually released, Gavidia says the emotional impact remains.
“Every time I see it on video, it’s like a bad memory that’s in my brain,” he told KNBC.
The government’s public response has only added confusion. Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin initially told the Times that Gavidia had been “arrested” for assaulting agents. After the paper noted that he had not been arrested, she shifted her explanation, saying he was only questioned and that it was actually his friend who had been arrested.
This week, McLaughlin issued yet another statement, telling HuffPost that Gavidia “was arrested for assaulting a law enforcement officer and interfering with agents during their duties.” She also claimed that “any allegations that individuals have been ‘targeted’ by law enforcement because of their skin color are FALSE.”
Gavidia says the experience shattered his trust in the administration he once backed. He told KNBC he now believes his vote “was a mistake” and that Trump “ran on lies.”
“If this was going to happen, do you think we would have voted? We’re humans. We’re not going to destroy our community,” he said. “We’re not going to destroy our people.”
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