Is it true that a 17yr old boy was taken from a target and left bloody and crying at a Walmart
Executive summary
Federal agents from U.S. Customs and Border Protection/ICE detained two people at the Target in Richfield, Minnesota on January 8, an event captured on video and reported by multiple outlets [1] [2] [3]. Multiple news organizations and circulating videos report that at least one of the detained teens was later released and seen in a Walmart parking lot, but descriptions that he was “left bloody and crying” are not clearly corroborated in the mainstream reporting provided [4] [5] [6].
1. The Target detention: what the reporting establishes
Video and eyewitness accounts show federal agents forcibly detaining two employees at the Richfield Target, pinning them to the entrance and putting them into a dark SUV, a sequence reported by Kare11, Bring Me The News and other outlets who documented the initial arrest [1] [2] [3]; The Guardian and Newsweek framed the incident as part of a pattern of aggressive enforcement in Minnesota and quoted local officials describing the arrests as violent [7] [6].
2. Accounts of a Walmart release: multiple reports, visual claims
Several outlets and social-video posts say at least one of the teens—identified in some coverage as Jonathan Aguilar Garcia—was later seen released in a Walmart parking lot, with news organizations noting an online video that appears to show him there [4] [5] [8]. Local reporting and social posts claim witnesses found him outside a Walmart after the detention, and Scripps News and thread posts relay a video that purportedly shows his release [4] [5].
3. The “bloody and crying” detail: where reporting diverges from claims
Mainstream reporting in the assembled sources documents injuries and describes the detentions as aggressive, and Newsweek quotes a state representative saying the detained U.S. citizens were injured and later released [6]; The Guardian likewise describes forceful takedowns [7]. However, none of the provided mainstream snippets explicitly document that a 17‑year‑old was left “bloody and crying” at a Walmart in the exact phrasing of the viral claim, so that specific sensory detail is not clearly corroborated by the cited news pieces [7] [4] [6].
4. Social media, family posts, and amplification — agendas and limits
Family members and political figures amplified the narrative on social platforms, with posts asserting a U.S. citizen teen was “dumped” at Walmart and eliciting national outrage and celebrity reaction; Hindustan Times and social posts relay those claims [8] [5]. These posts drove rapid spread, and some outlets repeated the Walmart-release claim while responsibly noting the evidence is primarily video and witness accounts; at the same time, fringe and partisan sites recycled the story with editorializing [9], illustrating how emotional incidents around immigration enforcement are rapidly framed to advance political or advocacy agendas [6].
5. What can and cannot be concluded from the available reporting
It is established that federal agents detained two people at the Target [1] [2], and there is reporting and video-based claims that at least one teen was later seen at a Walmart parking lot [4] [5]. The specific allegation that a 17‑year‑old was left “bloody and crying” at that Walmart is not explicitly corroborated in the mainstream sources provided; some reports do say the detainees were injured and criticized the force used [6] [7]. Given these limits, the core elements—detention at Target and an apparent release/appearance at Walmart—are supported, while the vivid detail of being left bloody and crying remains unverified in the cited reporting.