Has an ice agent’s finger been bitten off?
Executive summary
Federal and local reporting show that a claim circulated by Department of Homeland Security officials — that an ICE/HSI agent’s finger was “bit off” during unrest in Minneapolis — exists and was amplified by several outlets, but major independent reporting confirming a complete amputation in that specific Minneapolis incident is limited; prior, separately documented episodes have involved agents suffering bite injuries to fingers during arrests [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. The claim: DHS circulated graphic images and said a finger was “bit off”
DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin publicly posted a photograph and wrote that an agent’s finger had been “bit off” by a protester amid chaotic demonstrations confronting immigration agents in Minneapolis, and that she shared an image of the severed fingertip placed in a hospital cup [1] [2]. Mediaite and the Daily Express reproduced her claim and the image, presenting it as evidence put forward by DHS that one of its officers suffered a full digit loss during those confrontations [1] [2].
2. Independent verification is thin for the Minneapolis claim
Major reporting on the Minneapolis events — including detailed coverage of the fatal shooting that prompted the protests — focuses on the use of force by ICE agents and the wider political fallout, and does not provide independent, on-the-record confirmation that an ICE agent’s finger was actually severed in the Minneapolis protests or link the DHS-posted image to a verified local medical or law-enforcement report [5] [6] [7]. The Guardian, People, and Time coverage centers on the shooting and surrounding protests but does not corroborate DHS’s fingertip assertion with separate evidence in their published accounts [5] [6] [7].
3. There are precedents: documented bite injuries to ICE/DHS officers in other incidents
Reports from prior incidents show that ICE and immigration agents have sustained bite-related injuries during arrests. Local reporting and a Department of Justice affidavit described a 2025 Los Angeles-area case in which a detainee allegedly bit an ICE officer, breaking the skin and fracturing the digit while resisting, and federal charges followed [3]. Even earlier local media coverage recorded an incident in 2019 in which an ICE agent reportedly lost the tip of a finger during an arrest struggle [4]. Those past cases demonstrate that bite injuries — including serious damage to fingers — have occurred in law-enforcement encounters involving immigration officers [3] [4].
4. How the narrative spread and why it matters
A DHS post presenting graphic material from the Minneapolis unrest was widely amplified by partisan and tabloid outlets, which framed it as proof of violent escalation by protesters; that amplification coincided with intense national debate over an ICE shooting and aggressive federal deployments in Minnesota, creating a highly politicized information environment [1] [2] [7]. Given the stakes — a high-profile police shooting, national deployments of ICE personnel, and congressional attention — a single dramatic image or assertion can be weaponized by advocates on multiple sides even when corroboration is limited [7] [1].
5. Bottom line — what can be stated with confidence
It can be stated with confidence that DHS circulated a claim and graphic photograph alleging that an ICE/HSI agent’s finger was “bit off” at Minneapolis protests and that multiple outlets reported that claim [1] [2]. It cannot be confidently asserted from the available reporting provided here that independent authorities — local hospitals, independent medical examiners, or neutral law-enforcement reports published in major outlets — have verified the image or conclusively confirmed an amputation tied to the Minneapolis unrest; separate documented incidents in other places and times, however, do show that bite injuries and fingertip loss have occurred in past encounters involving immigration officers [5] [6] [3] [4].