Was the man arrested in st paul by ice who was pulled out of his home in his underwear and a cloth a citizen with no criminal record
Executive summary
Video and contemporaneous reporting indicate the man pulled from a St. Paul home in his underwear and a blanket was identified by community sources and local reporting as a U.S. citizen and — according to those same accounts — was returned home after ICE agents ran fingerprints and determined he had no criminal record [1]. National and local outlets captured and circulated images of the detention and placed the episode in a wider pattern of aggressive immigration enforcement and contested stops in the Twin Cities [2] [3] [4].
1. The specific arrest: what the on-scene reporting says
Video footage and local reporting describe ICE agents removing an elderly Hmong man from a St. Paul house wearing underwear, a blanket and Crocs while neighbors protested; Bring Me The News quotes community leaders saying ICE fingerprinted him, confirmed he was a U.S. citizen with no criminal record, and then returned him home with no apology or explanation [1]. Reuters published footage of agents pulling a man out dressed only in underwear and a blanket during the same series of Minnesota operations, corroborating the visual record of the incident [2].
2. How citizenship and criminal-history claims were established in coverage
The narrative that the man was a U.S. citizen and had no criminal record comes from local community organizations and reporting that say ICE only confirmed his citizenship after fingerprinting and running his information at a facility [1]. Independent trackers and community reports similarly note that staff at detention facilities sometimes verify digital documents or passport information after detention; one tracker recounted that a facility employee checked a detainee’s digital passport to confirm citizenship [5].
3. What federal agencies said — and what they didn’t
Bring Me The News reports that the outlet reached out to ICE for comment but quotes community leaders for the core factual assertions about citizenship and record status; the published piece does not include a direct ICE denial or independent ICE confirmation in the story [1]. Multiple outlets covering the larger Minnesota operation show federal action and arrests but also record that agency statements on specific detentions and the broader sweep have been limited or contested in public reporting [3] [4].
4. The broader pattern and why this matters to verification
The St. Paul incident is reported amid a wave of aggressive stops and detentions in the Twin Cities in January, where several U.S. citizens and long-time residents say they were stopped, questioned or briefly detained while agents sought proof of status; local reporting and community groups describe a pattern of detentions of people who later proved to be citizens or legal residents [6] [7]. Coverage from Reuters, The Guardian and local outlets places the underwear detention alongside other encounters — including car-window smashings and gas-station arrests — that have heightened scrutiny about whether agents are properly confirming status before detention [8] [4] [3].
5. Limits of the record and cautious conclusion
Contemporaneous local reporting and community organizations assert the man was a U.S. citizen with no criminal record and that that status was only confirmed after fingerprinting at a facility; these accounts form the factual basis available in the reporting [1] [5]. Public records or an on-the-record ICE statement verifying the specific man’s citizenship and absence of a criminal history are not included in the stories provided, and the outlets note ICE was contacted for comment or that agency statements about specific detentions were limited [1] [3]. On balance, the reporting available to date supports the conclusion that the detained St. Paul man was later confirmed to be a U.S. citizen with no criminal record according to community reporting and local journalists, while official written confirmation from ICE is not included in those pieces [1] [2] [5].