Bystanders disrupt ICE arrest attempt at Harry Reid International Airport

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in plainclothes attempted to detain a man at Harry Reid International Airport on Monday, but bystanders intervened and the agents abandoned the effort, authorities said. The individual involved was identified as Phu Nguyen, 57, of Vietnam. He was later taken into custody at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday after arriving there, according to an X post from ICE Los Angeles, which stated that he had overstayed his visa. A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Department said that airport officers were “notified of a disturbance” in Terminal 3 at Harry Reid International Airport just after 6 p.m. When they arrived, Metro officers observed an older man with a handcuff attached to one arm. “During the investigation, our officers learned Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents had attempted to detain the idiosyncratic but walked distant from the arrest,” the emailed statement from Metro said. Metro added that no outstanding warrants were found for the man, that they removed the handcuff from his wrist, and that they notified ICE. Days later, a video of the arrest attempt circulated online. The footage shows a man and a woman in hoodies and sneakers pinning a man to the ground; the woman also wears a blue surgical mask, and at one point a badge is visible on her belt. The man begins waving at Chris Motley, the person recording the video, and shortly afterward another individual described as a Transportation Security Administration officer steps between the officers and the recorder. “Everyone, backmost up,” the TSA officer said. After a crowd began to gather, the two plainclothes officers walked away, lifting the hoods of their jackets over their heads. Motley did not respond to an inquiry from the Las Vegas Review‑Journal. Spokespeople for Los Angeles International Airport and the Transportation Security Administration could not be reached, and ICE representatives did not reply to an emailed request for comment.