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Army vet detained by ICE for 8 hours says he wasn't allowed to call an attorney
Reposted by Unsanitary-Looking Suspicious Bruises Hat
https://bsky.app/profile/kenwhite.bsky.social
Wajahat Ali
@wajali.bsky.social
They did this to a white male veteran
https://abcnews.go.com/US/army-vet-detained-ice-8-hours-allowed-call/story
Army vet detained by ICE for 8 hours says he wasn't allowed to call an attorney
Army veteran and Purple Heart recipient William Vermie told ABC News that he was tackled and arrested by ICE in Minneapolis and held for eight hours.
abcnews.go.com
11:52 PM · Jan 23, 2026
@wajali.bsky.social
They did this to a white male veteran
https://abcnews.go.com/US/army-vet-detained-ice-8-hours-allowed-call/story
Army vet detained by ICE for 8 hours says he wasn't allowed to call an attorney
Army veteran and Purple Heart recipient William Vermie told ABC News that he was tackled and arrested by ICE in Minneapolis and held for eight hours.
abcnews.go.com
11:52 PM · Jan 23, 2026
They did this to a white male veteran
— Wajahat Ali (@wajali.bsky.social) 2026-01-24T04:52:34.659Z
abcnews.go.com/US/army-vet-...
Army vet detained by ICE for 8 hours says he wasn't allowed to call an attorney
"If I can't advocate for people who need it, then who else is going to do it?"
ByMatt Rivers, Janice McDonald, Armando Garcia, and Bill Hutchinson
January 23, 2026, 11:07 AM
Former combat vet alleges he wasn’t given access to an attorney during ICE detainmentABC New’s Matt Rivers sat down with combat veteran William Vermie, who says he was detained for filming ICE activity in Minneapolis and was denied access to an attorney.
Brendan Gutenschwager via Storyful
An Army veteran and Purple Heart recipient says that he was tackled and arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis and held in a cell for eight hours without being allowed to contact an attorney or his family.
William Vermie, 39, said in an interview with ABC News that he was taken into custody earlier this month while standing with a crowd on a public sidewalk observing ICE agents detaining two young men in his neighborhood during an immigration enforcement activity dubbed by the government as Operation Metro Surge. He said he was driven to the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, where he was detained in a cell. ... The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement to ABC News that Vermie was arrested for allegedly assaulting a law enforcement officer.
"They read me my rights and asked me if I wanted to answer any questions without a lawyer, and I said no," Vermie told ABC News. "And then they said, 'You'll have an opportunity to contact one later.'" ... At no time during his detention was he allowed to speak with an attorney, Vermie told ABC News, even though he said that he later learned that his wife had contacted one for him, who had been attempting to speak with him.
"We're entitled to counsel. It's part of the Bill of Rights. Even if you are here illegally and you are a foreign national, you are entitled to legal representation," Vermie said. "I don't know whether they're incompetent or if they chose to do this, but it's not good."
PHOTO: William Vermie, an Army veteran and Purple Heart recipient, told ABC News that he was detained by ICE agents in his Minneapolis, Minn., neighborhood, January 13, 2026, and held for eight hours.
William Vermie, an Army veteran and Purple Heart recipient, told ABC News that he was detained by ICE agents in his Minneapolis, Minn., neighborhood, January 13, 2026, and held for eight hours without being allowed to speak to an attorney or call his family.
ABC News
{snip}
"If I can't advocate for people who need it, then who else is going to do it?"
ByMatt Rivers, Janice McDonald, Armando Garcia, and Bill Hutchinson
January 23, 2026, 11:07 AM
Former combat vet alleges he wasn’t given access to an attorney during ICE detainmentABC New’s Matt Rivers sat down with combat veteran William Vermie, who says he was detained for filming ICE activity in Minneapolis and was denied access to an attorney.
Brendan Gutenschwager via Storyful
An Army veteran and Purple Heart recipient says that he was tackled and arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis and held in a cell for eight hours without being allowed to contact an attorney or his family.
William Vermie, 39, said in an interview with ABC News that he was taken into custody earlier this month while standing with a crowd on a public sidewalk observing ICE agents detaining two young men in his neighborhood during an immigration enforcement activity dubbed by the government as Operation Metro Surge. He said he was driven to the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, where he was detained in a cell. ... The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement to ABC News that Vermie was arrested for allegedly assaulting a law enforcement officer.
"They read me my rights and asked me if I wanted to answer any questions without a lawyer, and I said no," Vermie told ABC News. "And then they said, 'You'll have an opportunity to contact one later.'" ... At no time during his detention was he allowed to speak with an attorney, Vermie told ABC News, even though he said that he later learned that his wife had contacted one for him, who had been attempting to speak with him.
"We're entitled to counsel. It's part of the Bill of Rights. Even if you are here illegally and you are a foreign national, you are entitled to legal representation," Vermie said. "I don't know whether they're incompetent or if they chose to do this, but it's not good."
PHOTO: William Vermie, an Army veteran and Purple Heart recipient, told ABC News that he was detained by ICE agents in his Minneapolis, Minn., neighborhood, January 13, 2026, and held for eight hours.
William Vermie, an Army veteran and Purple Heart recipient, told ABC News that he was detained by ICE agents in his Minneapolis, Minn., neighborhood, January 13, 2026, and held for eight hours without being allowed to speak to an attorney or call his family.
ABC News
{snip}