Search Articles
LOS ANGELES (CN) — A United States citizen and Iraq combat veteran sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agencies claiming he was wrongfully arrested during an ICE raid of a licensed California cannabis farm, where he worked as a security guard, and detained for three days.
George Retes Jr. said in his complaint filed Wednesday in Los Angeles federal court that he drove to his job at the farm near Camarillo on July 10, 2025, when he found the road blocked by U.S. agents.
“Instead of letting him pass, some officers ordered George to leave,” according to his lawsuit. “Others ordered him to get out of his car. George tried to comply with the conflicting commands. But the officers engulfed his vehicle in tear gas, pounded on his window until it shattered, sprayed George with pepper spray, dragged him from his car, and threw him to the ground.”
He was first detained at the farm for hours without being told what he was being accused of, Retes says. Next, he was taken to a nearby U.S. Navy base where he was fingerprinted, photographed and shackled, and where a DNA sample was taken of him, all without a warrant, probable cause or any legitimate explanation, he argues.
He says that later that day, he was transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles.
“There, he was strip searched, deprived of his belongings, and held incommunicado for three days and three nights,” he claims. “He was never brought before a judge and was never charged with any offense.”
The raid of the Camarillo farm was one of the well reported ICE operations in Southern California. About 319 people were detained and federal agents deployed numerous volleys of tear gas, rubber bullets and smoke bombs on family members of detained farm workers, concerned public officials, journalists and protesters.
The purported disproportionate use of force by federal agents during the raid was one of the factors that prompted a federal judge to issue a preliminary injunction prohibiting ICE and other federal officers from using indiscriminate force against journalists and other observers at anti-immigration enforcement protests. The Ninth Circuit declined to stay that order in December 2025.
Retes’ arrest was national news as well, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a statement “debunking” reports that he and other U.S. citizens were targeted during ICE operations.
“As U.S. Customs and Border Protection and ICE agents were executing criminal search warrants on July 10 at the marijuana sites in Camarillo, CA, George Retes — a U.S. citizen — became violent and refused to comply with law enforcement,”Homeland Security said in a Oct. 1, 2025 statement. “He challenged agents and blocked their route by refusing to move his vehicle out of the road. CBP arrested Retes for assault.”
Representatives of the U.S. Justice Department declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Retes brings claims under California’s Tom Bane Civil Rights Act for violations of his constitutional rights and other state law claims against the federal agents who arrested and detained him, and he brings claims against the U.S. under the Federal Tort Claims Act.
He’s represented by attorneys with the Institute for Justice in Phoenix, Arizona, and Arlington, Virginia, and by attorneys with Michel & Associates in Long Beach, California.
Follow @edpetterssonSubscribe to our free newsletters
Our weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.