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.”
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
Vermie’s account appears similar to complaints from multiple attorneys interviewed by ABC News who allege that some of the thousands of people arrested in ICE operations in Minneapolis in recent weeks have been denied their constitutional right to see an attorney.
Four attorneys told ABC News they have been denied access to their clients at the Whipple Building, where they are being held, which they say violates Fifth Amendment and Sixth Amendment rights to due process and the right to consult with counsel, respectively.
Veteran Army combat soldier William Vermie is seen in this undated photo.
Courtesy William Vermie
The alleged practice of denying the visitations, according to the attorneys with whom ABC News spoke, is new and unprecedented.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security denied the attorneys’ claims, including that any constitutional violations are taking place at the Whipple Federal Building, adding that all detainees “have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers.”
Vermie, who said he was wounded by a mortar blast while deployed to Iraq in 2006 and 2007, stated that he is speaking out about his experience because it is his “civic duty.”
Veteran Army combat soldier William Vermie is seen in this undated photo.
Courtesy William Vermie
“I have privilege. I was medically retired, I’m a combat vet, I’m white, I’m middle class. If I can’t advocate for people who need it, then who else is going to do it? Who else is going to stand up and speak truth to power?” Vermie told ABC News.
According to military service records provided by the Army to ABC News, Vermie served as an infantryman from Sept. 2004 to Feb. 2009. He was deployed to Iraq from Oct. 2006 to April 2007, was injured in combat and awarded the Purple Heart, as well as an award for combat valor, according to the service records.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that Vermie was detained by federal agents.
“This individual was arrested for assaulting a law enforcement officer – a felony and a federal crime,” the DHS spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News. “Our brave law enforcement are grappling with a 1,347% increase in assaults and a staggering 8,000% uptick in death threats as they put their lives on the line to arrest murderers, rapists, pedophiles, and gang members.”
The DHS spokesperson also said Vermie was not denied the right to speak with an attorney while he was held at the Whipple Federal Building.
But Vermie’s attorney told ABC News that after he was contacted by Vermie’s family, he immediately went to the Whipple Building and waited three hours to see his client, but was denied the opportunity, despite making multiple requests.
“My client was denied the ability to contact anyone while held in ICE custody. Had he been afforded access, he would have immediately called his wife,” the attorney told ABC News. “She never got a call, despite having her phone on constantly by her side.”
The attorney added, “My client was snatched off the streets by masked ICE agents in retaliation for peacefully protesting.”
Bystander video shows veteran Army combat soldier William Vermie being arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, January 13, 2026, in Minneapolis.
Brendan Gutenschwager via Storyful
Vermie said he was arrested by ICE on Jan. 13 in his south Minneapolis neighborhood, just blocks from where an ICE agent fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Good, a mother of three, on Jan. 7, sparking days of protests.
Shortly after waking up on Jan. 13, Vermie said, he heard cars honking outside his home and neighbors blowing whistles to signal that ICE agents were in the neighborhood.
Vermie said he grabbed his coat, went outside and walked across the street, where a crowd had gathered as ICE agents were escorting two young men from a home to their vehicles.
“I was observing the ICE agents as they were bringing out those two young men,” Vermie said. “And then they started moving toward the vehicles to detain them and they were pushing people on the sidewalk where I was and then an agent approached me and told me to move back and attempted to push me and I didn’t let him.”
Vermie alleged that one of the agents tried unsuccessfully to trip him.
“And then him and about three or four other agents started grabbing my limbs and wrestled me down to the ground. They handcuffed me and took me to the Whipple Building,” Vermie said.
Bystander video of Vermie’s arrest does not clearly show whether Vermie assaulted an ICE agent, as DHS alleges, nor whether they attempted to trip Vermie, as he alleged. The video does show Vermie standing in the path of ICE agents, after which several of them tackle him to the snowy ground and place him in handcuffs before escorting him away.
Vermie denied the DHS allegation that he assaulted a federal agent. He said he did nothing to impede their operation and believes their actions were illegal.
His lawyer told ABC News earlier this week that no charges had been filed against Vermie.
Vermie said that he was read his rights and then was asked if he wished to answer any questions without an attorney present.
“I said no,” Vermie said. “And then they said ‘you’ll have an opportunity to contact one later,’ and they took me back to the cell and then I didn’t leave until they released me.”
A few hours after that, Vermie said, a DHS agent came to his cell, asked Vermie to confirm his name and then asked him if he had a lawyer. Unaware that his wife had hired an attorney, Vermie said he told the agent he didn’t have one, after which the agent took his photo and left.
Veteran Army combat soldier William Vermie, seen here, told ABC News he was arrested and detained for eight hours at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Minneapolis, Minnesota, January 13, 2026.
Courtesy William Vermie
“That’s when I’m assuming that my lawyer … was down trying to advocate on my behalf,” Vermie told ABC News.
When he was released from custody and was outside of the Whipple Building, Vermie said the lawyer his wife had hired was waiting for him.
Despite his ordeal, Vermie said he plans to keep protesting the ICE immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis, but added, “I probably won’t get as close as I did.” He also expressed fear over what could be in store for his community in the near future.
“A lot of people are uneasy and we’re being threatened with the Army coming down and even more DHS and Border Patrol, and alphabet soup coming in,” Vermie said. “A lot of officials in the administration are basically saying that our police have to stand down, let them do what they’re going to do. It’s mind-boggling.”
The Pentagon last week ordered about 1,500 active duty soldiers to be ready in case of possible deployment to Minnesota should President Donald Trump follow through with his threat to invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used 19th century law that would allow him to employ active duty troops as law enforcement.
In a statement Sunday to ABC News, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said that more than 3,000 arrests have been made as part of Operation Metro Surge. McLaughlin said the arrests have included nearly 150 U.S. citizens accused of alleged assault or obstructing law enforcement.
ABC News’ Steven Beynon contributed to this report.