The family of a father of five who was kicked and detained by federal officers on Friday says an agent pointed a gun at him.
Jose Campollo, 56, was traveling in his work truck on his way home to Wilmington when immigration agents pulled him over. Video taken from a nearby home showed an armed agent pointing a large firearm at Campollo and kicking him at least once on the sidewalk. Both the agent and Campollo can be seen speaking to one another in the video before he was ultimately detained.
Another video recorded by Campollo’s son, Jose Jr., shows an agent and the son speaking to each other while the father is being detained. In the video, Jose Jr. can be heard demanding a warrant from the agent while the agent appears to try to diffuse the encounter. A woman can also be heard yelling that he isn’t a criminal and denouncing the agents’ actions.
“They kicked him, yeah,” Jose Jr. said. “I honestly didn’t saw that until now when my little brother was showing the camera footage and it broke my heart just seeing my dad being kicked like that. I felt useless, like I couldn’t do anything.”
According to the man’s son, the armed agent also pointed his firearm at him and threatened to open fire.
“In that moment, I didn’t know what else to do except record everything that has happening,” Jose Jr. told NBC4’s sister station, Telemundo 52.
Campollo’s son said his father was arrested for an unspecified violation in 1994, but the victim in the case testified that Campollo wasn’t the suspect, so he was released from any charges.
As of Friday, Campollo was placed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles. His loved ones are seeking an attorney to fight his deportation.
NBC4 and Telemundo 52 have reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.