Federal immigration agents pepper-sprayed and shot crowd suppression munitions at newly sworn-in Arizona Rep. Adelita Grijalva during a confrontation with protesters in Tucson on Friday.<\/p>\n
A video<\/a> Grijalva posted online shows an agent in green fatigues indiscriminately dousing a line of several people \u2014 Grijalva included \u2014 with pepper spray outside a popular taco restaurant.<\/p>\n \u201cYou guys need to calm down and get out,\u201d Grijalva says, coughing amid a cloud of spray. In another clip, an agent fires a pepper ball at Grijalva\u2019s feet.<\/p>\n Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin denied that Grijalva was pepper-sprayed in a statement, saying that if her claims were true, \u201cthis would be a medical marvel. But they\u2019re not true. She wasn\u2019t pepper sprayed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe was in the vicinity of someone who *was* pepper sprayed as they were obstructing and assaulting law enforcement,\u201d McLaughlin continued. The comment suggested a lack of understanding as to how pepper spray works. Fired from a distance, pepper-spray canisters create a choking cloud that will affect anyone in the vicinity, as Grijalva\u2019s video showed.<\/p>\n If federal agents are brazen enough to fire pellets directly at a Member of Congress, imagine how they behave when encountering defenseless members of our community.<\/p>\n It\u2019s time for Congress to rein in this rogue agency NOW. pic.twitter.com\/ufckcoRVLE<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Rep. Adelita Grijalva (@Rep_Grijalva) December 5, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In a separate video<\/a> Grijalva posted to Facebook, the Democratic representative from Southern Arizona described community members confronting approximately 40 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in several vehicles.<\/p>\n \u201cI was here, this is like the restaurant I come to literally once a week,\u201d she said, \u201cand was sprayed in the face by a very aggressive agent, pushed around by others.\u201d Grijalva maintained that she was not being aggressive. \u201cI was asking for clarification,\u201d she said. \u201cWhich is my right as a member of Congress.\u201d <\/p>\n Video<\/a> from journalists on the ground show dozens of heavily armed agents \u2014 members ICE\u2019s high-powered Homeland Security Investigations wing and the Department of Homeland Security\u2019s SWAT-style Special Response teams \u2014 deploying flash-bang grenades, tear gas, and pepper-ball rounds at a crowd of immigrant rights protesters near Taco Giro, a popular mom-and-pop restaurant in west Tucson.<\/p>\n The Tucson Sentinel, a local outlet whose reporter was pepper-sprayed in the face Friday, reported<\/a> that DHS targeted the restaurant as part of a larger human trafficking investigation dating back to the Biden administration. Protesters cornered several of the agency\u2019s vehicles and kept them from leaving the area for approximately an hour before reinforcements arrived, the outlet reported.<\/p>\n According to McLaughlin, two \u201claw enforcement officers were seriously injured by this mob that Rep. Adelita Grijalva joined.\u201d She provided no evidence or details for the claim.<\/p>\n \u201cPresenting one\u2019s self as a \u2018Member of Congress\u2019 doesn\u2019t give you the right to obstruct law enforcement,\u201d McLaughlin wrote. The DHS press secretary did not respond to a question about the munitions fired at Grijalva\u2019s feet. <\/p>\n Grijalva \u201cwas doing her job, standing up for her community,\u201d Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., said in a social media<\/a> post Friday. \u201cPepper-spraying a sitting member of Congress is disgraceful, unacceptable, and absolutely not what we voted for. Period.\u201d<\/p>\n Additional footage<\/a> from Friday\u2019s scene shows Grijalva and members of the media face-to-face with several heavily armed, uniformed Homeland Security Investigation agents as they loaded at least two people \u2014 both with their hands zip-tied behind their backs \u2014 into a large gray van.<\/p>\n Grijalva identifies herself as a member of Congress and asks where they are being taken. One of the masked agents initially replies, \u201cI can\u2019t verify that.\u201d Another pushes the congresswoman and others back with forearm. \u201cDon\u2019t push me,\u201d Grijalva says multiple times. A third masked agent steps in front of the Arizona lawmaker, makes a comment about \u201cassaulting a federal officer,\u201d and then says the people taken into custody would be transferred to \u201cfederal jail.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe saw people directly sprayed, members of our press, everybody that was with me, my staff member, myself,\u201d Grijalva said in her video report from Friday\u2019s chaotic scene. She described the events as the latest example of a Trump administration that is flagrantly flouting the rule of law, due process, and the Constitution. <\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re literally disappearing people from the streets,\u201d she said. \u201cI can just only imagine how if they\u2019re going to treat me like that, how they\u2019re treating other people.\u201d Earlier in the week, Grijavla similarly spoke out<\/a> against a warrantless Border Patrol raid<\/a> on a humanitarian aid station in Arizona, calling the operation \u201clawless, intentional, and part of a broader pattern of unchecked enforcement that treats border communities as if the Constitution does not apply.\u201d<\/p>\n We\u2019re independent of corporate interests \u2014 and powered by members. Join us. <\/p>\n Join Our Newsletter <\/p>\n Thank You For Joining! <\/p>\n \n Original reporting. Fearless journalism. Delivered to you. <\/p>\n Will you take the next step to support our independent journalism by becoming a member of The Intercept?\n <\/p>\n By signing up, I agree to receive emails from The Intercept and to the Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Use<\/a>.<\/p>\n The violence Grijalva experienced Friday marked the latest chapter in what has been a dramatic year for Arizona\u2019s first Latina representative.<\/p>\n Grijalva won a special election in Arizona\u2019s 7th Congressional District earlier this year to replace her father, Ra\u00fal Grijalva, a towering progressive figure in the state who represented Tucson for more than 20 years before passing away in March.<\/p>\n Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson delayed the younger Grijalva\u2019s swearing in for nearly two months amid the longest government shutdown<\/a> in history. Grijalva would add the deciding signature on a discharge petition to release files <\/a>related to convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, which she signed immediately after taking office.<\/p>\n Update: December 5, 2025, 7:31 p.m. ET<\/strong><\/p>\n This story has been updated with additional information about Friday\u2019s ICE action and Rep. Adelita Grijalva.<\/p>\n \n
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