Rafie Ollah Shouhed, a 79-year-old Iranian-born US citizen and owner of a car wash in Van Nuys, is still having trouble breathing after being brutally assaulted, thrown to the concrete floor and suffering lacerations to his arm and severe blows to his ribs by IED agents. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Along with civil rights attorney V. James DeSimone and his wife Deborah, Rafie Ollah Shouhed filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, US Customs and Border Protection (DHS), US Border Patrol, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). On September 9, during an immigration raid, Ollah Shouhed, a US citizen since 1980, was beaten and thrown to the ground inside an aisle of Valley Car Wash, located at 7530 Van Nuys Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley. In addition to serious lacerations to his arms, the man suffered a dislocated elbow.

Thrown to the floor like a rag doll. In a video from the business, Ollah Shouhed is seen running down an aisle to investigate what was happening to his workers, when a hooded ICE agent gave him a hard push that slammed him against a door and the floor. He was barely able to get up with serious problems. Once outside the business, Ollah Shouhed saw an employee being detained by two agents. While one of them led the immigrant away, another lunged at him. A third masked officer joined the attack; They violently slammed him to the ground and twisted his arms from behind. Ollah Shouhed had stepped outside to speak with the agents and offered to provide proof that his employees were authorized to work in the United States. However, the agents insulted him. The man shouted that he had recently undergone heart surgery and had three stents in his chest, that he couldn't breathe, and that he needed an ambulance.

"Don't mess with ICE!" The agents ignored his pleas, handcuffed him, and took him to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center. where he was held for nearly 12 hours without medical attention. At one point while he was on the ground, authorities decided to send him to the Metropolitan Detention Center, but not before asking: Did you at any point tell them you were a UScitizen? Did you offer to show your ID? "I told them 100 times, 'I have my ID in my pocket. I'm a US citizen.'" “Let me call the police,” Ollah Shouhed said during a press conference. “I was begging them in any way to let me know why they were taking me.” The only response I got, he said, was, “Don't advertise.” “Don't advertise.” “Don't mess with ICE.” That's all they learn. I guess that's all the English they knew. “I mean it… And they handcuffed me and took me away.” Even after officers admitted they knew the arrested man was a US citizen, they kept him in custody, denied phone calls to his family, and released him without charges. After he was released, his son rushed him to a hospital, where doctors treated him for multiple broken ribs, severe elbow injuries, bruises, and symptoms of head trauma. “This was a heinous and unlawful assault on a 79-year-old US citizen in his own workplace,” said V. James DeSimone, a Los Angeles civil rights attorney. “Federal agents whipped him, pinned him to the ground with a knee on his neck, ignored his pleas for medical attention, and left him broken and in pain for hours,” he added.

The $50 million lawsuit

The attorney noted that the immigration agents violated the Constitution, California civil rights law, and basic human decency. The $50 million lawsuit, filed under the federal Tort Claims Act, alleges assault, battery, violation of California's Bane Law (Civil Code Section 52.1), deliberate indifference to a serious medical condition in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and related torts. The lawsuit also claims that DHS, ICE, and CBP maintain policies and practices that tolerate and condone excessive use of force. “The conduct of these masked officers was unlawful, reckless, and cruel,” DeSimone stated. "If this can happen in broad daylight to a senior American citizen who hasn't committed a crime, it can happen to anyone. This wasn't an act of law enforcement, it was an assault on civil rights. Our democracy cannot survive if federal agents act above the law." Asked about being a longtime American citizen, loving the United States and calling it his home, Ollah Shouhed said his captors weren't Americans. "I've dealt with Americans.They were a group of bounty hunters. You're all Americans. Americans are very kind, very good, very understanding people. And no, I've never seen anything bad from any American." So what he's basically saying is that the way he was treated is un-American? “Exactly,” he replied. Six Months to Proceed Unless the defendants dismiss the legal claim, there could be a six-month period before filing a lawsuit. “These tort lawsuits are really a trap for the unwary and a huge hurdle to jump through,” said attorney DeSimone. “Realistically, no government agency cares about resolving these cases while they're pending in court.“They claim it's just a reason for the delay, and they hope people will ignore that requirement and file a lawsuit.” The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) previously issued a statement alleging that Rafie Ollah Shouhed assaulted an officer. “You can see in the videos that it's a total fabrication, and that's part of their allegations, where and when they arrest people, the assault allegations. We've had many juries dismiss cases saying, 'No, there's no assault at all. That's defamation.'" He added that the alleged federal agents are the aggressors and those who immediately resorted to excessive force. He added that they would also consider filing a criminal complaint with the US Attorney's office in Los Angeles "to hold those officers accountable, not only in the civil justice system, but also in the criminal justice system, where they belong. They are criminals for the way they treat people in our communities.”