Full Video Shows What Led to Friday’s Violent ICE Arrest in Santa Barbara

Eight minutes of unedited video captured the moments before, during, and after the violent arrest of a Santa Barbara man Friday morning by federal immigration agents on Carrillo Street. The full footage of the incident was shared with the Independent by a source who requested anonymity. 

The video ― which has not been previously published ― begins as a group of volunteer ICE observers, alerted to agents’ presence near the Santa Barbara County Probation Department, shout, honk, and blow whistles in the direction of a white Dodge Charger stopped in the street in front of the building.

Two members of the group approach the Charger. The first leans in toward the front passenger window. The second crouches slightly and appears to briefly touch in some manner the car’s rear right tire. Almost immediately, an ICE agent in the passenger seat jumps out and begins grappling with the second man, identified as 27-year-old Santa Barbara resident Jack Randmaa.

The ICE agent and his partner driving the Charger tackle Randmaa a short distance away, putting him in a chokehold and pinning him to the pavement. The observers continue to hector the agents, who shout profanities back and threaten them with pepper spray. 

It’s at this point that Doug Hayes, an 80-year-old, well-known Santa Barbara defense attorney whose office is nearby, approaches the agents. He calls them cowards and demands they remove their masks, telling them, “Why don’t you do something good? Be a citizen. Be a human being. What are your children going to think of you?”

As Hayes bends down to pick up Randmaa’s backpack from the street, one of the agents, still pinning Randmaa on the ground, pepper-sprays Hayes in the face and throws him down. A stunned Hayes is helped up by observers and escorted a short distance away, where they flush his eyes with water. 

Hayes could not be reached for comment after the incident, but a colleague told the Independent he is “doing okay.”

Approximately five minutes after one of the agents radioed for backup, another federal officer arrives and kneels on Randmaa’s back before standing and telling the crowd to “get the fuck back.” The three agents then bring Randmaa to his feet and load him into the back of the Charger, taunting and pepper-spraying observers along the way. 

The Charger, now with a flat rear right tire, and the backup ICE vehicle speed away with their lights and sirens activated. They drove a short distance to the Figueroa Street headquarters of the Santa Barbara Police Department, where the observers regrouped and continued filming the agents as local police officers attempted to maintain order.

The police department issued a statement after the incident explaining ICE had not alerted them to agents’ presence in the city, and that no officers were on-scene during Randmaa’s arrest. The video appears to confirm that no officers were present. The police also stated ICE did not tell them they would be driving to their headquarters for safe harbor after the fracas on Carrillo Street.

“The Santa Barbara Police Department does not engage in immigration enforcement,” the department said. “When federal immigration actions occur in our city, our role is guided by our commitment to safety and respect for all.”

The ICE agents “had one of their vehicle tires slashed,” the police said, “and took a male adult into custody for the vandalism of their vehicle, which is a federal crime for destruction of government property.” ICE has since transported Randmaa to “one of their stations,” the department said.

ICE did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Randmaa’s family, who have claimed he was arrested on “false charges,” declined to take questions on the advice of counsel. Some of the observers on the scene have also insisted Randmaa did nothing wrong.

Kelsey Buttitta, a county spokesperson, said while ICE agents were parked near the Probation Department, they did not enter the building. “The county was not involved,” she said, “and the county did not approve of their presence.

Santa Barbara High School, less than a mile from the incident, went into a 30-minute lockdown out of abundance of caution, said spokesperson Ed Zuchelli. “We were getting close to lunchtime, and we wanted to make sure our students were safe on campus as we were figuring out what was happening off campus,” he said.