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Nigerian man beaten and tased in mistaken-identity ICE arrest in Bushwick

Brooklyn, NY, Nigeria

Nigerian man beaten and tased in mistaken-identity ICE arrest in Bushwick

Chidozie Wilson Okeke, a Nigerian immigrant, was arrested by ICE agents in Bushwick, Brooklyn, in early May after agents mistook him for a Mauritanian man they had an administrative warrant to arrest, describing him as having 'the same build and likeness.' Agents ran the New Jersey plates on the car he was driving and found he had overstayed a tourist visa, then trailed him for several blocks before pulling him over; during the arrest he was beaten and appeared to have been tased. He was taken to Wyckoff Hospital, where a counterprotest and standoff with police and ICE agents formed outside. DHS initially claimed Okeke had prior arrests for assault and drug possession, though ICE's own arrest record stated he had no known criminal history.

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