Minneapolis woman detained after she was pulled from car by federal agents in viral video files excessive force claim

Louis Krauss, Star Tribune on Apr 16, 2026

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MINNEAPOLIS — A Minneapolis woman who was pulled from her vehicle and carried through the street by federal agents after they smashed her window in an incident captured in a viral video has filed a tort claim against the government, alleging the officers used excessive force and violated her constitutional rights.

Aliya Rahman, a U.S. citizen who is autistic and sustained a traumatic brain injury in 2024, was detained on Jan. 13 after she happened upon a federal agent blockade along Park Avenue in south Minneapolis while driving to a doctor’s appointment. Videos of the incident went viral, showing what many say are overly aggressive and poor tactics commonly used by federal agents during Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota over the winter. For many, the effects of the trauma linger.

In an interview, attorney Chisato Kimura described the videos and the experiences Rahman went through as “horrific.”

“What happened to her should have never happened to anyone, regardless of citizenship, let alone someone who’s living their day-to-day life and literally trying to go to a doctor’s appointment,” Kimura said.

While a federal tort claim is not a lawsuit, it will become a lawsuit if the government does not respond in six months or if it disputes the claim. A news release from the two law firms representing Rahman — MacArthur Justice Center and Friedman, Gilbert + Gerhardstein — said the legal action is because she suffered “brutal assault and unjust and inhumane detention” in the jail.

The claim was filed against the Department of Homeland Security. In it, Rahman’s attorneys say agents were giving misleading instructions to her as she sat in her vehicle, with some yelling at her to drive away from the scrum of protesters and agents, and others telling her to “get out” of the vehicle.

ICE accused Rahman in a Feb. 6 post on X of “impeding or interfering with federal officers” for not driving away from the scene on E. 34th Street, though she was never charged.

In an interview weeks after she was detained, Rahman said she continues to suffer from PTSD and that she cannot lift her arms very high because her shoulder tendons were torn when agents picked her up by her limbs.

DHS and ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the claim on Thursday, April 16.

Al Gerhardstein, another attorney representing Rahman, said this is one of dozens of cases he and other attorneys across the country are looking into for potential tort claims for how Minnesotans were treated by federal agents. Last month, 10 people described violent encounters after filing excessive force tort claims.

In three of the cases he’s seen, U.S. citizens were racially profiled and arrested without agents looking at their IDs before holding them for lengthy periods, he said. In another case, a client went to the hospital due to “very abusive conduct” after the arrest. In other cases, agents used chemical irritants at point-blank range or illegally pointed a gun at people, Gerhardstein said.

“We really hope that we’ll be able to show that this should never happen again and see opportunities for reform,” he said.

While many of these detentions have copious amounts of video footage showing what happened, Kimura said she is equally motivated to show the “inhumane and brutal conditions that the officers subjected Rahman to when they detained her at Whipple Federal Building.”

When Rahman was taken to the jail, she was denied medical treatment, she said, as she began to have slurred speech and blurry vision due to stress combined with her brain injury. Eventually, she passed out on the floor of her cell before being released from custody and taken to an emergency room, Rahman said.

As someone who has handled numerous civil rights lawsuits against law enforcement in his career, Gerhardstein said Operation Metro Surge has been unique in the United States’ history, describing it as an “invasion of a city” which he said has also played out in places such as Portland and Los Angeles.

Because similar detainments continue to take place, Gerhardstein said, he believes it’s “so important” to bring as many claims as possible.

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