ICE Brutality Clearly Has Not Stopped — Here’s Video of It Happening on 7/6 in Virginia

By Bridge2Blue

We see and hear about incidents like this one in Suffolk, captured by a passerby in a “viral” video, in other cities and states, and we’d love to believe that they won’t happen here, not in Virginia.  But that is clearly not true.

In fact, recently – on July 6 – in Suffolk, Victor Perez Martin was tackled by an individual wearing law enforcement gear, presumably an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, and three additional agents join in, repeatedly hitting and kneeing Perez Martin while he was on the ground outside the Sentara BelleHarbour Hospital. The video is hard to watch. It shows plainly that ICE has not changed – it is certainly NOT more restrained. In fact, following the backlash against the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis back in January 2026, ICE is now simply hunting in smaller groups and carrying out their operations in ways that draw less public and media attention.

This kind of brutality is not acceptable in Suffolk or anywhere else in the United States.

Even more appalling, Perez Martin was assaulted by ICE near a hospital — a location where people should be safe to seek care and support loved ones receiving care. And this incident is not isolated. It is part of a surge of violence once again being unleashed by ICE and Customs and Border Control (CBP) on communities.  Victor Perez Martin has no criminal record, and his attorney has filed a habeas corpus petition that, if granted, would release him from Farmville detention center.  Making this incident visible may ensure that the officers involved can be identified and the incident investigated for future accountability. It may also increase public and official awareness of the broader pattern of recent ICE enforcement actions right here in Virginia.

Across Virginia, residents are reporting sightings of ICE operations.  In Virginia Beach, residents posted signs and reported ICE patrolling their Crystal Point neighborhood, rummaging through their trash and inspecting their yards. These operations resulted in the arrest of at least two men.

ICE activity has surged across the country. In late June, DHS arrested roughly 10,000 people in one week. Virginia saw its own spike; a coordinated ICE–Greene County Sheriff’s Office operation resulted in 50 detentions.

As of early 2026, about 70% of people held in ICE detention nationwide had no criminal convictions.

On June 9, Republicans in control of Congress approved $70 billion in essentially unconditional and unrestricted funding ICE and CBP. And almost immediately, ICE operations sharply increased.  By early July, the total number of individuals held in ICE detention jumped to roughly 39,000 nationwide. These are same law enforcement organizations responsible for the deaths of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, and the shootings of several individuals, including U.S. citizen Marimar Martinez in Chicago. From July 2025 to January 2026, the Wall Street Journal identified over a dozen incidents of federal immigration officials firing at people in vehicles.

Then on Tuesday, July 7, an ICE agent shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo –  for absolutely no good or justifiable reason –  at a traffic stop in Houston.

Unlike previous DHS sweeps in urban communities like Minneapolis in early 2026, ICE has shifted to lower-profile tactics — grabbing individuals during traffic stops, on the street, and near schools and hospitals. These types of operations have had deadly consequences. In Virginia, Josué Castro Rivera was fatally struck by a pickup truck on a Norfolk highway on Oct. 23, 2025, as he tried to escape authorities at a traffic stop.

And at least 52 people have died in ICE custody between January 2025 and June 2026.  Advocacy groups, including Human Rights Watch, report that many of these fatalities are tied to systemic problems, including a lack of adequate medical screening at intake, delays in accessing outside medical care, and untreated complications.

In Virginia, Tiago Sousa Martins is being held in the Caroline County detention center despite a federal judgment ordering his release. He was shot by ICE agents in Maryland after attempting to flee when agents approached and broke the window of his van.  “ICE shot Tiago, continues to deny him adequate treatment for his injuries, and continues to hold him months later, despite a court order blocking his removal,” said Sam Hsieh of the Immigration Impact Lab at Amica Center.

You can make a difference by contacting your legislators to bring their attention to the inhumane conditions at Virginia detention centers: Ask Lawmakers to Intervene. You can be supporter and attend Suffolk’s “NO ICE IN VIRGINIA” rally to protest ICE’s beating of Victor Perez Martin on Sunday, July 12 at 4pm to in front of Sentara Belleharbour Hospital, 3920A Bridge Road, Suffolk, VA.