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Gunpoint stop in Virginia
Carolina Molina recorded smartphone and dashcam footage of a tense confrontation in Northern Virginia in which masked federal ICE agents blocked her vehicle, and one agent jumped out, pointed a gun at her, and loudly accused her of trying to run them over.
“one agent jumps out, points a gun at her”
Molina said she was in the area dropping off business cards to immigration offices where she provides psychological immigration evaluations, and she denied the allegations while saying her dashcam video proves she did not try to hit the officers.
The Department of Homeland Security later disputed Molina’s account, saying she drove her car in circles around the officers and weaponized her vehicle to help undocumented immigrants get away, adding that she could face criminal prosecution.
In Falls Church, Virginia, videos described by The Hill show several masked ICE officers surrounding Molina’s vehicle, with an officer pulling out a hand gun and pointing it toward her window while shouting, “You almost ran us over,” and warning, “I will arrest you. Keep it up.”
Molina speaks; DHS counters
Days after the viral video, Molina returned to Bailey’s Crossroads in Northern Virginia and told reporters, “This is like a flashback of what occurred,” adding, “I can’t believe I’m standing here again.”
At a press conference hosted by Northern Virginia immigrant-rights organization La ColectiVA, Molina said she got blocked in by an ICE agent who got out with a gun, and she described the moment as, “I’m like, ‘Yo, this guy’s really pointing a gun at my head,’ like that’s insane.”
Virginia Rep. Don Beyer said in a post on X that his office has been in contact with Molina and called the incident an example of “habitual dishonesty and dangerous and unjustified escalation” by ICE agents, saying he plans to demand answers and consequences.
DHS, in a statement to WTOP, disputed Molina’s account and said ICE officers conducted a vehicle stop of the driver “Fearing for their safety,” after she drove her car “in circles around our ICE officers” and attempted to harm officers by weaponizing her vehicle.
The Hill also quoted Molina denying the attempt to strike the officers and saying, “I was looking down a barrel, and he could have shot me, and he could have gotten away with it,” while noting the officers walked away without taking her into custody and she has not been charged, according to Molina.
Accountability and possible prosecution
Molina said she is looking at what legal or other options may be available to her and argued the encounter should be investigated, while she also told WTOP she has additional footage beyond the two-minute dashcam video that went viral.
“adding that she could face criminal prosecution”
The Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office said they are aware of the situation and reviewing the incident, and Molina told WTOP she is keeping the footage to herself for now because she wants to speak with an attorney.
DHS said the operation was targeting criminal illegal aliens, including crimes that included a hit and run and drug trafficking, and illegal aliens with final orders of removal, and it said “she could face criminal prosecution as a result of her actions.”
In the same DHS statement, the agency said its officers are experiencing “a more than 1,300% increase in assaults against them, a 3,300% increase in vehicular attacks, and an 8,000% increase in death threats,” and it said that when faced with dangerous circumstances, DHS law enforcement used their training to protect themselves, fellow officers, and the public.
DC News Now reported that a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said ICE was conducting targeted immigration enforcement in the Falls Church area when Molina, described as an “anti-ICE agitator,” started “to drive her car in circles” around the officers before attempting to harm them with her vehicle, “all in an attempt to help illegal aliens get away.”
