George Retes Jr. files civil rights lawsuit after being detained for days by federal personnel
LOS ANGELES (KEYT) – On Wednesday, George Retes Jr. officially filed a civil-rights lawsuit after being detained by federal personnel and held for days after large-scale raids at local cannabis farms this summer.
In July of last year, Ventura-born U.S. Army veteran George Retes was heading to Glass House Farm's cannabis grow site outside Camarillo where he worked as a security guard when he was stopped by federal agents who were conducting an immigration raid at the farm.
"Instead of letting him pass, some officers ordered George to leave. Others ordered him to get out of his car. George tried to comply with the conflicting commands. But the officers engulfed his vehicle in tear gas, pounded on his window until it shattered, sprayed George with pepper spray, dragged him from his car, and threw him to the ground," detailed Retes' civil suit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
Retes shared that he was taken from the chaotic scene outside Camarillo to Naval Base Ventura County alongside another U.S. citizen where he was fingerprinted, photographed, shackled, and a DNA sample was taken from him.
For the next three days Retes was kept in a federal detention facility in Los Angeles where he stated in his filing that he was never informed of any impending charges and not allowed to make contact with legal counsel nor his family.
Retes spoke with Your News Channel's Tracy Lehr days after his detention by federal authorities.
"They just asked me what I was doing, they asked if I was a citizen and I told them 'yes' I told them everything; I was a citizen, I worked there, they didn't care, they never told me my charges then they sent me away, they sent me to a place in downtown LA without even telling me what I was arrested for, they booked us. I was there for three days," Retes told Your News Channel in July of last year.
"My goal now is to get accountability for what has happened, not only for me, but for what has continued to happen to everyone else," Retes told Your News Channel about the upcoming suit. "Unfortunately it hasn’t stopped, so it’s mainly about getting accountability and bringing attention to what ICE is doing, what the government is doing—just holding those people accountable, because no one is above the law."
Despite Your News Channel's numerous requests for more information about Retes' detention, the Department of Homeland Security has not provided a direct response.
Instead, the Department of Homeland Security informed Your News Channel that our prior reporting that George Retes was arrested and released without charges was, "inaccurate" and further stated, "There were more than 25 illegal aliens with criminal histories arrested during the operations at the marijuana sites in California on July 10. Additionally, many of the illegal aliens that the media counts as 'non-criminals' are actually terrorists, human rights abusers, gangsters and more; they just don’t have a rap sheet in the U.S. It is not an accurate description to say they are 'non-criminals.' This deceptive categorization is devoid of reality and misleads the American public, let us remind you that being here illegally is in fact a crime 8 USC 1325. We are putting the American people first by removing illegal aliens who pose a threat to our communities."
That email only quoted Your News Channel's prior coverage of George Retes' detention.
Despite those requests for additional information and clarification, in September of last year, the Department of Homeland Security's official X/Twitter account posted on Sep. 17, more than two months after Retes detention, but just one day after he penned an op-ed for the San Francisco Chronicle, that the 25-year-old was arrested for assaulting federal agents.
As CBP and ICE agents were executing criminal search warrants on July 10 at the marijuana sites in Camarillo, CA, George Retes—a U.S. citizen—became violent and refused to comply with law enforcement. He challenged agents and blocked their route by refusing to move his vehicle… pic.twitter.com/aKS2voKU3j
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) September 17, 2025
Where and when that assault charge was filed was not shared in the Sep. 17 tweet, never shared with Retes during his multi-day detention, and has not been officially filed by any law enforcement agency in any jurisdiction.
"George is taking this all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary, to make it easier to sue Federal officials," stated Anya Bidwell, an attorney for the Institute for Justice who spoke with Your News Channel's Tracy Lehr about the case. "There needs to be accountability. They can’t just disappear people without a remedy. That’s not right."
Your News Channel has filed multiple Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with involved federal agencies regarding Retes' detention including various components of the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel, and applicable parts of the Department of Defense.
To this date, only two of those several requests have been partially fulfilled in accordance with federal law.
U.S. Northern Command, which oversees the North American region on behalf of the U.S. Department of Defense, confirmed that records authorizing the use of military personnel and installations during the July raids did not originate from their office, but that the Secretary of Defense, "can order NORTHCOM [U.S. Northern Command] to provide military facilities to enable their [Department of Homeland Security] operations. However, Naval Base Ventura County [the first stop after Retes was detained on July 10, 2025] was not requested" in response to Your News Channel's formal request.
The Department of Defense's Office of Secretary and Joint Staff and the Department of Defense's Office of Inspector General have not yet responded to Your News Channel's unfulfilled FOIA requests about the source of the authorization to use the U.S. military for domestic law enforcement activities, a potential violation of federal law.
The U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel also partially fulfilled a FOIA request from Your News Channel when it confirmed that the Department of Homeland Security did not officially receive legal counsel when denying Your News Channel's requests for a rapid response about Retes' detention.
Two other sections of the FOIA request with the Department of Justice remain unfulfilled.
President Trump, both on the campaign trail and while serving as President, has repeatedly pledged to prioritize the detention of violent criminals as part of the push to increase detentions and expulsions.
According to nonpartisan research group Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), 71.5 percent of all people held in Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in late September of last year had no criminal convictions and the CATO Institute found last summer that violent offenders were less than seven percent of all ICE bookings that fiscal year.
"The distinction between legal and illegal immigration becomes meaningless when both can destroy a country at its foundation," argued Matthew Tragesser, a spokesperson for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Office of Public Affairs in a press release last year. "Unchecked mass migration floods the American labor market, depressing wages and taking jobs away from hardworking Americans, while straining healthcare, education, and housing systems."
Nonprofit investigative outlet Propublica verified that more than 170 U.S. citizens were detained last year by the Department of Homeland Security for perceived violations of federal immigration laws, including George Retes.
"No one, regardless of their background or appearance, should be living in fear of being thrown behind bars by their own government because of their race or what they look like," argued Los Angeles-area Congressman and Ranking Member of the House Oversight Committee Robert Garcia. "Every person in this country has rights, and DHS [Department of Homeland Security] must stop trampling on our civil liberties. Their actions are unconstitutional, unacceptable, and completely un-American, and we will not stop fighting until this administration is held accountable."
Retes' filing Wednesday argued that he was deprived of his Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights during his detention, that he was subject to assault and false imprisonment by federal personnel, treated negligently while detained, and that aspects of his detention are subject to future legal claims depending on records requested with multiple federal agencies.
"George anticipates adding other claims against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act for the wrongful acts and omissions of the other federal officers responsible for George’s unlawful treatment. Those claims are the subject of pending administrative claims with the Department of Homeland Security, including Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and the Navy."
