The U.S Border Patrol on Tuesday accused a 48-year-old landscaper forcibly detained in Santa Ana last week of attacking them with his weed whacker.
The agency drew widespread condemnation after a video posted to social media on Saturday showed the landscaper being pinned to the ground and repeatedly punched in the head by at least one agent.
Narciso Barranco, who was working a landscaping job at an IHOP when he was approached by the armed, masked agents, is now accused of swinging his weed whacker at them and resisting arrest.
“Show the full story. If you swing a WEED WACKER at federal agents, run through traffic, and refuse to comply – there WILL be consequences,” the U.S Border Patrol wrote on X on June 24.
The post included an edited and slowed-down, 19-second video without audio. In it, Barranco is seen walking with his back facing the two agents, who have their guns drawn as they approach him from behind. Barranco then turns around and appears to move the gardening tool to his other hand, making what could be interpreted as a single “swinging” motion. He lowers the tool and backs further away from the agents before the video is cut short.
It is unclear at what point during the encounter that occurred, or if federal agents had identified themselves before pointing a gun at the Tustin resident.
The Border Patrol did not say why Barranco, as he was restrained on the ground, was repeatedly punched in the head, as seen in the other video, which has been circulating since Saturday.
Barranco’s family could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
Three of his sons are U.S. Marines, two on active duty and stationed at Camp Pendleton.
“I feel betrayed,” the oldest son, former Marine Alejandro Barranco, said Sunday after watching the video of his father being hit.
“My dad has no criminal history,” he said in the interview. “He wasn’t doing anything bad. He was just working. The way they (federal agents) attacked him, I don’t think it’s right.”
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