"ICE just conducted a raid by Taco Giro in Tucson - a small mom-and-pop restaurant that has served our community for years. When I presented myself as a Member of Congress asking for more information, I was pushed aside and pepper sprayed," Grijalva posted Friday on X.
Grijalva said she saw about 40 masked ICE agents in multiple vehicles near the restaurant and that they were confronted by people raising due process concerns.
DHS promptly disputed her account.
"If these claims were true, this would be a medical marvel," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin wrote Saturday in response to Grijalva’s accusation. "But they’re not true. She wasn’t pepper sprayed."
In the first video she posted, Grijalva said that after she introduced herself as a member of Congress, she expected the situation to calm down, "but there was literally only one person that was trying to speak to me in any kind of civil tone, and everyone else was being rude and disrespectful."
McLaughlin said Grijalva was near a protester who was pepper sprayed and was not the intended target.
"She was in the vicinity of someone who was pepper sprayed as they were obstructing and assaulting law enforcement. In fact, two law enforcement officers were seriously injured by the mob that @Rep_Grijalva joined," McLaughlin wrote.
McLaughlin added, "Presenting oneself as a ‘Member of Congress’ doesn’t give you the right to obstruct law enforcement. More information forthcoming."