A mother and her infant son were home when she says agents, who identified themselves as police knocked on her apartment door and she let them in.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Jennifer Hanesworth was inside of her apartment in Cheektowaga on Thursday morning, when she said there was a knock on her door. She though it was a neighbor, but she looked and saw three officers and she opened the door.
“As I’m opening the door before he pushes me, I see a third cop, covering my neighbor’s Ring camera. So my neighbor has a Ring camera that faces into my apartment, and he’s literally standing there with his hands like this over the ring camera,” she said.
2 On Your Side did reach out to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as it works with Homeland Security. Many resources and agencies are working together to carry out the President’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
We were hoping to see the agents body cam footage. We have sent in a Freedom of Information Act request to see what exactly happened through the eyes of law enforcement. That footage has not been made available.
Hanesworth’s infant was in the apartment.
“Immediately when they came in, because of the noise, my 2-month-old started screaming,” she said.
“I naturally try to walk over to him to pick him up, and he (the officer) put his arm out he goes, ‘No, you stay in the kitchen.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, why can’t I leave?’ Out the kitchen, my baby’s crying. Now, mind you, while I’m talking to the one officer, the others are searching my house. They’re literally in my son’s room, they’re in my room, they’re in the bathroom looking in places a human can’t even fit.”
Hanesworth said she wanted to know what was happening, and why.
She said one of the officers “came and showed me a picture. He goes, ‘We’re looking for this guy. So it looks like a regular, printed-out picture, like, if you were to copy and paste an actual photo and then printed it out. Underneath, it was written in handwriting, ’50 C-1.’ So now I’m fuming because you’re in 50 B-1.
“I’m not even this person, this person doesn’t look like me, has no relationship to me, my name is on my mailbox, which is right by the door, so end result after me saying, ‘Hey, so this is not the apartment. Like, you guys really just came in and violated my privacy, and this is not the apartment.’ They go, ‘Well, I’m sorry, wrong apartment.’ “
Hanesworth said it was Homeland Security.
“I’m not really looking for compensation or anything. I’m just looking for, if you’re going to do your job, do it correctly,” she said.
ICE issued a statement on Saturday evening, saying federal agents never entered the apartment:
“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and officers conducted a targeted enforcement operation in Cheektowaga, New York, and attempted to locate an individual whose last known address was in the Garden Village Apartment Complex on Garden Village Drive. ICE contacted the resident living at the address upon knocking on the door. A consensual conversation ensued, and ICE learned that the target address was in an adjacent building. The encounter, which was conducted in a hallway outside of the residence, was respectful and professional. At no time did ICE personnel enter the residence.”
Hanesworth is not recanting her story. 2 On Your Side has submitted a Freedom of Information Act to request body cam footage, which has not been made available.
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