By admin 
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Three Arizona women have taken legal action against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, saying they were attacked by ICE agents during two separate protests earlier this year. Both incidents were captured on video.
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Incident at Zipps on Greenway
The first incident happened in January outside Zipps on Greenway and 64th Street, where video shows ICE agents deploying pepper spray into a crowd of protesters.
Erica Connell was among those in the crowd. She said she was sprayed so badly that she had to be transported to the hospital.
“They shouldn’t be spraying chemical agents, beating people or murdering people in our streets,” Connell said.
In the aftermath, Connell and two other women moved to take legal action, filing a notice of claim — the first formal step toward a lawsuit — against the Department of Homeland Security.
Second incident at ICE headquarters
Just days after Connell says she was attacked, two other women say they had their own violent encounter with ICE agents, this time during a protest outside ICE headquarters.
Video of that confrontation shows an ICE agent striking a woman’s face with a megaphone. Moments later, the same agent is seen striking another woman. She said the blow knocked out one of her teeth.
Attorney Joel Sansone is representing all three women in the case, and he argues the force used against his clients had no legal justification.
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“Since no crime was being committed, no force was appropriate. And the force exercised against them violated their rights under the Fourth Amendment,” Sansone said.
Beyond the notice of claim, Sansone said his clients are demanding that Homeland Security launch a formal investigation into both incidents.
“We have people dead. We have people injured. We have people scared,” Sansone said. “This is not the America that I signed up for, nor any of you, I suspect. So, we’re going to move forward with this.”
The three women say that if the department fails to respond to the notice of claim, their next step will be filing a lawsuit.
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