FITCHBURG — A video circulating on social media shows a man in an SUV appearing to convulse while holding his child as his wife was being arrested during a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrest on Kimball Street in Fitchburg on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025.
In the video, the man’s arms are locked around the toddler as he appears to seize while onlookers shout for his safety.
“He’s having a seizure. They are trying to rip the baby out of her hands,” a bystander can be heard saying in a widely circulated video posted on X (formerly Twitter).
ICE grabs father by the neck—send him into violent seizure while his arms lock up around his toddler.
— LongTime🤓FirstTime👨💻 (@LongTimeHistory) November 7, 2025
"He's having seizure and they're trying to rip the baby out of his hands!"
Agents then handcuff him—before putting in ambulance with his child.
Mother is detained by agents as… pic.twitter.com/6vzFKArdJb
In a statement posted on X, Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, posted that the operation was a “targeted ICE arrest of a violent criminal illegal alien.”
“This was a targeted ICE arrest of a violent criminal illegal alien who, in August, repeatedly stabbed her coworker with scissors and then threw a trash can at her victim,” McLaughlin wrote. “Emergency Medical Personnel on the scene found no legitimate medical episode — ICE called 911 and the illegal alien refused any medical care. Juliana Milena Ojeda-Montoya, a criminal illegal alien from Ecuador was RELEASED into the country by the Biden administration in 2023. In August 2025, local police arrested this criminal illegal alien for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon after she stabbed her co-worker twice with a pair of scissors and then threw a trash barrel at her.”
As usual, here’s the REAL story:
— Tricia McLaughlin (@TriciaOhio) November 7, 2025
1. This was a targeted ICE arrest of a violent criminal illegal alien who, in August, repeatedly stabbed her coworker with scissors & then threw a trash can at her victim.
2. Emergency Medical Personnel on the scene found no legitimate medical… https://t.co/5guYVCCrGE
In August 2025, Juliana Milena Ojeda-Montoya—then identified in police reports as Juliana M. Zapata of Fitchburg—was arrested by Leominster police after allegedly stabbing a coworker at Affordable Interior Systems on Tucker Drive. According to Leominster Police Officer Michael Dingman’s report, Ojeda-Montoya admitted to attacking a female colleague with a pair of scissors and throwing a trash can at her following a dispute over what she believed were inappropriate text messages between the coworker and her husband. She was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault with a dangerous weapon, arraigned in Leominster District Court on Aug. 4, 2025, and released on personal recognizance under the condition that she stay away from/not contact the victim. Ojeda-Montoya’s next court date was a pretrial hearing scheduled for Sept. 9, 2025.
More: Fitchburg woman stabs coworker at Leominster AIS over “inappropriate” texts with her husband
McLaughlin added that during ICE’s “targeted vehicle stop,” Ojeda-Montoya “threw the child into the arms of her husband while he purported to have a medical episode, though refused medical help and displayed absolutely no signs of medical concerns just moments later.” She added that “agitators attempted to impede the arrest” and that Fitchburg police responded to assist with crowd control.
ICE grabs father by the neck—send him into violent seizure while his arms lock up around his toddler.
— LongTime🤓FirstTime👨💻 (@LongTimeHistory) November 7, 2025
"He's having seizure and they're trying to rip the baby out of his hands!"
Agents then handcuff him—before putting in ambulance with his child.
Mother is detained by agents as… pic.twitter.com/6vzFKArdJb
On X, the account LongTime🤓FirstTime👨💻 (@LongTimeHistory) described a far different scene, alleging that ICE “grabbed the father by the neck, triggering a violent seizure as his arms locked around his toddler.”
The post by LongTime🤓FirstTime👨💻 (@LongTimeHistory) reads as follows:
“ICE grabs father by the neck — send him into violent seizure while his arms lock up around his toddler.”
“He’s having a seizure and they’re trying to rip the baby out of his hands!”
“Agents then handcuff him — before putting [him] in an ambulance with his child.”
“Mother is detained by agents as the original target of arrest during the traffic stop — according to witnesses.”
“They kept saying we’re going to put your kid in state custody if you don’t comply… so in the end she decided for the safety of my kid I’m just gonna go.”
“I was crying on and off every time I got an angle where I saw the kid. I started crying more because the baby was so confused.”
“The incident occurred in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. #DemsUnited.”
According to a statement from Fitchburg Police Chief Steven D. Giannini, the department received its first call from Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at approximately 7:10 a.m. Thursday requesting assistance during a traffic stop that “turned into an attempted apprehension” on Kimball Street. One patrol officer and one patrol supervisor were dispatched “to determine the nature of the request.” Chief Giannini said Fitchburg police’s role was limited to “keeping the peace.”
“The role of the Fitchburg Police Department in this type of situation is to keep the peace,” Chief Giannini added. “Keeping the peace includes making sure both the public as a whole as well as federal law enforcement agents are safe. The Fitchburg Police Department does not enforce federal immigration laws, nor do we interfere with the lawful actions of other law enforcement agencies.”
At approximately 8:03 a.m., ICE made a second call for assistance to the Fitchburg Police Department, this time reporting that a crowd was gathering and the agents “were in danger.” Fitchburg police dispatched one patrol officer, one patrol supervisor, and a captain to the scene, temporarily closing Kimball Street “to keep all involved parties safe.”
By 8:57 a.m., Chief Giannini said ICE agents had completed their apprehension by taking Ojeda-Montoya into custody.
Chief Giannini directed all further inquiries about the incident to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.