A CNN panel falsely insinuated on Saturday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested a young child in a zip tie after citing a TikTok video that had been proven fake.
A viral TikTok video showed a small child being handcuffed and taken away in what was said to be an ICE arrest, though it was a parody video mocking juvenile crime, Fox News’ Bill Melugin confirmed. Left-wing podcaster Van Lathan said on “CNN NewsNight” that ICE is dragging and detaining black Americans out of their homes.
This post and allegation are fake & false, that’s not even an ICE agent or any kind of federal agent. It’s a screenshot from a TikTok video in July compilation on juvenile crime the child in cuffs was a parody. But Cato’s @David_J_Bier couldn’t bother to do 20 secs of research,… pic.twitter.com/sXH1obMLVs
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) October 4, 2025
“You also had American citizens, black American citizens that were [dragged] outside of their homes and detained and put through something that they should not have had to go through and when we have the conversation about how customary it is to detain someone, I want people to remember the historic implications of that for black people,” Lathan said.
WATCH:
CNN’s chyron even stated that ICE’s raid in Chicago included “kids in zip ties.”
Assaults on ICE agents have increased by 1000% since President Donald Trump reentered office in January, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Apple recently removed the app ICEBlock, which allowed users to reveal ICE agents’ locations following an uptick in violence against the agency.
A shooting broke out at an ICE agency in Dallas, Texas, in September which killed two illegal immigrant detainees. The alleged shooter, Norlan Guzman-Fuentes, engraved the term, “ANTI-ICE,” into his bullet casings that were later found near the scene, FBI Director Kash Patel said.
Agents have arrested and deported illegal immigrants who have committed heinous criminal acts, including murder, child molestation, rape and theft, according to DHS.
CNN did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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