US citizen dragged in underwear out into freezing cold mistaken by ICE for man in prison

A U.S. citizen who immigration agents dragged outside in his underwear during the freezing cold in Minnesota was mistaken for a man who has already been in prison since 2024, according to reports Friday.

ChongLy Scott Thao, 56, said that ICE agents forced themselves inside his home without a warrant and held him at gunpoint, CBS reported. Thao said the agents then drove him to the "middle of nowhere," where they realized they had mistaken his identity and took him back home.

He was seen on video and photos taken in only a blanket and underwear in freezing temperatures and snow.

The Department of Homeland Security and its ICE agency had previously said that Thao matched the description of two suspects and that they were looking for two men accused of sex crimes.

ICE officials said that one of the suspects, Lue Moua, was not in custody yet — but that wasn't the case. The Minnesota Department of Corrections confirmed that Moua has been in prison since 2024 in connection with a kidnapping charge.

"According to DOC records, Moua is currently scheduled for release in January 2027, and has an active ICE detainer. Officials with the state's corrections department say that ICE should have known that Moua was being held," CBS reported.

DHS has claimed that confusion around arrests should be blamed on Minnesota officials.

"We need state and local law enforcement engagement and information so we don't have to have such a presence on the streets," the department wrote in a post on X. "We are calling on Governor Walz and Mayor Frey to agree to turning this child predator over to ICE, so this criminal can never prey on innocent American children."

Thao has planned to file a civil rights lawsuit against the DHS and told The Associated Press he does not feel safe inside his home.