A mother moved from Maryland to Oklahoma in the hopes of providing her children with a new, slower-paced life. Unfortunately, only two weeks into the move, the federal government has traumatized her family.
The mother of three daughters, known in the media as Marissa, was with her children in their new home when federal agents raided it.
They allegedly pointed guns at Marissa and her children, ordered them to go outside in the rain despite their undress, and seized their belongings, including all of the family’s cash to help them move. No human being deserves such treatment, and Marissa and her daughters were not even the raid’s intended targets.
The agents ordered Marissa’s children outside in their underwear.
Marissa rented a home on the northwest side of Oklahoma City. She and her daughters moved in while her husband remained in Maryland, tying up loose ends before joining them this weekend.
Their plans for a smooth transition were thwarted when 20 armed men stormed into the house. “I do not know who they were,” Marissa told KFOR. “It was dark.” “All the lights were turned off.”
The men claimed to be agents for the US Marshals, ICE, and FBI. US Marshalls later denied having any agents present at the raid and participating in any way, despite being “aware of the operation before it happened,” according to KFOR. The agents claimed to have a search warrant and ordered Marissa and her children outside. They did not let them dress beforehand.
“They wanted me to change in front of all of them, in between all of them,” she told me. “My husband has not even seen my daughter in her underwear – her own father, because it is respectful. “You have a minor out there in her underwear.”
Marissa’s family wasn’t the intended target.
Marissa saw the search warrant, but none of the names on it belonged to her or her family members. Instead, she recognized them from the mail that had been arriving at the house for the former residents.
An official from the Department of Homeland Security later confirmed to The Daily Beast that the previous residents were the intended targets of the raid. Authorities believed the suspects were part of a “large-scale human smuggling investigation.”
‘They were treating us like criminals,’ Marissa said.
Marissa attempted to assert her family’s innocence. “We just moved here from Maryland,” she informed them. “We are citizens. That is what I kept saying. “We are citizens. Her pleas did not deter the agents.
“They were very dismissive, very rough , very careless,” she told me. “I continued pleading. I repeatedly told them we were not criminals. They were treating us as criminals. We were here by ourselves. “We did nothing.” The agents did not appear to care. Instead, they gathered the family’s cellphones, laptops, and money as “evidence.”
‘You literally traumatized me and my daughters for life,’ Marissa said.
Marissa pleaded with them before they left. “I said you took my phone,” she explained to KFOR. “We do not have money. I have just moved here. I need to feed my children. I will need gas money. I need to be able to move around. Like, how can you just leave me like this? “Like an abandoned dog.”
One of the agents admitted the mistreatment. “‘I know it was a little rough this morning,” the agent told Marissa. “It was a little rough?” she said incredulously. “You literally traumatized my daughters and me for the rest of our lives. We are going to have to go get some help or get through this somehow.”
The agents left the family with nothing.
The family is now dealing with not only emotional scars, but also a lack of resources. “I asked ‘When are we going to get our stuff back?’ “They said it could be days or months,” she told KFOR.
The agents refused to leave a business card for Marissa, so she has no idea who to contact to retrieve her belongings.
A spokesperson for the FBI told KFOR that while the bureau assisted with the raid, inquiries should be directed to Homeland Security. The news organization contacted DHS. A spokesperson stated that they would look into it. KFOR has yet to hear back.
While the family awaits the return of their belongings, Marissa’s friend established a GoFundMe account to assist the family in their time of need. “They are currently in financial difficulties after their money was taken by the agencies,” the fundraiser’s description reads.
“The raid has also left the family traumatized, and they are struggling to cope. They are trying to reestablish normalcy in their lives.”
