ICE agents pepper spray Nashville family while pursuing immigration suspect; MNPD forced to intervene

Mariah Timms | The Tennessean

Three Nashville residents were pepper-sprayed by immigration agents as they arrested an East Nashville man Wednesday morning.

Metro Nashville Police were called to the scene and said they became caught in the middle as they tried to deescalate tensions.

Jacob Jaramillo-Nunez, 35, a Mexican national, was arrested outside a home near Maplewood High School on charges related to repeated illegal reentry to the U.S., according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

He remained in ICE custody Wednesday evening, the agency confirmed.

Agents attempted to serve a warrant Wednesday morning after Jaramillo-Nunez allegedly reentered the country without authorization for the third time, ICE said. He was previously deported, in 2010 and 2016, the agency said.

The agency said Jaramillo-Nunez attempted to flee the scene Wednesday and then resisted arrest.

ICE officers used pepper spray to subdue him, as well as two others who attempted to "physically obstruct the arrest."

The two others were not the subject of warrants, ICE said.

The two other individuals have not been charged in connection with the Wednesday interaction, but ICE said the agency would be presenting a case against them for potential federal criminal charges.

Activists from group Movements Including X (MIX) say Jaramillo-Nunez's wife and sister-in-law were sprayed by the agents. MIX also said a minor relative was injured by the pepper spray and had to be transported to Tristar Skyline Medical Center for treatment Wednesday.

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Nashville police officers were called to the scene by area residents and ICE agents, according to a police statement. When officers arrived they "created a buffer in an effort to diffuse the commotion," police said.

That commotion included residents and federal agents screaming in each other's faces and a 16-year-old girl who laid down in the street in protest before officers removed her from the roadway, police said.

"This is another circumstance of the MNPD being called to the scene of an ICE arrest and being caught in the middle as they attempted to deescalate tensions," police said.

Mayor John Cooper's office has led the creation of an immigration task force within Metro to formalize lines of communication and response to immigration-related situations in Nashville.

A Cooper representative said Wednesday night that the Mayor's Office was troubled by reports of the ICE incident, "particularly the pepper spraying of residents who were not subsequently charged with any crimes themselves."

The task force, formed in part as a response to controversial actions by U.S. ICE agents in Nashville, is expected to issue policy recommendations sometime this month. The last meeting is set for Dec. 9

ICE agents' work in Nashville has spurred criticism and outrage this year based on a series of public efforts to take people into custody in Nashville, including an attempt to arrest a Valley Grove man that ended when neighbors drove federal agents away and an incident in September when ICE agents shot a Mexican national in an Antioch parking lot.

Questions about ICE's involvement with the city probation department and possible interaction with the school system have also stoked confusion.

Reach reporter Mariah Timms at mtimms@tennessean.com or 615-259-8344 and on Twitter @MariahTimms.