Catching up with George Retes, the Ventura veteran pursuing a lawsuit against the U.S. Government

Retes, a U.S. citizen and an Army veteran, was detained by federal immigration agents for three days in July. He was never charged with a crime.

Greetings readers. Before we kick off today, I want to express my alarm at our federal government’s overt authoritarianism, violence, and its disregard for our Constitution, human rights, and basic facts. I recently wrote a letter to the editor of the Ojai Valley News on this topic. If you value democracy, if you value the rule of law, if you believe in the equality of all people, I believe it’s time to stand up and say so.

Onward to today’s story, which is sadly relevant.

I had the opportunity to speak with Ventura veteran George Retes back in July, shortly after he was released from federal detention in Los Angeles.

Recall: Retes, then 25, encountered a federal immigration operation at his workplace on July 10th of last year. Retes, who was on his way to his security guard job at Glass House Farms’ Camarillo location, was stopped by masked federal agents who broke his car window. Retes was then pepper sprayed, pulled out of his car, thrown to the ground, detained, and released with no…