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In D.C., a moped on the ground, an SUV full of US marshals and a mystery
U.S. Marshals and Homeland Security Investigations agents take a man into custody at the intersection of 14th and N streets NW in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 3, 2025. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON — A siren blared down one of Washington, D.C.’s busiest thoroughfares. And then, a loud noise.
Residents in nearby apartment buildings peered through windows and from balconies to find a dark-colored SUV bumped up against a moped lying on the ground. A dog walker called 911 to report the incident before it became apparent that the unmarked vehicle belonged to federal law enforcement, when men in U.S. Marshals Service flak vests exited.
The rear driver-side tire on the Chevy Tahoe had completely blown and the marshals struggled to find a jack and spare while a uniformed Washington Metropolitan Police Department officer stood guard.
Bystanders pulled out phones to record and heckled. “Shame, shame, shame,” one repeatedly yelled. Another from a nearby apartment balcony screamed “Nazis!” Eyewitnesses began exchanging bits and pieces of what they said they saw, that the driver of the moped fled the scene.
“He didn’t get away though, did he? He’s down there in custody,” a U.S. marshal responded, gesturing to where the driver ran.
The incident was like so many that have played out on the streets of Washington since Aug. 11, when President Donald Trump declared a federal crime emergency in the District of Columbia: A detainee is taken away by federal agents, often with local law enforcement standing by, and with little information provided to the public.
On the night of Sept. 3, a States Newsroom reporter witnessed and recorded most of the incident at 14th and N streets NW.
U.S. marshals and Homeland Security Investigations agents detain a man at the intersection of 14th and N streets Northwest in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (Video by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
Earlier this summer, Trump ordered National Guard troops and Marines to the streets of Los Angeles as his administration launched an immigration crackdown, muddling the messages on violent crime and immigration status.
In recent days Trump has threatened to send National Guard troops to Chicago, Boston, Baltimore, New Orleans, Portland and other Democratic-led cities. As of Monday, the administration announced a wave of federal immigration agents were headed to Chicago.
“This is a big issue,” said Mike Fox, legal fellow for the Cato Institute’s Project on Criminal Justice.
Fox, whose think tank advocates for limited federal government, told States Newsroom in an interview about Trump’s federalization of law enforcement in cities that he believes the strategy breaks down trust.
“You have unidentified federal agents coming in, seizing people’s property, but more importantly, seizing people. It undermines the very premise upon which community policing is supposed to work,” Fox said.
Despite multiple inquiries, States Newsroom was not able to get any additional information on the man taken into custody.
Moped drivers
On the night of Sept. 3, as U.S. marshals continued to struggle with the tire, Homeland Security Investigations agents arrived a short time later with a detainee in the back of a separate unmarked SUV.
Eight marshals and Homeland Security Investigations agents surrounded the man to switch his restraints to a new set with chains around his waist and between his ankles. HSI is a law enforcement agency within U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, under the Department of Homeland Security.
News outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post and Bellingcat have reported on the detainments of moped drivers in the district, and publicly crowd-sourced alerts from online monitor “Stop ICE Alerts” have included sightings of federal agents stopping mopeds.
The 30-day federal crackdown has drawn widespread criticism and protests from district residents. District Mayor Muriel Bowser, however, has agreed to keep federal law enforcement on the streets beyond Trump’s emergency, which ends Wednesday.
Moped drivers who run food deliveries are a routine sight on D.C. streets, and many are from Latin America. Until recently, it wasn’t uncommon to see groups of moped food delivery drivers along 14th Street NW before a day’s work or on breaks between orders.
Law enforcement mum
A States Newsroom reporter saw the man being taken into custody but his name and his citizenship or immigration status could not be determined, nor the reason why police chased him. Officers on the scene did not respond to shouted questions.
The U.S. Marshals Service and Homeland Security Investigations have not provided information requested by States Newsroom regarding the incident, including whether the detainee was wanted on criminal charges or what happened to the moped that was left behind at the scene on a nearby sidewalk.
U.S. marshals are officers of the federal courts who usually apprehend fugitives and manage or sell seized assets. In January, Trump directed numerous federal law enforcement agencies, including the Marshals Service, to “investigate and apprehend illegal aliens.”
States Newsroom has filed Freedom of Information Act requests with both agencies for body camera footage and reports about the incident and apparent impact between the SUV and moped, among other records.
Similarly, the Washington Metropolitan Police Department did not provide information on the incident, despite its presence on the scene.
When asked by States Newsroom if the agency made any records of assisting federal agents that night, MPD spokesperson Tom Lynch responded, “There is no publicly available document for this matter.”
‘It should scare people across the country’
Cato’s Fox said information on the federal crackdown in the district is scarce.
“And that should scare everyone in D.C. It should scare Congress. It should scare people across the country. This is not a D.C.-specific issue,” Fox said.
The American Civil Liberties Union’s D.C. Director Monica Hopkins told States Newsroom in a statement that “there are huge gaps and limitations in the accountability that is available to people” when it comes to federal law enforcement.
“Despite the Trump administration’s attempts at fear and intimidation, everyone in D.C. has rights, regardless of who they are and their immigration status,” Hopkins said.
The ACLU-DC is urging Congress to pass legislation barring federal immigration authorities from wearing face coverings and obscuring their agencies or identification when engaged in enforcement actions.
The Homeland Security Investigations agents and U.S. marshals at the incident witnessed by States Newsroom did not have their faces covered and were wearing vests identifying their respective agencies.
However, agents carrying out detainments in balaclava-style face coverings or bandanas and plain clothes, donning vests that only say “police,” have been witnessed and recorded by members of the public and journalists.
Later that night
As the scene wrapped up in Northwest D.C. on Sept. 3, immigrant advocates on bicycles arrived.
The volunteers said they were with the Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid group, a network in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia area collecting information on immigration arrests and raids. The group runs a hotline for arrest reports and for family members seeking relatives who may have been detained.
States Newsroom contacted the mutual aid organization but could not obtain any details about the Sept. 3 incident.
Roughly an hour after police cleared that night, a States Newsroom reporter witnessed a small group of people surrounding the moped. A few tried to start the engine and removed at least one item from the under-seat storage compartment.
The moped was no longer there the following morning.
U.S. Marshals and the Department of Homeland Security have not responded to questions about the whereabouts of the moped.
