After the agents questioned Apreala, they determined he was not the target of their investigation and allowed him to leave the scene.

A spokesperson for a division of ICE confirmed that officers stopped a jogger in a Boston neighborhood while on search for a suspect regarding a drug trafficking case, per NBC News.

“ICE officers were conducting surveillance as part of a targeted enforcement action Wednesday in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, looking for a previously deported Haitian national with multiple criminal convictions and pending cocaine and fentanyl trafficking charges that may have been residing in the area,” ICE officials said.

According to NBC News, the agency has refuted Apreala’s story, saying that officers identified themselves when approaching him and that he did indeed match the description of the person they were seeking.

Rahsaan Hall, Director of the Racial Justice Program at the ACLU, said in a statement to CBS Boston that the event should be considered a serious violation of the man's constitutional rights and is disturbing on a human level. The ACLU has announced that it will represent Apreala in the lawsuit against the agency.

With Apreala's viral video stirring public outcry this week, local politicians have come out in support of the father and real estate agent.

West-Roxbury

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