U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents confronted a driver and accused her of trying to run them over in a Bailey’s Crossroads parking lot earlier this week — a claim contradicted by video recordings that the woman captured of the encounter.
One of the ICE agents, dressed in a police vest and a balaclava that covers his face except for his eyes, pointed a gun at the woman while yelling at her for recording them and claiming “you almost ran us over,” a cellphone video posted on Instagram on Monday (Aug. 10) shows.
As the woman denies the accusation and notes that she’s a “legal citizen,” at least three other masked ICE agents approach her vehicle. One of them points a finger at her and says they “have the power to lock you up” before the group walks away.
Carolina Molina, a licensed counselor whose services include psychological evaluations for immigrants, was visiting law offices in the Columbia Pike area to share her business card at around 3 p.m. on Monday when she saw ICE agents arresting two people, she told other news outlets, including NBC4 and FOX5.
While Molina hasn’t specified the location, Rep. Don Beyer’s office, which represents Virginia’s 8th Congressional District, said the encounter occurred near Bailey’s Crossroads, and her videos suggest it was in the parking lot of the Rock Spring Professional Center near the Fairfax and Arlington county border.
In dash camera video shared by Molina, she can be heard shouting “yo ho, you’re f—ed up” at an ICE agent who’s walking toward the open door of an unmarked gray SUV. She then turns right and pulls into a parking spot before reversing and driving back in the direction she came.
As Molina starts to turn left, away from where the gray SUV is stopped in the middle of the parking lot, the ICE agents pull up in front of and behind her vehicle in the gray SUV and a different white SUV with no license plate.
“Are you following us?” the ICE agent who can be seen drawing his gun asked.
“I’m not. I’m actually leaving cards,” Molina responded.
“This is your warning. Just so you know, you need to stop following us,” the agent said before accusing Molina of almost running the agents over.
Video from a rear-facing camera shows another agent taking a photo with his phone, possibly of Molina’s license plate.
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In comments to NBC4 and FOX5, Molina maintained that she wasn’t following the ICE agents and never put them in any physical danger. She speculated that they let her leave without an arrest once she told them that she had a dashcam with a recording showing that their claims were “a lie.”
When asked about the incident, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security contended in a statement to other media outlets that the ICE officers were conducting an operation “targeting criminal illegal aliens, whose crimes included a hit and run and drug trafficking,” as well as individuals subject to deportation orders.
DHS characterized Molina as “an anti-ICE agitator [who] began to drive her car in circles around our ICE officers and then attempted to harm officers by weaponizing her vehicle against them,” though none of that is evident in the posted videos.
“Necessary background information of the driver was taken and she could face criminal prosecution as a result of her actions,” DHS said.
Beyer, whose district includes the Bailey’s Crossroads area, said his office has been in contact with Molina, identifying her as a native of Northern Virginia and a mother.
“While I am relieved that she is safe, the habitual dishonesty and dangerous and unjustified escalation seen in this video matches what we have seen from ICE agents across the country,” Beyer said. “This kind of misconduct and threat of force against members of our communities cannot be tolerated. I will be demanding answers and consequences.”
My office has been in contact with the woman who recorded this video of an ICE agent drawing a gun on her. She is a Northern Virginia native and a mother.
— Congressman Don Beyer (@beyer.house.gov) August 11, 2026 at 4:59 PM
Rep. James Walkinshaw, who represents most of Fairfax County in Virginia’s 11th Congressional District, called Molina’s experience a reflection of “the consequences of ICE’s broken accountability system.”
“Any ICE officer who abuses their power in this way must be investigated & held accountable,” he said.
ICE officials told the House Homeland Security Committee in a briefing last month that only one officer has been referred for disciplinary action for using force since President Donald Trump took office for a second term in January 2025, despite multiple shootings — some of them fatal — and at least 56 complaints of excessive force.
During the 2026 General Assembly session, Democratic state lawmakers pushed for several measures intended to curb ICE activities that have escalated under the current Trump administration.
Restrictions on cooperative agreements between federal immigration agencies and local and state law enforcement took effect on July 1, but a judge blocked Virginia from enforcing a ban on face masks pending the outcome of a lawsuit by the Justice Department.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger vetoed bills prohibiting civil immigration arrests in certain public locations, such as courthouses, instead issuing an executive order calling for narrower limits on ICE’s use of state-owned property.
