A Northern Virginia woman believes her dashcam and cell phone recordings of an encounter with masked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Bailey’s Crossroads on Monday (Aug. 10) saved her life.
Carolina Molina returned yesterday (Wednesday) near the site along Columbia Pike where an ICE agent drew his gun and pointed it at her to provide further details of the encounter, which made waves after she posted footage of it on Instagram.
She was joined at the press conference, which was organized by the racial and migrant justice advocacy group La Colectiva, by about 30 people, many of them representing a range of community organizations.
“I think that my life was in danger at that point,” Molina recalled. “I don’t think I processed that, in that moment. It wasn’t until after, I was like, this was a whole Renee Good situation.”
Molina, a licensed professional counselor, said she was in the area because she offers mental health evaluations to clients of immigration attorneys. She networks by visiting attorney offices, dropping off her business cards, and introducing herself.
She was in and out of several offices near Columbia Pike when she noticed a number of unmarked vehicles.
“I have a potty mouth. I have a loud mouth, and I do feel as an American citizen, I have a right to my First Amendment. And so, I saw them out here arresting people … I passed by one of them and called him a ho,” said Molina. “And then I kept on driving. After he said ‘f you,’ I said ‘f you all’ and I kept on driving.”
Molina said she did not want to bring attention to the immigration law offices she was visiting in case their clientele happened to be waiting in a lobby.
“So, I decided to pull into a parking spot, pull out, and go out on my merry way when I got blocked in by one of the ICE agents,” she said. “He got out with a gun, pointed it to my head, asked me why I was following them around. I said I was not. I said I was bringing cards.”
As shown in Molina’s videos, the ICE officer, dressed in a police vest and a balaclava that covers his face except for the eyes, pointed the gun at her and said “this is your warning,” claiming “you almost ran us over.”
“I decided to bring out my cell phone and record and that is when it feels like the situation changed,” Molina recounted. “It feels like then he started planting the seed of, ‘you’re trying to run us over. She was trying to run us over, etcetera etcetera. That is not the case; I was actually trying to leave.”
In response to a previous inquiry from FFXnow, a DHS spokesperson emailed the following statement:
“On August 10, 2026, while ICE was conducting targeted immigration enforcement in Falls Church, Virginia, an anti-ICE agitator began to drive her car in circles around our ICE officers and then attempted to harm officers by weaponizing her vehicle against them — all in an attempt to help illegal aliens get away.
“The operation was targeting criminal illegal aliens, whose crimes included a hit and run and drug trafficking, and illegal aliens with final orders of removal. Fearing for their safety, ICE officers conducted a vehicle stop of the driver. Necessary background information of the driver was taken and she could face criminal prosecution as a result of her actions.”
Asked about the DHS assertion that she could face criminal prosecution, Molina said with a shrug, “they can try.”
If not for the recording, Molina fears that the outcome could’ve been far worse than prosecution.
“I think they would have shot me and gotten away with it, to be completely honest,” she said.
View this post on Instagram
Since the footage of Molina’s encounter with ICE went viral, several lawmakers representing Northern Virginia, including Reps. Don Beyer, James Walkinshaw and Suhas Subramanyam, have decried the federal immigration enforcement agency’s tactics and indicated that they will push for the agents to be held accountable.
Mason District Supervisor Andres Jimenez expressed skepticism of DHS’ description of the event, which he said “does not match the video” taken by Molina.
Noting the diversity of the Mason District, which is home to sizable immigrant communities in Annandale, Bailey’s Crossroads, Culmore, Lincolnia and Seven Corners, he called for an “honest accounting of what happened” and stressed that “no one in our community should have to fear unnecessary intimidation or excessive force from ICE.”
“Over the last several years, I’ve spoken with numerous constituents and community leaders about ICE’s visible presence in Mason District creating fear and unrest in our neighborhoods,” Jimenez said in a statement released yesterday. “This incident is not isolated; it’s part of a larger, dangerous pattern, and I’m calling on federal officials to end it.”
“Mason District is a place where every resident deserves to live without fear, and I will keep fighting these injustices and demanding accountability until we see real change,” he added.
The video from Falls Church involving an ICE agent pointing a firearm at a woman through her car window is deeply disturbing and demands answers.
We must ensure our residents feel safe, informed, and supported while demanding accountability.
Read my full statement.
— Andres Jimenez (@andresforva.bsky.social) August 12, 2026 at 4:04 PM
