Man detained, hospitalized after confrontation with ICE at Sacramento federal building

Graham Womack, The Sacramento Bee on Nov 11, 2026

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Shouting that his name was Joshua Masias and that he was being taken to Sutter Hospital, a Sacramento resident was loaded into an ambulance following his detainment after a confrontation Wednesday with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at the John E. Moss Federal Building.

Masias was taken into custody around 12:30 p.m. following a clash outside the building, which has become a target for protesters in recent years, due to its role in housing immigrants facing deportation by the Trump administration. Leanna Hunt, one of a handful of protesters who remained on hand after Masias was taken into custody, said that immigration agents wordlessly approached and quickly deployed pepper spray.

“They came out in force,” Hunt said.

Masias could be seen shirtless inside a Moss building entryway before he was loaded into a Sacramento Fire Department ambulance at about 1:45 p.m.

ICE did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

How Wednesday’s incident unfolded

Hunt said that some people affiliated with Migra Watch, which monitors ICE through NorCal Resist, followed immigration agents to the Moss building earlier Wednesday before Masias’ detainment and hospitalization.

“The ICE agents came out with AR-15s in a threatening manner, show of force,” Hunt said. “It was an attempt to intimidate, just as they have showed up to people’s houses, just as they have done other things to try and intimidate. They are trying to intimidate us.”

Trevor Heim said he rode over on a Lime scooter after working earlier in the day because he wanted to show support for the protesters and record what was going on. Heim, along with Masias, wound up at the center of the confrontation with immigration agents, and both Masias and Heim were pepper-sprayed. Orange spots were visible on Heim’s skin as he spoke, around an hour after he was hit.

The incident occurred along a 7th Street entrance to the Moss parking lot, near the intersection with N Street. Heim said an agent had struck him with a vehicle before he was pepper-sprayed. Hunt said that the vehicle that struck Heim was a black Ford F-150.

Heim, who wasn’t arrested, didn’t mince words about Masias being detained.

“I think it’s bull----,” Heim said. “I don’t think he did anything wrong ... He came to back me up and then he walked out and the other ICE officer came up to him and completely dumped a can in his face.”

Another person who was on the scene following Masias’ detainment, West Sacramento resident Marisa McCune, said she had been out shopping for groceries before learning of the earlier incident.

“I called an organization that helps people who are in immigration problems ... and they said that there was someone detained this morning who needed medication and so they asked me if I could check and see if the building was open,” McCune said.

Following Masias’ detainment, immigration agents who milled about the parking were nonresponsive to the protesters, who shouted at them through the locked fence surrounding the Moss building as Sacramento Fire Department personnel treated Masias.

Soon after she spoke, McCune shouted for medical personnel through the locked fence around the Moss Federal Building parking lot that there was a detainee in need of medication. The shouts were to no avail.

Who Joshua Masias is

Masias, who has been active in Camp For Justice, the Sac Immigration Committee and the Sacramento unit of the National Brown Berets, is no stranger to the local community of activists who have relentlessly protested ICE’s actions.

Hunt came to court in May to support Masias and Stockton activist Prism Atica, who were each facing charges then related to ICE protests. Masias said in an interview at the time outside the Robert T. Matsui United States Courthouse in downtown Sacramento that he was facing a charge of damaging government property over another protest “at the federal building.” He said he had appeared in Sacramento Superior Court the day before for a different case.

“I guess this is an active case, so I can’t really speak too much about what’s going on about it as my attorney’s discretion or advice,” Masias said then. “But yeah, I can say this is a bogus one, too and it’s pretty much just more targeted harassment of protesters.”

Masias began a fundraising campaign through GoFundMe in May to cover court costs associated with his ICE protests, writing that there had “been multiple citations, fines & court costs piling up that I can’t keep up with.”

Hunt spoke highly of Masias after his detainment Wednesday.

“He’s a fellow activist doing a lot of good work in the community,” Hunt said.

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