Video of the event

A New Jersey woman has filed a $500,000 claim against the Trump administration, alleging federal immigration agents threw her to the ground while she was attempting to help an injured woman outside Newark’s Delaney Hall detention center, leaving her with a fractured kneecap and concussion symptoms.

Norma Bowe, a nurse clinician and associate professor of public health at Kean University in Union, New Jersey, operates a mobile health clinic through the Reformed Church of Highland Park.

The clinic provides blood pressure and blood sugar checks, cancer screenings, mental health support, first aid, and other medical services to families visiting people held at Delaney Hall. Bowe said she was providing medical support outside the Newark facility on May 25 when someone asked her to assist an injured person near one of its gates.

“All of a sudden, I felt someone grab the back of my shirt, and then two ICE agents kind of pulled me onto the sidewalk,” Bowe told Newsweek in a phone interview. “My head slammed the sidewalk, the left side of my head, and then my right knee hit the sidewalk.”

The incident occurred during a period of unrest at Delaney Hall, where detainees staged hunger and labor strikes, and advocates had raised concerns about medical care, food and treatment inside the facility.

Bowe said she began visiting Delaney Hall about twice a month to provide medical support after the husband of one of her students was detained last year.

“I was not there as a protester,” she said.

“I call our mobile clinic the compassion lab because we are taking care of people, sometimes even on a sidewalk, and we’re treating everyone with the dignity and respect that a human being deserves,” Bowe said.

Bowe said the clinic was asked to provide additional support during Memorial Day weekend because of the hunger strike. Earlier on May 25, she said, she had assessed two children who were having difficulty breathing after learning they would not be able to visit their father.

At about 1 p.m., Bowe said someone directed her toward an injured person near a secondary gate. The administrative claim says Bowe walked toward the area wearing a bright red stethoscope and encountered Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, other law enforcement officers and demonstrators.

Bowe said she saw a young woman being dragged along the ground by agents.

“She was being dragged, arms over her head, and her whole shirt came off,” Bowe said. “She was yelling: ‘Help me. Help me.’”

Bowe said she moved closer because she intended to help the woman. She then felt someone grab the back of her shirt, she said.

The claim alleges that one masked agent approached Bowe from behind and shoved her while a second agent came from her right side. Together, the agents threw her forward with enough force that she became airborne before striking the ground, according to the filing. Bowe landed on her face and knee and injured her hand while attempting to break the fall, the claim says.

Footage from the scene shows Bowe, wearing a white shirt and a red stethoscope, step into the crowd before being thrown to the pavement by officers.

“What went through my head was Alex Pretti, the nurse who was killed in Minneapolis, trying to help somebody up from the ground,” Bowe said.

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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Jersey filed the administrative claim on Bowe’s behalf on Monday under the Federal Tort Claims Act. An administrative claim is not a lawsuit or a court finding. It allows a federal agency to investigate and respond to allegations before a claimant can pursue certain litigation against the government. The filing was submitted to DHS and ICE. It alleges assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Bowe said filing the claim was difficult, but that she wanted the agents involved to be identified and held accountable.

Dillon Reisman, an attorney with the ACLU of New Jersey, told Newsweek the organization had not identified the agents allegedly involved. He said photographs exist but that the officers’ masks make identification difficult.

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Federal agents are facing a litany of allegations of excessive use of force under the Trump administration’s deportation program.