A Utah police officer was so troubled by a recent encounter between a West Jordan man and federal immigration agents in Millcreek that he didn’t want his name associated with a traffic citation that resulted from the interaction.
“F---ing total bulls---,” the Unified Police Department officer said while printing out the ticket, body camera video shows. “I feel f---ing horrible f---ing doing this.”
Another Unified officer approached, saying that federal agents were throwing their weight around during the traffic stop. The officer issuing the ticket fired back: “Unbelievable.”
“Why the f--- was he in handcuffs? That’s f---ing ridiculous,” the first officer continued. “I wish I could take my name off this.”
The body cam footage shows the Jan. 26 detainment of Brandon Colin. The Salt Lake Tribune obtained the video and associated police reports through an open records request.
Colin’s account of his encounter with U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement agents went viral on Facebook. The ordeal even prompted Millcreek Mayor Jeff Silvestrini to call on the federal agency to investigate its own officers.
Tribune attempts to reach Colin have been unsuccessful.
In a statement, ICE officials said Wednesday that all allegations of misconduct are “investigated by the appropriate agencies” and any employee who has committed “provable misconduct” will be held accountable. The agency declined to comment specifically on the Millcreek interaction.
According to Colin’s Facebook post and police reports, Colin was leaving work near 900 East and Van Winkle Expressway when ICE agents pulled him over and accused him of trying to hit them with his car. The agents called local police for backup, and officers from the Murray and Unified police departments responded.
Reports, footage reveal inconsistencies
(Unified Police Department) Body camera footage shows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Millcreek on Jan. 26, 2025.
When Unified officers arrived, they spoke with Colin, who told them he had honked at the agents while driving by but was not close to them and did not attempt to hit them, according to a Millcreek police report.
In an interview, Silvestrini said Colin had shouted “f--- ICE” at the agents as he passed.
An ICE agent approached a responding officer and reported that he had removed a box cutter from Colin’s car, according to the officer’s report.
“He [the agent] said he asked Brandon if he had any weapons and was told no but saw the knife, opened the car door and removed it,” a Millcreek officer reported. “I asked him what he would like to do. He stated he did not know and was hoping we would do something.”
The officer told the agent no one from Unified witnessed Colin attempting to strike the federal agents and that there was no evidence of their allegations, so local police “really did not have anything,” the report states.
In a conversation with a Unified sergeant that was recounted in the written report, the Millcreek officer voiced concerns that no evidence existed to support the agents’ allegations against Colin. The officer also reported not feeling comfortable giving Colin a ticket.
“We then discussed what traffic code would fit the situation with the lack of evidence, injuries or damage to property and decided failing to move over for emergency vehicles was it,” the officer wrote. “I returned to Colin and issued him the citation and explained it to him and apologized to him.”
Of the three ICE agents on scene, only one filed a written statement with Unified, alleging Colin came within 6 to 8 inches of striking the federal officers. The Unified officer noted that such a close encounter would have “had a high probability of the side mirror from Colin’s car striking one of them,” but there were no injuries and no damage to property.
After police issued the ticket, according to the report, one of the ICE agents thanked the officer “because they felt Colin needed an eye-opener so he would not do that again.”
‘Several red flags’
(Unified Police Department) Body camera footage shows Brandon Colin, left, during a stop in Millcreek on Jan. 26, 2025. ICE agents alleged Colin attempted to hit them while they conducted another stop, which Millcreek Mayor Jeff Silvestrini says was refuted by surveillance video.
In a separate report, another Unified officer wrote that when she arrived, Colin was still in the driver’s seat while the ICE agents and other officers “were just walking around the vehicle,” adding that they did not seem to be concerned for their safety.
While police talked, one officer asked why Colin was still in the driver’s seat and not in handcuffs if he had “tried to hit cops,” body camera footage shows. Murray police then put Colin in handcuffs, but Unified officers later let him go.
“Right now, he’s just detained until we figure out what the f--- we’re doing here,” an officer said in the video.
A Murray Police Department spokesperson said the suburb’s officers adhered to policy by detaining the driver “for the safety of everyone involved.”
“Within minutes of the subject being detained by Murray police, UPD informed Murray officers that the incident began at a location within the jurisdiction of the Unified Police Department,” a Murray police spokesperson said in a news release. “UPD did not believe that the driver needed to be detained for their investigation and removed the handcuffs.”
(Unified Police Department) Body camera footage shows Brandon Colin, right, after he was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Millcreek on Jan. 26, 2025.
ICE agents told Unified officers they wanted Colin to get a ticket, according to a Millcreek officer’s report. When a Unified officer asked if the agents were going to file charges related to attempts to hit them with a car, the agents said they “would take care of it on their end,” according to the police report.
“This was also concerning to me,” the Unified officer wrote in the report. “As a law enforcement officer, if I felt that someone tried to take my life, they would absolutely be under arrest and taken to jail.”
According to the same report, an ICE agent changed his story, saying he didn’t witness Colin swerving his car to try to hit the federal officers. After that, the officer asked another agent if the agency would file assault charges and “his story changed again and he told me he just felt like Brandon needed a hard life lesson and he did not think they were going to file any charges.”
“Due to all the above-mentioned details, there were several red flags that indicated that ICE officers and their statement[s] were not true,” the officer wrote. “Their stories changed and then they did not want any charges pursued for Brandon, which does not make sense if they believed Brandon tried to kill them.”
A follow-up investigation yielded surveillance footage that showed Colin passing the agents but not speeding or swerving toward them, according to yet another police report. The agents, according to the report, also showed no sense of urgency in pursuing Colin.
Local officials step in
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Millcreek Mayor Jeff Silvestrini speaks during a rally in 2024. Silvestrini sent an email to a U.S. Customs and Immigration enforcement representative last month asking the federal agency to investigate its own officers after a Jan. 26 stop in Millcreek.
Unified has since dismissed the citation against Colin due to the surveillance footage. After reviewing the video, Unified commanders and Silvestrini, Millcreek’s mayor, contacted ICE officials with concerns about the traffic stop.
“I am concerned that several ICE officers apparently overstepped, demonstrated unprofessional and perhaps criminal conduct, and trampled the rights of an American citizen employed in my city,” Silvestrini wrote in a Jan. 28 email to an ICE representative. “I request an inquiry into this incident, and, if warranted, consequences for your officers, to perhaps include criminal charges for providing a false report of information to my police officers in violation of [the law].”
In a news release from the Unified Police Department on Tuesday, officials said the department’s priority is to maintain safe communities and trust between law enforcement and residents. The department added that Unified does not enforce immigration laws but will respond to assistance calls “for officer and public safety.”
“We take allegations of misconduct seriously and have escalated our concerns to the appropriate federal authorities,” the release stated. “... We want to ensure that concerns over immigration status never prevent individuals from seeking help from law enforcement, particularly if they are victims or witnesses of crimes.”
For his part, Silvestrini cautioned that ICE needs to do better in how it works with local law enforcement.
“If you expect local officials and our police departments to cooperate with your agency,” Silvestrini wrote in his email to the agency, “you should ensure that your people communicate in advance with our departments (as is customary), respect the rights of our residents and stay in their lane regarding pursuits for traffic violations and other matters outside their jurisdiction.”
