Shocking truth about Minneapolis woman dragged from car by ICE while screaming that she was on her way to a doctor's appointment

A woman who claimed she was driving to a doctor's appointment when she was hauled out of her car by Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officers has a history of social justice activism and interactions with police.

Aliya Rahman, 42, was allegedly blocking ICE agents working to capture illegals in Minneapolis on Tuesday when officers pulled her from her black Ford Fusion as she desperately clung to the driver's side door.

She cried out 'I'm disabled, I'm trying to go to the doctor up there' as four masked officers dragged her into a federal vehicle. Disturbing photos of her arrest made international news. 

Rahman, a US-born citizen, is a technologist and social justice trainer who dedicates her time to LBGTQ and racial injustice causes, her Tech for Social Justice profile said.

The registered Democrat says she threw herself into activism work while studying aeronautical engineering at Purdue University after two of her cousins were killed in the 9/11 terror attacks. 

Rahman, who identifies as being genderqueer, was dating a transgender man at the time and claimed that due to the culture in rural Indiana, it was a 'necessity' that she became involved in advocacy work.

She is currently based in Minnesota and works as a software engineering manager in a remote capacity for a real estate company based in New Jersey.

The ICE incident is not her first run-in with the law. Rahman previously pled guilty to criminal trespassing charges in Ohio and was hit with multiple traffic violations, according to court records obtained by the Daily Mail. 

ICE agents in Minneapolis pulled Aliya Rahman, 42, from her Ford Fusion as she desperately clung onto the driver's side door on Tuesday

Rahman was heard shouting 'I'm disabled, I'm trying to go to the doctor up there' as masked agents dragged her into federal custody 

Rahman, (pictured) is a US-born citizen. She is a technologist and social justice trainer who dedicates her time to LBGTQ, immigrant and racial injustice causes, the Daily Mail can reveal

Rahman has had several run-ins with police while in a vehicle, according to records obtained by the Daily Mail. 

Her first traffic offence was in 2009 when she was charged with driving without insurance in Illinois. It is unclear how the allegation was resolved and if Rahman was convicted or acquitted.

She was charged with driving under the influence in 2010, which she pled guilty to, Ohio public records showed. 

She was later found guilty of following too close, stopping improperly at a stop sign, criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct.

Rahman was taken into custody again on Tuesday for the alleged assault of an ICE officer, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman confirmed.

DHS did not name her in its statement but when specifically asked about charges against Rahman, a spokesman said: 'As officers carried out their law enforcement duties, a significant crowd surrounded them and began impeding law enforcement operations— a federal crime.  

'One agitator ignored multiple commands by an officer to move her vehicle away from the scene, she was arrested for obstruction. Another agitator assaulted an officer by jumping on his back. Six of these agitators were taken into custody for assaulting law enforcement.'

The spokesman also applauded ICE's efforts in Minneapolis on Tuesday, which included the apprehension of four illegal migrants.

Rahman was allegedly blocking ICE agents working to capture illegal immigrants in Minneapolis on Tuesday when officers pulled her from her vehicle

A person claiming to be Rahman's friend also confirmed her identity to MPR News, claiming she had been released from custody by 6pm Tuesday.

As of 10am Wednesday, the Department of Justice had not yet filed charges against Rahman. 

Video captured in Minneapolis Tuesday showed Rahman in the driver's seat of her Ford Fusion during in a heated argument with ICE agents in standstill traffic.

A masked officer repeatedly tells her to 'move, go' and points at unobstructed road just in front of her car, which would enable her to drive away from scene.

The federal agent is then seen reaching inside car and grabbing at her seat belt.

Rahman then drove forward a few feet. There were no officers obstructing her path and it appears she would have been allowed to leave the scene. 

She then hit the brakes and a masked cop could be seen directing her to move forward - it is unclear if he wanted her to drive off or pull her car over.

The camera pulls back and an officer can again be seen gesturing her to move her car away from the scene. Rahman does not comply with his command and is again directed to move away from the scene.

A masked officer - standing near the right hand side of the Ford - smashes the front passenger window. Rahman began to to drive the sedan away, but multiple ICE agents surrounded the vehicle and detained her

Rahman was dragged away in handcuffs after at least three male officials shoved her against the car and arrested her

A second later, a different masked officer - standing near the right hand side of the Ford - smashes the front passenger window.

Rahman began to to drive the sedan away, but multiple officials surrounded the vehicle and detained her.

As at least three male officials shoved her against the car and handcuffed her, distressed protesters were heard shouting, begging them to stop.

'Stop, stop,' the protesters repeatedly shouted. 'That's so f***ed up,' another said, while a third added: 'All you do is hurt.'

At least 60 agitators have been charged with impeding or assaulting immigration authorities in Minnesota in the last five days.

Rahman was born in the US but grew up in Bangladesh. Her mother, a Wisconsin native, and father, a Bengali refugee who fled to America during the genocide of 1971, moved their family to Bangladesh when she was only a few months old. 

Although she did not know the proper terminology for it, Rahman told Tech for Social Justice (T4SJ) that she knew she was 'definitely different' and 'queer as hell' by the age of six. She currently uses she/her and they/them pronouns.

Rahman returned to America to attend university, noting in the profile: 'Homosexuality is punishable by imprisonment in Bangladesh, and I thought I probably shouldn't stay there.' 

Although she had done some advocacy work in Bangladesh, her social justice journey really kicked off during her junior year after the 9/11 attacks, she said.

Rahman (pictured outside the White House in June 2015) is a registered Democrat and has dedicated her life to activism. She said she knew she was 'definitely different' and 'queer as hell' by the age of six

Rahman has lived in numerous cities across America, working in both the tech and political activism sectors. She is pictured at the DC Open Gov Board swearing in March 2016

'All kinds of stuff happened that literally just threw my identity and my background as an activist and engineer into this f***ing s**t pile,' Rahman told T4SJ.

'For me, that was a really important moment in starting to dig deeply into US social movements and understanding what race means here that it doesn't in Bangladesh, and understanding that I stepped into rural Indiana — where brown folks are used against black people.'

She volunteered with LBGTQ rights and racial justice organizations after graduation, while also working as a high school teacher on Native American reservations in Arizona.

She later became a field organizer at the Center for Community Change in Ohio, working with immigrant organizers and convicts who were reentering society.

In 2013, she was appointed field director at LGBTQ nonprofit Equality Ohio and worked on policies that aimed to tackle issues impacting trans prisoners, healthcare and poverty.

She moved to Washington DC in 2014 and started working for Code for Progress, a nonprofit focused on diversity in the tech force. 

She reportedly developed a fellowship program that paid women, people of color and low-income activists to learn to code.

Rahman moved to Minnesota two years later to lead the Wellstone organization, which trained liberal activists and political leaders on the basics of grassroots political action.

The ICE incident is not her run-in with the law. Rahman (pictured in DC in March 2017) previously pled guilty to criminal trespassing charges in Ohio and has been hit with multiple traffic violations, according to court records

'Wellstone has gone from being a nice, white people-run organization to an organization run by people of color who are mostly queer, largely immigrant and overwhelmingly femme-identified or gender nonconforming,' she told T4SJ in 2018.

Rahman added: 'White folks need to be taught to learn how to respect the intellectual ability of people of color.'

She spent one year in Boston and three in New York City before taking her first fully remote job in 2022. She began her current role with Anywhere Real Estate Inc. in 2023, according to her LinkedIn profile.

It is unclear when Rahman relocated to Minneapolis. Her last known address was in Iowa in 2024, public records revealed. However, her LinkedIn profile does list Minneapolis as her current location.

The Daily Mail's calls, texts and emails to Rahman went unanswered.