Who Is Aliya Rahman? US-Born Techie And Social Activist Gets Dragged By ICE Agents In Minneapolis While She Screams For Help, ‘I Am Disabled, I Am Trying To..’

Less than a week after an ICE officer shot and killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, another woman from the city ended up in a clash with federal agents.

ICE Agents Drag Woman From Car in Minneapolis

A video that quickly made the rounds online shows ICE agents dragging a screaming woman out of her car in Minneapolis. People later identified her as Aliya Rahman, 42. She’s a US-born tech expert and activist with a long resume.

So, what really happened? On Tuesday, ICE agents smashed the window of Rahman’s black Ford Fusion and pulled her out onto the street. The video is hard to watch. 

She’s clinging to the car door, yelling, “I’m disabled. I’m trying to go to the doctor up there.” But several masked agents keep pulling her away and shove her into a federal vehicle.

Who is Aliya Rahman?

According to her LinkedIn, she calls herself a “community-focused security practitioner, full-stack developer, and engineering manager.” She’s got over 15 years of experience and, most recently, worked as a software engineering manager at Anywhere Real Estate Inc.

She studied at Purdue University and earned both a Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction and a Bachelor’s in Chemistry and Mathematics. She also says she has great skills in Python, TypeScript, and a bunch of related frameworks.

There’s more to her story. The Daily Mail reports Rahman was born in the US but grew up in Bangladesh. She’s been involved in social justice work for a long time, focusing on LGBTQ+ and racial justice. Her Tech for Social Justice profile calls her both a technologist and a trainer for social justice causes.

Back in 2014, she moved to Washington DC to work at Code for Progress, a nonprofit pushing for more diversity in tech. Two years later, she moved to Minneapolis.

Why did Aliyah Rahman get arrested?

Rahman, who apparently blocked ICE vehicles in a protest, was eventually arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of assaulting an ICE officer, as one of the Department of Homeland Security spokesmen confirmed to the Daily Mail.

The spokesman did not mention her name, but told the outlet that, as officers performed their law enforcement duties, there was a very large crowd around them and they started to interfere with the law enforcement functions- a federal crime.

The arrest of Aliyah Rahman is a little less than 7 days after a 37-year old mother, Renee Nicole Good, was brutally killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis.

DHS urged people to believe that this woman was attempting to run over police officers at the moment. Nevertheless, local authorities have denied these allegations and protesters in Minneapolis carry on protesting and seek justice. 

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