WEBVTT - The Raid 0:00:03.880 --> 0:00:07.200 April twenty one, two thousand, was a sunny day in Miami. 0:00:07.680 --> 0:00:11.120 Thames were in the mid eighties, not a drop of rain, 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:15.880 and it was the start of Easter weekend. Protesters were 0:00:15.920 --> 0:00:20.840 still outside Aliant's relatives home, but despite the commotion outside, 0:00:21.120 --> 0:00:25.480 Elian's cousin Mary Lacy's tried to keep things normal inside. 0:00:25.960 --> 0:00:28.240 We were in the house with his little cousin making 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:31.360 Easter eggs that we were supposed to find today in 0:00:31.400 --> 0:00:32.120 my backyard. 0:00:32.920 --> 0:00:36.280 There were at least eight relatives inside the home, including 0:00:36.400 --> 0:00:38.479 two other children besides Elian. 0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:41.120 Now this is a house full of people. When I 0:00:41.120 --> 0:00:43.400 say a house full, was a small, little home, not 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:44.200 a slow home. 0:00:44.760 --> 0:00:48.000 This is the Nato dal rimple. Remember the man who 0:00:48.159 --> 0:00:51.880 rescued the liam from the ocean. He'd become pretty close 0:00:51.920 --> 0:00:54.600 with the family and he would go to their house 0:00:54.760 --> 0:00:59.240 practically every day. And this night, thanks Seamed come. 0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:02.520 I have a couple of little Cuban coffees with some people, 0:01:02.880 --> 0:01:04.800 and they were praying very peacefully. 0:01:05.640 --> 0:01:07.959 While the family hung out in the front of the house. 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:11.520 There were lawyers in the back room negotiating with the government, 0:01:12.000 --> 0:01:14.640 trying to find a way to keep Elian in the US, 0:01:14.880 --> 0:01:19.000 and with the Miami family. One of the lawyers, Money Das, 0:01:19.040 --> 0:01:23.160 said that good Friday, during the day, we were told. 0:01:23.040 --> 0:01:28.279 Point blank, this agreement is acceptable to the Attorney General. 0:01:29.040 --> 0:01:31.440 It was faxed to her office because she wanted to 0:01:31.480 --> 0:01:34.160 see a facts of it. We have basically told the 0:01:34.200 --> 0:01:38.280 media that it looks like we're done. It looks like we. 0:01:38.240 --> 0:01:38.720 Have a deal. 0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:47.200 The moon rose that they turned into April twenty second. 0:01:48.080 --> 0:01:50.160 Elean was restless that night. 0:01:50.680 --> 0:01:58.480 And his words to me were, I love you Allah, 0:01:58.680 --> 0:02:02.920 I said, I love you too. And the other words 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:06.160 he said to my father was I am very scared. 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:07.559 Something's going to happen. 0:02:09.560 --> 0:02:14.080 Something did happen. Just after five am on that clear night, 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:21.120 the family heard a big pound at the door, a 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:32.919 pound that would change everything. A penny letter Mitz and 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:36.760 this is chess peace. Delian Gonzalez story a production of 0:02:36.800 --> 0:02:58.639 Utudo Studios in partnership with Iheartsmichael Tura podcast Network. Before 0:02:58.680 --> 0:03:01.760 that faithful night in a pro two thousand, the US 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:05.960 government had been talking with Alians Miami relatives for months. 0:03:06.400 --> 0:03:09.800 There was a lot of negotiation over a long period 0:03:09.880 --> 0:03:16.200 of time between people from Washington, DCA and attorneys and 0:03:17.000 --> 0:03:18.880 those a whole cast of characters. 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:24.880 This is Jim Goldman, the Immigration and Naturalization Services director 0:03:25.040 --> 0:03:28.600 in charge of Alliant's case. His agency was trying to 0:03:28.639 --> 0:03:32.120 figure out how to reunite Alian with his father, but 0:03:32.240 --> 0:03:36.800 Alian's Miami relatives wanted the government to agree to certain terms. 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:41.040 The relatives had proposed that a lean and the family 0:03:41.280 --> 0:03:44.880 be moved to a neutral place in South Florida, and 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:48.880 there Alian's father, Juamiel could join them and reunite with 0:03:48.960 --> 0:03:52.640 the boy. They would all remain under the same groove 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:54.640 until the whole thing was settled. 0:03:55.200 --> 0:03:57.680 I think we owe it to them to government of 0:03:57.760 --> 0:04:01.000 room somewhere and let them talk it through and see 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:03.000 if they can come up with a solution to the 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:05.040 problem that they decided. 0:04:04.960 --> 0:04:07.600 This is money. Yes again, one of the lawyers who 0:04:07.680 --> 0:04:10.920 represented Elian's Miami relatives, not that. 0:04:11.000 --> 0:04:15.280 Some politician or some lawyer or some judge decide, but 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:16.480 let them make the decision. 0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:20.080 According to Money, they were just waiting for the final 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:21.600 sign off from the government. 0:04:22.240 --> 0:04:24.520 Things look like they're going to be okay. 0:04:25.960 --> 0:04:28.599 And then at three am they heard back from the 0:04:28.600 --> 0:04:32.839 Attorney General and some of the terms had changed, but 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:40.880 time was running out. You see, Money said that the 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:44.479 Miami lawyers taught the government they would tune Lean over 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:46.400 if they received a court order. 0:04:46.839 --> 0:04:50.360 We understand if a court a judge is telling us 0:04:50.360 --> 0:04:52.240 that this is what we have to do, we are 0:04:52.279 --> 0:04:53.040 prepared to do it. 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:54.000 Not a problem. 0:04:54.320 --> 0:04:57.839 But the Miami family had already ignored an official order 0:04:57.920 --> 0:05:01.840 to turn the child in. Attorney General Janet Reno had 0:05:02.000 --> 0:05:07.320 standard the deadline for them to turn Elan in several times. Meanwhile, 0:05:07.320 --> 0:05:10.120 Elean at this point had not been seen in public 0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:13.719 for days. So the Miami relatives and the government had 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:16.520 different versions of how negotiations were going. 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:23.440 Every day there would negotiations, negotiations, and negotiations. Nothing seemed 0:05:23.440 --> 0:05:23.880 to work. 0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:28.120 While the talks with the family were ongoing, Jim Goldman 0:05:28.279 --> 0:05:31.520 was put in charge of developing an operational plan. 0:05:31.680 --> 0:05:34.520 To execute a rescue and recovery operation. 0:05:38.000 --> 0:05:41.560 For three months, his team put together the plan. The 0:05:41.640 --> 0:05:44.400 government called it Operation Reunion. 0:05:46.400 --> 0:05:50.640 The basic plan called for us to go to the 0:05:50.760 --> 0:05:54.599 door where Alien was being held, knock on the door, 0:05:55.080 --> 0:06:00.560 give commands in English and Spanish, identify ourselves and notify 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:04.760 them they were executing a judicial order search Ward and 0:06:04.800 --> 0:06:06.520 that wi Wan Alien Gonzales. 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:11.280 But the big question was with the Land's Miami relatives 0:06:11.440 --> 0:06:15.520 and the people around their home resist if so. Jim 0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:19.160 had a border patrol tactical unit meant for high risk 0:06:19.279 --> 0:06:20.760 situations at the ready. 0:06:21.440 --> 0:06:24.320 We had what's called a breaching team, a team of 0:06:24.680 --> 0:06:28.119 agents that had special tools in order to breach a door. 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:29.360 If they did not open the. 0:06:29.320 --> 0:06:33.160 Door, Jim would be knocking on the door himself. In 0:06:33.160 --> 0:06:36.720 case the Miami family did not cooperate, Jim knew his 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:40.360 team had to act fast, get inside the house, locate 0:06:40.400 --> 0:06:43.800 a lian, and get out of there as quickly as possible. 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:48.479 Mind you, this was a sophisticated process, a. 0:06:48.560 --> 0:06:52.240 Plan with more than two hundred and fifty law enforcement 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:56.400 officials from different agencies. The idea was to rush a 0:06:56.480 --> 0:06:59.039 lean out of the home and get him in the 0:06:59.080 --> 0:07:00.640 air as soon as as possible. 0:07:01.200 --> 0:07:04.440 The plan was to take him from the home to 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:07.000 watch an island where he would be put in a helicopter. 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:11.200 The helicopter ride would start the process to reunite with 0:07:11.240 --> 0:07:15.320 his father. Jim waited for orders from the highest levels 0:07:15.320 --> 0:07:16.400 of the US government. 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:21.040 I think even President Clinton might have been involved in 0:07:21.080 --> 0:07:24.800 some capacity. I know that a call came in to 0:07:25.160 --> 0:07:29.280 the US Attorney who was sitting with us, and basically 0:07:29.640 --> 0:07:31.240 that ignited the final green light. 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:38.520 The orders came, it was time to execute Operation Reunion. 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:42.520 Jim and his team took off. It was about five 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:46.320 in the morning on April twenty second. Soon he would 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:49.480 be knocking on the door where Alyan State and the 0:07:49.520 --> 0:08:22.920 authorities praised themselves for how Alliance relatives might react. Just 0:08:23.000 --> 0:08:26.320 after five in the morning, Ramon's Aul Sanchez was camped 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:29.880 outside of Alian's relatives home in Miami. He had been 0:08:29.960 --> 0:08:32.360 leading the protest there for weeks. 0:08:32.920 --> 0:08:35.520 I knew that if Alian was sent back, and I 0:08:35.600 --> 0:08:40.520 said many times, he's going to be turned into a 0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:42.280 fanatic of the Cuban dictator. 0:08:43.200 --> 0:08:46.280 Ramon was friends with the lawyers inside the house and 0:08:46.360 --> 0:08:50.800 they had told him that negotiations were going well. Manidias. 0:08:50.920 --> 0:08:54.480 Remember one of the lawyers said that the mediator told 0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:58.120 him that night that Attorny General Duino was happy with 0:08:58.200 --> 0:08:59.040 the progress. 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:01.839 You're going to be happy with what she has to say, 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:04.880 which is the first time I felt like the government 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:08.160 of the United States was on my side. And I said, great, 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:10.600 that's what I want to hear. He said, but don't 0:09:10.600 --> 0:09:12.080 go to see you stay up. 0:09:14.960 --> 0:09:18.600 Money stayed up waiting for confirmation of an agreement between 0:09:18.640 --> 0:09:22.200 the Miami family and the government. He was speaking with 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:26.439 Aaron Puthurst, a renowned Miami lawyer who was standing in 0:09:26.520 --> 0:09:28.360 as an unofficial mediator. 0:09:29.360 --> 0:09:35.360 And then finally a very nervous call, very anxious call 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:40.200 from Aaron who says to me, I don't know what's happened. 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:44.000 Money was a stunt. In the week hours of the morning, 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:47.720 they learned the government had changed the neutral location in 0:09:47.760 --> 0:09:51.640 Miami to the DC area, a term that last arrow 0:09:51.720 --> 0:09:54.280 Ileane's great uncle was not comfortable with. 0:09:55.160 --> 0:09:57.160 You know, I got to get the best reaction from 0:09:57.200 --> 0:09:59.680 a client at four in the morning. I said, look, 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:02.839 let's just wait, let's just wait till the morning. Then 0:10:02.840 --> 0:10:06.600 he calls me back and he goes, it's worse. You know, 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:08.880 I have five minutes to decide. 0:10:10.440 --> 0:10:13.880 Five minutes to decide the family would be willing to 0:10:14.000 --> 0:10:19.840 peacefully surrender Ellen. Now, Money couldn't believe it. He woke 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:23.240 up the family and just as he was updating them, 0:10:23.600 --> 0:10:27.760 he heard commotion outside where Ramon was talking to other 0:10:27.840 --> 0:10:30.360 protesters camped in front of the house. 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:33.920 Suddenly I see that the people looking, you know, their 0:10:33.960 --> 0:10:37.640 eyes got big, looking towards my back. You know, I 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:40.559 was facing them, and like when I look back and 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:44.079 saw them coming, I saw the authorities coming. I mean, 0:10:44.120 --> 0:10:46.800 they were all these marshals. 0:10:48.280 --> 0:10:51.720 Ramon immediately knew something big was about to happen. 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:53.560 We're coming great right now. 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:59.080 He'd been teaching the protesters something he called a human 0:10:59.240 --> 0:11:03.200 chain of Salidy, when people hooked their arms together to 0:11:03.280 --> 0:11:06.120 make it hard to get through them. He ran to 0:11:06.160 --> 0:11:08.960 the front of the house to try to stop the agents. 0:11:09.960 --> 0:11:13.160 Whenever I joined my two hands over my head, that 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:15.839 would signal that we will rush and do the chain. 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:19.240 And I did that. I did the signal, and everybody 0:11:19.360 --> 0:11:21.800 rushed the chain. But we didn't have time. 0:11:22.440 --> 0:11:25.280 The federal agents came in too fast. 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:28.120 And I rushed inside and I stood in the door. 0:11:28.640 --> 0:11:33.120 I was expecting for them to hand me a court order, 0:11:33.640 --> 0:11:36.360 which is what we in said. Well, the court order 0:11:36.520 --> 0:11:41.960 was a rifle. Body hit in my head and they 0:11:42.160 --> 0:11:43.040 left to unconscious. 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:50.600 Mary Lacy's was in the house with Elan and other relatives. 0:11:50.960 --> 0:11:53.560 You hear banging all over the door. You don't know 0:11:53.600 --> 0:11:55.959 who it is. We didn't know who it was. 0:11:56.520 --> 0:11:57.160 God for Bed. 0:11:57.280 --> 0:11:59.959 We thought it was the Cuban government coming inside my house. 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:04.080 That big pound at the door was Jim Goldman. Jim 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:07.440 announced himself and his team and that they were executing 0:12:07.480 --> 0:12:08.400 a warrant. 0:12:08.840 --> 0:12:12.280 US Immigration special agents opened the door. We have a 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:18.800 surge horn up there, and he. 0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:22.360 Says he was outside knocking and he could hear movement 0:12:22.400 --> 0:12:23.160 inside the house. 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:26.520 Matters only got worse because they refused to open the door. 0:12:27.240 --> 0:12:30.360 As I'm banging on the door and yelling, I could 0:12:30.559 --> 0:12:34.760 obviously hear feel and sense them moving barricades up to 0:12:34.800 --> 0:12:35.199 the door. 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:39.880 I couldn't imagine that there was going to be guns 0:12:39.880 --> 0:12:42.560 outside and people saying get down or will shoot. 0:12:42.960 --> 0:12:46.480 Here is Donato again, the man who rescued Elian and 0:12:46.480 --> 0:12:48.800 who showed up at the house that night. 0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:51.839 And the next thing you know, I see Eli on 0:12:52.440 --> 0:12:56.079 He's crying and I should have been the last person 0:12:56.200 --> 0:12:58.040 that should have had him in my arms. But he 0:12:58.160 --> 0:13:00.840 fell right into my arms and I grabbed them and 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:04.079 I held them, and I'm hearing a battering. Ran at 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:08.320 the door and I ran into one of the bedrooms 0:13:08.360 --> 0:13:11.040 and it was locked. I ran into another one and 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:12.000 it was locked. 0:13:12.600 --> 0:13:17.200 I had no choice but to breach that door. They 0:13:17.440 --> 0:13:21.360 entered to secure the perimeter, to make sure that we 0:13:21.400 --> 0:13:23.880 were going to meet armed resistance to make sure that 0:13:24.000 --> 0:13:26.319 someone wasn't holding Ilean hostage. 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:29.320 As Donata tried to find a safer place with Lelyan, 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:33.640 the family lawyer, Money Yes watched the agents storm in, 0:13:34.440 --> 0:13:34.840 and all of a. 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:37.600 Sudden, I found myself with a little red dots on 0:13:37.720 --> 0:13:40.920 my chest, not knowing what to do, and of course 0:13:40.960 --> 0:13:44.400 the tear guys, so all of a sudden, her eyes 0:13:44.440 --> 0:13:45.520 all teared up. 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:51.080 Money thought, was this really happening when just a few 0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:55.360 hours ago an agreement seemed so close, when Money knew 0:13:55.400 --> 0:13:58.640 Janet Reno from her days in Miami politics and had 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:00.000 even supported her before. 0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:02.840 No, there's no way, you know. 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:06.960 First of all, they know us. I mean, it's like 0:14:07.559 --> 0:14:11.160 we could all be dead, right, because it's not even 0:14:11.240 --> 0:14:14.840 the intentional act. It's the unintentional act of somebody bursting 0:14:14.880 --> 0:14:17.679 into a house holding a machine gun with a figure 0:14:17.760 --> 0:14:20.640 on the trigger, Like so many people in a very 0:14:20.720 --> 0:14:24.000 very small room, a little push or shelf could be 0:14:24.040 --> 0:14:27.200 misinterpreted and shots go off and everybody's dead. 0:14:30.200 --> 0:14:34.480 The house was filled with shouts. Mary Lacy's squeamed at 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:35.080 the agents. 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:39.000 I beg you, please don't let the boy see the guns. Please, 0:14:39.000 --> 0:14:42.880 don't give them to you. Please his eyes, mother's death. 0:14:43.360 --> 0:14:44.880 Don't let him see this, don't give. 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:45.240 You the boy. 0:14:49.520 --> 0:14:52.560 Meanwhile, Donato panic in the front of the house. He 0:14:52.760 --> 0:14:56.120 banked on a bedroom door and Ilian's great uncle Lace 0:14:56.400 --> 0:14:59.680 let him in. Remember, Donato says, he was carrying Alian 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:02.400 in his arms, and in the room with them were 0:15:02.480 --> 0:15:06.200 Lilian's great aunt and uncle and a news photographer from 0:15:06.240 --> 0:15:10.120 the Associated Press, Alan Diaz, who a family friend had 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:12.880 led into the house as the agents rushed in. 0:15:13.440 --> 0:15:15.280 So I'm thinking, I got to protect him. They're going 0:15:15.320 --> 0:15:17.720 to kill us, We're all going to die in here. 0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:20.280 So I'm trying to look in the closet. 0:15:20.640 --> 0:15:24.360 Donato walked into a closet to hide, with a leanne 0:15:24.400 --> 0:15:25.440 steel in his arms. 0:15:25.920 --> 0:15:30.440 There, I was leaning up against this closet full of clothes. 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:34.600 I was squatched up against there, and the door bust open, 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:39.240 and there's a federal armed agent with a weapon on me, 0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:44.360 and he's saying, give me the kid, give me the 0:15:45.200 --> 0:15:48.800 blankety blank kid. And I said no. I said, I'm 0:15:48.800 --> 0:15:50.000 not going to give them to you. I said, you're 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:51.520 going to hurt him. I said you have a weapon. 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:54.560 I said, put your weapon down and I'll hand them 0:15:54.600 --> 0:15:57.560 to you, and the guy said, give me the kid, 0:15:58.160 --> 0:16:00.280 and then he takes his weapon off of me and 0:16:00.320 --> 0:16:01.160 he puts it on too. 0:16:01.200 --> 0:16:05.200 Alan Diaz, Alan Diaz, the AP photographer. 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:08.480 She goes, put your camera down, and Alan says no. 0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:12.600 The officer pointed the gun back in the direction of 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:14.320 Donato and you can. 0:16:14.240 --> 0:16:16.600 See this red little laser coming through. It is right 0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:18.440 right on us, right on me and Elian. 0:16:18.800 --> 0:16:20.360 And Elian was petrified. 0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:23.320 I mean, can you can't imagine a six year old 0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:25.440 waking up on the middle of the night. I'm an 0:16:25.480 --> 0:16:29.520 adult and I'm petrified. I remember saying, sir, put it down, 0:16:29.960 --> 0:16:31.600 and I guess I'll hand them to you. 0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:36.520 Then a woman agent appeared in the room where Donato 0:16:36.560 --> 0:16:40.760 held a lean. The armed agents ordered Donato to hand 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:55.720 e lean over to the woman. Donato finally agreed. The 0:16:55.880 --> 0:16:59.800 entire time, the photographer, Alan Diaz, took pictures of this. 0:17:00.800 --> 0:17:06.120 Then he's just clicking off pictures. I hand over Elion 0:17:06.280 --> 0:17:11.439 to the lady and I heard the word bingo, and 0:17:11.480 --> 0:17:14.440 I learned later bingo means that they got him, and 0:17:14.480 --> 0:17:16.960 they were running out, and I ran out after them, 0:17:17.320 --> 0:17:20.119 and I pleaded with the man, can I please go 0:17:20.280 --> 0:17:23.280 with you, because he knows me very well. I don't 0:17:23.280 --> 0:17:25.080 know where you're taking him. 0:17:25.760 --> 0:17:29.800 The officers fend the Donato off and rushed out, trying 0:17:29.880 --> 0:17:32.280 to make their way to a waiting man with a 0:17:32.400 --> 0:17:34.640 lion behind the party. 0:17:36.760 --> 0:17:40.040 Now you got to imagine there was craziness. All the 0:17:40.160 --> 0:17:44.120 love and all the kindness that was outside now has 0:17:44.200 --> 0:17:48.960 turned to violence in people's minds because they came there 0:17:49.000 --> 0:17:53.360 with pepper spray and with tear gas and with battering rams. 0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:58.640 Remember there were dozens of protesters camped outside of Alan's 0:17:58.640 --> 0:18:08.040 home and they were leave it. Some of them tried 0:18:08.080 --> 0:18:12.439 to prevent the agents from living. The agents used force 0:18:12.720 --> 0:18:13.840 to get through the crowd. 0:18:14.320 --> 0:18:17.040 We had to fight our way back to the three cars. 0:18:17.280 --> 0:18:21.120 And they beat these people down, I mean not necessarily, 0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:24.520 but their goal was to get eli on and to 0:18:24.560 --> 0:18:25.320 get out of there. 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:30.679 Jim says that the protesters outside started throwing objects at 0:18:30.720 --> 0:18:31.439 the officers. 0:18:31.800 --> 0:18:34.000 If anybody was going to get hurt, it could have 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:38.560 been all on. They were throwing coolers and chairs, and 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:42.600 that's why it took a lot of agents to keep 0:18:42.640 --> 0:18:45.680 the crowd dispersed and away from the vehicles. 0:18:46.359 --> 0:18:50.200 As federal agents rushed to get Elian in the car. Ramon, 0:18:50.480 --> 0:18:53.439 the protester who had tried to stop the agents at 0:18:53.480 --> 0:18:56.639 the front door, was still on the floor trying to 0:18:56.680 --> 0:18:59.000 recover from being hit with a rifle. 0:18:59.520 --> 0:19:01.760 I was scared any conscience, and I saw his two 0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:06.280 fee going like that as they rushed out, and I 0:19:06.320 --> 0:19:08.960 got up immediately to deal with the people because people 0:19:09.000 --> 0:19:12.000 got upset. That was the only moment that there was 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:15.320 up from there that there was filets that I wasn't 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:16.080 able to control. 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:19.520 The crowd shouted at the agents as they got a 0:19:19.600 --> 0:19:24.679 land in the car. You get out now. It was 0:19:24.720 --> 0:19:28.560 shortly after five am. It had taken them three minutes 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:32.720 to get inside the house, gravelan and get out. But 0:19:32.840 --> 0:19:36.720 those three minutes would be remembered forever by many Cuban 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:41.280 Americans as the moment the US government seemed to betray 0:19:41.520 --> 0:19:43.960 its own people on Easter weekend. 0:19:44.520 --> 0:19:47.680 I mean, gotto mighty countries are at war with each other, 0:19:47.800 --> 0:19:51.440 they at least honor each other's religious holidays, and here 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:54.399 we weren't even thought of that for American citizens. And 0:19:54.480 --> 0:19:56.880 so there was a part of me that just thought, 0:19:57.040 --> 0:19:58.399 you know, this can't happen. 0:20:15.240 --> 0:20:19.000 It took three minutes. In three minutes, six year old 0:20:19.000 --> 0:20:22.480 Alien Gonzales, dressed in a T shirt, draped in fear, 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:27.440 was gone calculated chaos by heavily armed agents from US 0:20:27.480 --> 0:20:31.080 Immigrations who sprayed anyone in their past with pepper straight. 0:20:32.119 --> 0:20:34.280 It was forced met by an. 0:20:36.760 --> 0:20:40.520 That Saturday morning before Eastern Wall to wall coverage of 0:20:40.600 --> 0:20:43.200 the raid dominated global TV news. 0:20:43.520 --> 0:20:46.960 April twenty second, two thousand Federal agents raid the Little 0:20:47.000 --> 0:20:50.400 Havanah home of the Gonzales family, Elion Is seized. 0:20:51.000 --> 0:20:54.760 It played NonStop on CNN and all these channels. 0:20:55.080 --> 0:20:57.640 Alaferer, Cuban American historian. 0:20:57.680 --> 0:21:00.880 And the image that was always shown was that iconic 0:21:01.560 --> 0:21:05.120 image of a soldier with a gun and a helmet 0:21:06.040 --> 0:21:09.600 pointing a gun at not necessarily at a Leian, but 0:21:09.720 --> 0:21:12.239 Leian was being held by one of the fishermen who 0:21:12.320 --> 0:21:13.680 had become close to the family. 0:21:14.280 --> 0:21:17.840 Remember this was Alan Diaz, the Kuban American photographer with 0:21:17.920 --> 0:21:20.639 the AP who was in the room with Donato and 0:21:20.640 --> 0:21:24.600 Elian as agents storm in. By the way, Alan Diaz 0:21:24.640 --> 0:21:27.520 had gotten close with a family who had agreed to 0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:31.480 let him photograph should the raid ever take place. Even 0:21:31.520 --> 0:21:34.160 the government knew Alan might be in the house during 0:21:34.280 --> 0:21:38.840 Operation Reunion Attorney General Janet Reno said they had nothing 0:21:38.880 --> 0:21:42.720 to hide. It's Allan DS's photograph that became part of 0:21:42.760 --> 0:21:46.440 the mythmaking of the Elian case. And yet, like much 0:21:46.480 --> 0:21:49.240 of this story, there is much more to it than 0:21:49.320 --> 0:21:52.600 meets the eye. In the iconic image. 0:21:52.359 --> 0:21:54.639 They're hiding. It looks like in a closet. They're against 0:21:54.640 --> 0:21:58.760 the closet and the military guys pointing a gun at them, 0:21:59.160 --> 0:22:00.440 and Elian looks avoid. 0:22:02.600 --> 0:22:06.760 Those military looking guys were actually Border Patrol agents. In 0:22:06.800 --> 0:22:09.240 the photo, one of the agents is in the hallway, 0:22:09.520 --> 0:22:12.800 the other in the room with Donato a Alien. Both 0:22:12.880 --> 0:22:17.240 agents are wearing olive green combat uniforms, black helmets and 0:22:17.400 --> 0:22:21.680 large goggles. They have walkie talkies and they are wearing gloves, 0:22:22.160 --> 0:22:26.280 and they are holding big black guns. In the photo, 0:22:26.520 --> 0:22:28.959 the agent in the room points the gun in the 0:22:29.000 --> 0:22:33.359 direction of Donato a Alien. Donato is holding Alien his 0:22:33.480 --> 0:22:36.679 forearm between the boy and the gun. All three of 0:22:36.760 --> 0:22:41.480 them have their mouths open, seemingly shouting or crying, But 0:22:41.600 --> 0:22:46.040 the Lion's face is the most memorable. His eyes squinted 0:22:46.040 --> 0:22:49.800 in terror, like when you flinch bracing for something to 0:22:49.920 --> 0:22:54.840 hit you, his eyebrows furrowing shock and his mouth hangs 0:22:55.119 --> 0:22:58.879 as if he's shrieking in panic. His tender age is 0:22:58.920 --> 0:23:03.480 so obvious in this picture. He's a terrified little boy 0:23:04.440 --> 0:23:07.280 with a grown man pointing a gun in his direction. 0:23:09.280 --> 0:23:13.440 This photo was instantly seared in American consciousness. 0:23:15.040 --> 0:23:17.240 I think most of us were taken aback by the 0:23:17.280 --> 0:23:18.520 pictures in the press. 0:23:19.080 --> 0:23:22.800 This is Petrometo. He served as Assistant Secretary of State 0:23:23.000 --> 0:23:25.120 for the Western Hemisphere at the time. 0:23:25.600 --> 0:23:29.000 It gives you a moment in time. It doesn't mean 0:23:29.040 --> 0:23:31.679 that that's the way the whole raid took place. It 0:23:31.680 --> 0:23:34.640 doesn't mean that Elean was screaming and yelling the whole time. 0:23:34.760 --> 0:23:38.959 But that snapshot, that one snapshot, was what was plastered 0:23:39.000 --> 0:23:41.000 all over the international press. 0:23:41.600 --> 0:23:44.880 Other photos of the raid surfaced, like the one where 0:23:44.920 --> 0:23:48.119 the female agent carries Alyan to the car trying to 0:23:48.200 --> 0:23:53.040 avert protesters. The agent wincess as she tries to avoid 0:23:53.080 --> 0:23:58.440 being hit, and Alyan is crying hysterically, his face scrunched 0:23:58.520 --> 0:24:03.560 in horror onto the agent in his plat boxer underwear 0:24:03.880 --> 0:24:08.640 and a white T shirt. This photo spread resentment against 0:24:08.720 --> 0:24:12.640 Janet Reno, Bill Clinton and his Democratic administration. 0:24:13.400 --> 0:24:17.280 The image was shocking. It was an intense image. I 0:24:17.280 --> 0:24:19.520 think there are a few images ingrained in my mind 0:24:20.640 --> 0:24:23.520 as someone who was my age, and I think the 0:24:23.560 --> 0:24:26.360 twin hours, and I think Elliott I. 0:24:26.359 --> 0:24:31.280 Knew that he had been severely traumatized when his other 0:24:31.400 --> 0:24:34.560 perished and the other people on the boat perished, and 0:24:34.640 --> 0:24:37.680 I realized he was being taken away in the dark 0:24:37.680 --> 0:24:40.840 of night from in effect, the new mother figure in 0:24:40.880 --> 0:24:43.399 his life, Mighty Slaicius, And it was done in a 0:24:43.480 --> 0:24:44.280 terrifying way. 0:24:51.000 --> 0:24:55.280 Ala Ferrer, the Cuan American historian Tulla's an anecdote that 0:24:55.440 --> 0:25:00.359 shows how much people blamed Attorney General Janet Reno. Do 0:25:00.440 --> 0:25:03.000 you remember how your mother reacted to the raid? 0:25:03.560 --> 0:25:07.000