Federal agents snatch Elian from Miami home

Angry crowd gathers in Little Havana neighborhood

April 22, 2000
Web posted at: 7:10 a.m. EDT (1110 GMT)

In this story: Elian in the arms of female agent Crowd assembled outside house Elian found by fishermen RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

MIAMI (CNN) -- In a dramatic predawn raid Saturday, armed federal agents snatched 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez from the home of his Miami relatives and drove him away en route to Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland.

More than 20 agents stormed the house shortly after 5 a.m., ramming the chain-link fence and front door. A short time later, a woman and man brought Elian out of the home and put him in a white van that drove away.

The surprise operation followed hours of fruitless talks among the Justice Department, the lawyer for the boy's father and outside mediators seeking a peaceful resolution of the long-running dispute over custody of Elian.

A Justice Department news conference was scheduled for 7 a.m. in Washington.

The seizure shocked the small group of protesters who had gathered outside the modest Miami home of Elian's relatives.

Marisleysis Gonzalez, Elian's cousin, is consoled after the early-morning seizure

Elian could be seen in the arms of a female federal agent, rushed from the house and bundled into a van in an operation that lasted only minutes.

About 100 demonstrators cursed and hurled missiles as the van with Elian inside sped away. Federal agents used pepper spray on the crowd.

"Assassins!" yelled protesters, some of whom climbed over the barricades in an attempt to stop the agents. The agents, wearing Immigration and Naturalization Service shirts, were armed with automatic weapons.

"The world is watching!" yelled Delfin Gonzalez, brother of the little boy's caretaker and great-uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez.

"They were animals," said Jess Garcia, a bystander. "They gassed women and children to take a defenseless child out of here. We were assaulted with no provocation."

Within an hour of the raid, the crowd in Little Havana quickly grew as neighbors congregated in the street.

The raid came amid reports of progress early today to immediately transfer custody of the boy from his Miami relatives to his Cuban father. Attorney General Janet Reno was at her office early this morning engaged in an extraordinary, long- distance negotiation that began Friday afternoon.

Lazaro Gonzalez, Elian's great-uncle, reacts to the seizure in Miami

The settlement was first proposed by civic leaders in Miami serving as intermediaries. Proposals and counterproposals flew through the night by telephone and facsimile machine between the Miami house, the Justice Department and the Washington office of the father's lawyer.

Saturday's lighting raid changed all of that.

Carlos Gonzalez said he and several others tried to form a human chain in front of the door but were forced back at gunpoint.

Elian was rescued by two fishermen while clinging to an inner tube off the Florida coast on November 25. He and two others survived, but his mother and 10 others drowned when their boat sank while trying to reach the United States from Cuba.

The boy's Miami relatives have cared for him ever since. They insist Elian will be better off living with them and argue that the boy would be psychologically harmed and face persecution if he is returned to communist-ruled Cuba.

Justice Department Correspondent Pierre Thomas, Senior White House Correspondent John King, and correspondents Mark Potter, Jean Meserve and Susan Candiotti contributed to this report.

Reno ponders force, other options, to end Elian standoff
April 22, 2000
Elian's father pleads for son; Clinton backs boy's return
April 21, 2000
Elian's father pleads for U.S. public support; mass protest held in Havana
April 20, 2000
Transferring custody of Elian not ruled out, Reno says
April 19, 2000
Elian's well-being debated as court considers case
April 18, 2000
Unless barred by court order, INS to remove Elian from Miami home
April 17, 2000

U.S. Attorney General
U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
U.S. Department of Justice
Executive Office of the Governor of Florida
Eleventh Circuit Published Opinions
United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
LibertyForElian.org - Foundation to Help Save Elian
Granma Internacional Digital, Cuba
  •  Kidnap in Miami
Cubaweb
Cuban American National Foundation

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