Cousin gives her account of Miami raid

April 22, 2000
Web posted at: 11:32 a.m. EDT (1532 GMT)

From staff and wire reports

MIAMI (CNN) -- In an emotional account of Saturday morning's government raid that took Elian Gonzalez from his Miami relatives' home, Elian's cousin Marisleysis Gonzalez said the family had no warning before the raid.

She said family members were on hold while on the telephone with U.S. Attorney Janet Reno when they heard a commotion outside.

"Elian was awake in the living room ... We thought it was maybe a fight outside or something," she said. "They came here violently. They told me, 'Gimme the boy! Gimme the boy or I'll shoot! Gimme the -- they said a bad word -- boy!'"

VIDEO Marisleysis Gonzalez, cousin and caregiver to Cuban boy refugee Elian Gonzalez, shows the damage to her home allegedly caused by INS agents. Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K     GALLERY Elian capture photos     MESSAGE BOARD US/Cuba relations     ALSO Reno: U.S. government had 'no other option'

Marisleysis Gonzalez said she pleaded with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service agents to put their guns away, but they refused.

"When they came in, I stood in front of everybody and begged them, 'Please don't let the boy see the guns ... I'll give you the boy,'" Gonzalez said.

She said she and other relatives would go to Washington on Saturday.

Agents' guns were pointed to the side, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno said during a news conference after the seizure. Eight agents entered the home and carried Elian out within three minutes, she said.

According to Gonzalez, Elian "was screaming and crying, 'Don't take me!'"

"This wasn't the right way to do it ... A human being would not have done what they did," Gonzalez said, weeping.

Officials said they found the boy inside a closet. They said they never pointed a gun at the child, and that the 6-year-old was calm.

Officials said pepper spray was used outside the home to subdue people in the crowd, but was not used inside the house.

A female agent carried the boy, wrapped in a white blanket, to a white minivan, which drove him to an area airport. The agent told the boy, in Spanish, that she knew he must be scared, but that he would soon be reunited with his father.

No one was injured.

Family members and supporters vehemently protested the U.S. government's action Saturday.

"They really psychologically traumatized Elian," Gonzalez said. "This lady (Reno) to me doesn't have a heart."

Several hundred people gathered in front of the Gonzalez home in Miami waving placards and Cuban flags. One sign read "Clinton/Reno: This is a day you will live to regret."

Federal agents seize Elian in predawn raid
April 22, 2000
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

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U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
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LibertyForElian.org - Foundation to Help Save Elian
Granma Internacional Digital, Cuba
  •  Kidnap in Miami
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