SAN DIEGO — Barbara Stone didn’t come to the San Diego immigration courthouse looking for trouble. The 71-year-old grandmother and longtime advocate showed up Tuesday morning with a notepad, a cellphone, and a plan to observe—peacefully—how ICE agents handled arrests. Instead, she became the story.

Stone was handcuffed, detained, and held by federal agents for nearly eight hours, accused by one ICE officer of pushing her. The moment was captured on video and quickly spread across social media, sending shock waves through the immigrant rights community—not least because Stone isn’t an undocumented immigrant. She’s a U.S. citizen.

“I have a large bruise,” she told NBC 7 the following day. “I feel mentally and physically traumatized.”

The incident has enraged civil liberties advocates, chilled immigration court observers, and raised serious questions about the accountability of federal agents operating in and around immigration courts. According to Stone’s family, she was not charged with any crime. Her phone, however, was confiscated.

“This is a soft-spoken woman who came to protect others,” said her husband, Gershon Shafir. “She is the last person in the universe who would interfere with federal officers.”

According to Ruth Mendez, a volunteer with Detention Resistance, Stone’s presence was legal and protected under the First Amendment. She had been part of a growing grassroots effort to document and witness ICE activity in real time—especially as tensions rise under the Trump administration’s renewed enforcement surge.

But for Mendez and others, the message from this arrest was chillingly clear.

“The fear is very, very real now,” she said. “The people who are showing up to document are doing so knowing that they themselves could become targets. This is how ICE sends a message: with handcuffs.”

Video of the incident, shared with NBC 7, shows a brief verbal exchange between Stone and an agent before the officer claims Stone pushed her. Observers on the scene disputed the account, saying Stone barely moved before she was forcibly restrained.

ICE has not commented directly on the arrest, instead deflecting questions to the Federal Protective Service—a different agency tasked with courthouse security. Neither agency responded in time for publication.

The silence, advocates say, is part of the strategy.

“They want to operate in the shadows,” Mendez said. “They don’t want the public to see how they’re treating vulnerable people, asylum seekers, and even U.S. citizens who dare to watch.”

No charges were filed against Stone, and she was released the same day. But the psychological toll, she says, lingers.

“This is the United States of America,” she said. “I never imagined I’d be treated like this for simply watching.”

While Stone says she has no intention of stepping back from her volunteer work, Mendez fears others won’t feel the same.

“It’s not just about Barbara,” Mendez explained. “It’s about every person who might now think twice before showing up. Every grandmother, every student, every advocate. This was a warning shot.”

An officer in the video can even be heard suggesting that more observers might be detained in the future.

“This isn’t just about one incident,” said Mendez. “It’s about a culture of intimidation. And all Americans should be asking—why is this how our taxpayer dollars are being spent?”

Stone, for her part, remains undeterred. She plans to return to court again—this time, perhaps, with even more eyes watching her.

“I won’t be silenced,” she said. “Not now. Not ever.”