OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — What was meant to be a fresh start in a quieter, more affordable part of the country quickly turned into a nightmare for a Maryland family who had just moved to Oklahoma City. A mother and her three daughters say they were wrongfully targeted in a federal raid that left their home torn apart, their belongings seized, and their sense of safety shattered.
The woman, identified only as “Marisa” to protect her family’s privacy, had arrived in Oklahoma City just two weeks earlier. She and her daughters had rented a home in a northwest neighborhood, while her husband remained in Maryland temporarily to finalize their move.
“We were just trying to start over,” Marisa said in an emotional interview with News 4. “We thought Oklahoma would be peaceful, safe.”
That peace was violently interrupted early Thursday morning when approximately 20 armed federal agents — who Marisa said identified themselves as members of the FBI, ICE, and U.S. Marshals — stormed the home with a search warrant.
Marisa claims the agents broke through the door and immediately ordered her and her daughters outside into the rain, not allowing them to dress properly. One daughter, a minor, was reportedly left standing outside in only her undergarments.
“They wanted me to change in front of all of them,” Marisa said. “My husband has not even seen my daughter in her undergarments—her own dad, because it’s respectful.”
She said the agents refused to answer her questions as to why they were there. “I kept asking, ‘Who are you? What are you doing here? What’s happening?’ They just said they had a warrant.”
According to Marisa, the names listed on the warrant were not hers or anyone in her household. She recognized them as names from mail addressed to previous tenants. Still, she said the agents treated her and her daughters as suspects, tearing through their belongings, seizing their phones, laptops, and even cash savings — their only financial resources since arriving in the state.
“They took everything we had,” she said. “I told them, ‘We don’t even have money to buy food or get gas now.’ They didn’t care. They just left us here with nothing.”
The U.S. Marshals Service has since denied participating in the operation, though they confirmed being aware of it beforehand. No agency has taken full responsibility for the raid, leaving many questions unanswered about who authorized the action and what safeguards — if any — were in place to verify the current residents of the property.
Before leaving, Marisa said one agent made a dismissive comment: “‘I know it was a little rough this morning,’ he said. A little rough? You traumatized us for life.”
The incident has raised serious concerns about potential violations of civil rights, excessive force, and the failure of federal authorities to adequately verify information before conducting high-risk operations. Legal experts say if the warrant was executed on the wrong home, the family could have grounds for a lawsuit under federal civil rights laws.
Now, Marisa says she is left with nothing but trauma and a desire for justice.
“What makes them more worthy of safety than us?” she asked. “We’re citizens. We work. We bleed. We have daughters to protect too. They took away our right to feel safe in our own home.”
The family is reportedly seeking legal counsel and hopes to recover their property — and a sense of normalcy — as soon as possible.
