First-person account of ICE abuse from @propublica

The creator, a 16-year-old U.S. citizen named Arnoldo Bazan, recounts the traumatic story of how he and his father were violently stopped and assaulted by federal immigration agents. He describes being put in a chokehold, witnessing his father being beaten, and the subsequent aftermath which included his phone being stolen by the agents and his father being deported. The video combines his emotional first-person testimony with actual footage of the incident and concludes with a call for awareness about such injustices, supported by journalistic context from ProPublica.

Creator: @propublica on Instagram

Video format

Talking Head Edit

Video outline

  1. Present shocking climax first
  2. Establish protagonist's identity
  3. Detail escalating injustice
  4. Reveal irreversible consequence
  5. Broaden to a larger issue

Hook overview

The In-Media-Res Trauma: The video opens with the most intense, emotionally charged moment of the conflict (a physical assault) to immediately capture attention and generate urgent questions about the context.

Title hook

I was chokin

Verbal hook

I was choking. I was choking.

Visual hook

A dramatic, shaky, close-up shot of a young man being held down on the floor by a police officer, creating immediate tension and conflict.

Hook strategies

  1. curiosity-open-loops

Payoff

The Journalistic Zoom-Out: The video shifts from personal anecdote to objective information, presenting statistics, facts, and official statements via text overlays. This validates the personal story with external data, lends credibility, and frames the incident within a larger, verifiable societal problem.

Narrative framework

The Personal Injustice Chronicle

Narrative framework logic

To frame a broad, systemic issue through a single, emotionally resonant personal story, starting with the moment of peak conflict to hook the viewer before revealing the context and consequences.

Narrative framework breakdown

  • frameworkName: The Personal Injustice Chronicle
  • frameworkType: Standard Narrative
  • coreLogic: To frame a broad, systemic issue through a single, emotionally resonant personal story, starting with the moment of peak conflict to hook the viewer before revealing the context and consequences.
  • confidence: 95
  • pendingStatus: created

Topics: Politics

Concepts: Vulnerable Monologue

Formats: Talking Head Edit

Elements: B-Roll Cutaway, Text Overlay, Montage Editing

Account types: Brand

Transcript excerpt

I was choking. I was choking. The agent just pulls me in. He just puts me in a choke hold. I couldn't breathe. I told him I was a US citizen. I was 16. My name is Arnoldo Hassan. Me and my dad were abused by federal agents. We were chose. We were kicked. I was going to school. We were driving to McDonald's, having an all in the morning until a car stopped us. Tier started, like, trying to break our windows. They pointed their gun at us. I remember that I was best standing in the corner seeing how my dad was getting, like, kicked and everything. Honestly, I felt like I was about to pass out. I feel like I was seeing the light. They told me that we worse, like, criminals and stuff. They took my phone with them, and they ended up selling it in a machine. I was thinking, like, what's gonna happen to my dad? He was deported. Better day, I I just think of him. I wanna be just like my dad. He's my role model. Like, I hope Good keeps him safe wherever he is. But tier you gotta realize that hardworking people and everything are going there. People that have families. I don't want no one else to go through this. I want people to open their eyes about what's really going on. I don't think nob

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