Canadian in ICE custody after being charged with hitting American youth

POINT PLEASANT BEACH — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says a Canadian woman was charged after allegedly assaulting a teenager in “pro-Trump memorabilia” over the Independence Day long weekend in a New Jersey borough.

In a post to social media Wednesday, the department said Kaitlyn Tracey allegedly struck a teenage girl on a boardwalk in Point Pleasant Beach on July 3.

Local police alleged Tracey began yelling at the teenager over “patriotic coloured sweatpants with political wording.” A news release on the police department’s social media account alleged Tracey was seen on video hitting the girl twice, once in the face.

Tracey was charged with simple assault, neglect of a child, compounding crime and harassing communication. She was taken into police custody Monday.

She was transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody because she had overstayed her visa, Homeland Security said.

Tracey entered the United States on April 14, 2024, on a visa set to expire five months later on Sept. 6.

In an interview with New Jersey news outlet NJ.com published Thursday, Tracey’s husband said she was also assaulted and claimed her arrest was politically motivated.

Matthew Geroni, who is American, said the situation has been blown out of proportion. He alleged his wife was only charged after public pushback because of a video of the incident that was shared online.

That five-second video spread widely online in the days after the incident. It shows a woman twice hitting a person wearing blue shorts and an America 250 shirt before walking away.

Geroni told NJ.com the video has been taken out of context and doesn’t show the full encounter.

Geroni said since the video spread online, he and Tracey have received death threats and conservative groups have attempted to “dox” them by sharing their personal information.

Geroni had been giving updates on the situation through his TikTok page but it has since been made private. A GoFundMe page launched to help with legal expenses was also shut down.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 16, 2026.

— By Aaron Sousa in Edmonton, with files from Kelly Geraldine Malone in Washington

The Canadian Press