Homeland Security says Boston's mayor comparing ICE agents to neo-Nazis is 'sickening'
The reaction Thursday came in response to a video posted by an account affiliated with the White House, during which Michelle Wu said, "I don't know of any police department that routinely wears masks.
"We know that there are other groups that routinely wear masks. NSC-131 routinely wears masks," Wu added, in reference to a New England-based neo-Nazi group.
"Mayor Wu comparing ICE agents to neo-Nazis is SICKENING," Homeland Security wrote on X. "When our heroic law enforcement officers conduct operations, they clearly identify themselves as law enforcement while wearing masks to protect themselves from being targeted by known and suspected gang members, murders, and rapists."
"Attacks and demonization of our brave law enforcement is WRONG. ICE officers are now facing a 413% increase in assaults," Homeland Security added.
The Anti-Defamation League said members of NSC-131 "consider themselves soldiers at war with a hostile, Jewish-controlled system that is deliberately plotting the extinction of the White race."
Wu also recently said in an interview with WBUR that "People are terrified for their lives and for their neighbors" and "folks [are] getting snatched off the street by secret police who are wearing masks, who can offer no justification for why certain people are being taken and then detained."
ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons, in a message to Wu on Wednesday, said "these are real people with real families you're hurting with your ridiculous rhetoric and inflammatory comments and it's time to remember that."
Leah Foley, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, also released a video message saying "federal agents in marked jackets and vests are masking their faces because people like Mayor Wu have created false narratives about their mission.
"Federal agents and their children are being threatened, doxxed and assaulted. That is why they must hide their faces," she added.
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3 hours ago
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Trump Team Pissed as L.A. Juries Refuse to Indict ICE Protesters
It seems the city that rose up to protect its neighbors from Immigration and Customs Enforcement is similarly protective of its protesters—especially when they're being tried on trumped-up charges. Donald Trump's federal prosecutor in Los Angeles is struggling to get indictments for protesters arrested in anti-ICE demonstrations earlier this summer, the Los Angeles Times reported. Grand jury indictments only require probable cause that a crime has been committed—a lower bar than the standard for a criminal conviction. And even so, out of the 38 felony cases filed by Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, only seven have resulted in indictments. In a recent case, the grand jury refused to indict a protester accused of attacking federal law enforcement officials. And Trump's prosecutor was not happy: The Times described 'screaming' that was 'audible' from outside the grand jury room coming from Essayli. According to legal experts interviewed by the Times, it's incredibly rare that a grand jury wouldn't indict in cases like these—which indicates weak cases brought by an attorney whose goal may be to promote Trump's anti-immigration agenda rather than go after real crime. Meghan Blanco, a former federal prosecutor in L.A., said the cases are 'not deserving of prosecution.' Some may have even been based on faulty intel from ICE agents, the supposed victims of the alleged crimes. Either 'what is being alleged isn't a federal crime, or it simply did not happen,' she told the Times. In June, thousands of Angelenos took to the streets to protest ICE raids that saw the federal anti-immigration officers arresting people attending mandatory check-ins at a federal building and snatching people from Home Depot. Though the protests were largely peaceful, some escalated as ICE and the Los Angeles Police Department used tear gas and 'less-lethal' munitions on the crowd. Community organizer and protester Ron Gochez said at the time that it was 'brutal violence' but that 'what they didn't think was going to happen was that the people would resist.' To the Times, former prosecutor Carley Palmer said that Essayli's struggle to get his cases through was 'a strong indication that the priorities of the prosecutor's office are out of sync with the priorities of the general community.' Yet again, the Trump administration has likely underestimated L.A. residents' appetite for resistance.
Los Angeles Times
5 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Orange declines to take a stance on unmasking federal immigration agents
An emotional Orange City Council meeting ended Tuesday with a resolution that would have taken a stance against the use of face coverings by federal immigration agents failing to pass. Councilmembers Arianna Barrios and Ana Gutierrez, the first two Latinas elected to Orange City Council, passionately championed the effort in the wake of masked federal immigration agents making arrests in the city this summer. 'While it is perfectly clear to me that, legally, our council has no jurisdiction when it comes to the federal government's immigration enforcement, we do maintain the right as a sitting council to speak out against injustice,' Barrios said. Despite their own concerns over face masks worn by federal agents, a majority of the council members who voted to table the resolution cited the city's lack of legal authority to override the federal government as a factor in their decision. 'They don't have to listen to the city of Orange,' Councilmember Jon Dumitru said. 'In the end, it's a piece of paper that doesn't matter. Santa Ana even backed away from passing a resolution like this.' The proposed resolution did not mark the first time Orange City Council tried to weigh in on immigration in a non-binding way. In 2010, Dumitru himself introduced a pair of immigration-related resolutions, including one that effectively declared Orange a 'Rule of Law' city and claimed that undocumented immigrants burdened services and resources at the time. A handful of pro-immigrant activists derided the council's approval of that resolution by presenting a satirical 'ruled by clowns' resolution of their own to the city. This time around, critics of roving patrols by masked federal immigration agents packed council chambers after a short march from the Orange Circle. 'I've lived in Orange for 33 years and I'm a proud supporter of our fine law enforcement,' Paul Hudson said during the council meeting. 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Gutierrez also brought Orange Police Chief Adam Jevec into the discussion on policing and masks. 'We police differently,' Jevec said in response to Gutierrez. 'We're part of the community. The expectation of our community is that we are transparent and are held accountable. That's why we wear body-worn cameras, that's why we have reports, that's why we have uniforms, name badges and policies that represent that.' Jevec added that his officers cannot interfere with federal immigration enforcement actions but can report to such scenes to verify that imposters are not kidnapping people. Councilmember John Gyllenhammer supported the idea behind the resolution but had reservations about language outlining law enforcement protocol. Barrios responded by highlighting mask exceptions for SWAT teams and bomb squads. She also signaled a willingness to amend the resolution, but her council colleagues did not take her up on the offer. 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San Francisco Chronicle
6 hours ago
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‘We don't deserve this.' Women held in limbo at ICE's downtown S.F. center awaiting bed space
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