Rash of ICE impersonation follows Trump immigration crackdown, police say

[essentialsaltes]

Police in South Carolina received a call last week reporting that a person was driving a vehicle without a license. But they later learned it was actually the caller who had committed a crime, the Sullivan’s Island Police Department said.

In the Facebook video from South Carolina, the suspect — whom police identified as [Sean Michael] Johnson — is seen taking the driver’s keys and saying the person “got caught.” Sullivan’s Island Police Chief Glenn Meadows said there were three Hispanic people in the truck whom the department is not publicly identifying.

Johnson was arrested Friday after turning himself in to police and was charged with multiple crimes, including petit larceny and kidnapping.

Men in Philadelphia and North Carolina have also been arrested for the impersonation of ICE officers in recent days, authorities said.

In North Carolina, a 37-year-old man was arrested Jan. 26 and charged with multiple crimes, including impersonating law enforcement, kidnapping, second-degree forcible rape and assault on a female.

The men [at Temple University] wore black shirts that said “Police” on the front and “ICE” on the back, Little said. A third person recorded the impersonators, Temple said in a statement. [One was arrested.]

Temple said that it suspended Steigelmann and that others who impersonate law enforcement agents could be expelled. Police are still searching for the other two suspects.

 

[rambot]

Whose surprised. They cosplayed as civil war actors on J6. Why wouldn't they cosplay being ICE agents.

They're "transgovernment employees".

Boy I wish they'd stop grooming our children!

 

[essentialsaltes]

Boy I wish they'd stop grooming our children!

And raping frightened women.

 

[DaisyDay]

It seems like a fairly safe crime as any undocumented complainant risks imprisonment and deportation.

One of the reasons so-called sanctuary cities don't cooperate with having ICE guys hang out in the courts is because it hurts the victims more than the perpetrators.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Old and busted: ICE impersonation

Men claiming to be DOGE enter City Hall and demand records on wasteful spending, fraud​

The three were wearing DOGE shirts and Make America Great Again hats when they demanded that City Hall employees turn over digital information related to government spending and alleged fraud, a sheriff’s spokesperson told The Standard. The men, who had fled by the time sheriff’s deputies arrived, were carrying flash drives to copy the records.

The city employees did not hand over the information, and authorities do not believe the individuals were actual DOGE workers.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Washington DC Man Reveals He Dresses as an ICE Agent to Scare Immigrants: ‘Complains About “Illegals” While Doing Something Illegal​

Not a great website, but it saves me from linking to the Tikkety Tok.

The video revolved around a gentleman named Brandon Fellows, who likes to dress up as an ICE agent and go into Home Depots in the Washington DC area to scare “the illegals.” If you don’t believe him, he’s wearing the costume in the video and even reveals to viewers where they can buy their own and tips for sizing.

The interviewer, from news outlet Courier, begins the video by asking Fellows, who has his back turned, if he is an employee with ICE. Almost as though he was excited to be asked the question, Fellows turns around and begins explaining what he is doing. What makes his actions so strange is that, while he claims to be doing this to scare illegal immigrants, the act in itself is illegal to begin with.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Fake ICE agents terrorized California businesses for social media stardom, police say​

Two Fresno men are of accused of carrying out a social media stunt where they posed as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and filmed themselves harassing local businesses, weeks after actual ICE raids in the Central Valley put the region’s undocumented community on edge.

The pair donned wigs and black tactical vests with letters[that] read “Police” and “ICE,” and were reported confronting community members at 11 businesses, according to the Fresno Police Department. At one store, they told employees they were conducting an investigation and demanded to see specific business documents, police said.

Police arrested the men Wednesday on suspicion of impersonating a police officer, a misdemeanor.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

It seems like a fairly safe crime as any undocumented complainant risks imprisonment and deportation.

One of the reasons so-called sanctuary cities don't cooperate with having ICE guys hang out in the courts is because it hurts the victims more than the perpetrators.

I guess the question would be, what's the solution to that problem?

That problem being:
How to handle the problem of a victim who's also breaking the law.


For example, if there was a person running an underground gambling ring, and being victimized in the form of getting shaken down and roughed up by the mafia.

Would the solution to that be to make one's city an "underground gambling sanctuary" so that they wouldn't be afraid to come to the police station or court to file a complaint?


That's sort of the rub in this situation, by a person choosing to actively pursue a path that's illegal, they are, in essence, forfeiting the privilege of being able to go to the authorities to report someone else without risking getting scooped up for their own infractions.

 

[FireDragon76]

I guess the question would be, what's the solution to that problem?

That problem being:
How to handle the problem of a victim who's also breaking the law.

It's really not that hard... due process, treat everyone as equal under the law, etc.

 

[Oompa Loompa]

They cosplayed as civil war actors on J6.

Doubt

Boy I wish they'd stop grooming our children!

Doubt

 

[Oompa Loompa]

And raping frightened women.

At least the "asylum seekers" are safe to do so.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

It's really not that hard... due process, treat everyone as equal under the law, etc.

But what does sanctuary city status (ignoring a law) have to do with due process?


For example, if even a regular citizen has a warrant out for something else, and they show up in court for another reason, they'll be taken into custody for that "something else".

If I had an outstanding warrant for XYZ, and I get robbed in an unrelated incident. If I show up to court to testify as the victim, there's a solid chance they'll enforce that warrant and take me into custody while I'm there.

The solution to that problem can't be "Well, I guess we'll just ignore the laws pertaining to XYZ so that people who are wanted for that won't be afraid to report other crimes"


If the shoe was on the other foot, and red jurisdictions had started creating "gun sanctuary cities", where people who were wanted for gun possession charges in could hide out and avoid extradition, would that be well-received?

Hypothetical -
New Jersey: "Hey Bob Smith was wanted for illegally carrying a handgun in Atlantic City without a permit, so due to the full faith & credit provisions, this court order from an NJ judge stands and if he shows up in your courts for something else, you have to take him into custody for transport back to NJ"

Floriday: "Nah, we don't agree with your overbearing gun laws, and according to our way of thinking, we're a constitutional carry state and thing you're wanting Bob for shouldn't have even been considered a crime in the first place, so we're instructing our courts and LEOs to ignore those types of out-of-state charges and warrants, we're a gun sanctuary city"

How well do you suspect that would go over?

 

[essentialsaltes]

Man charged for posing as ICE officer, placed fake emblems on SUV: Police​

The suspect intended to threaten Ukrainians at a grocery store, police said. [Everyone needs a hobby, I guess.]