In February, a North Dakota man was arrested and charged with impersonating an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer to break an inmate out of custody. Now, the charges have been dismissed months later, and the accused has been released.
According to court documents, an inmate in the Williston Williams County Correctional Center was informed that he was going to be picked up by an ICE representative. The inmate called the accused, Shane AI Randall, who showed up as the ICE representative, to come pick him up. Unfortunately, the correctional center staff allowed them to leave together without checking the necessary ID.
Randall had almost gotten away with it when the real ICE officer showed up at the center moments after he left. When the jail staff realized the mistake, they raised alarms, traced Randall and the inmate down, and arrested them both.
After Randall was arrested, he was charged with a misdemeanor count of impersonating an official in February. However, he pleaded not guilty to the accusations, and William’s County Assistant State’s Attorney Nathan Madden filed for the charges to be dropped due to prosecutorial discretion.
Per AP News, the court further held a hearing for Randall’s case on Friday, April 11. During the hearing, the prosecutor filed to dismiss the claims, and State District Judge Kirsten Sjue, who was in charge of the case, allowed it.
The accused’s misdemeanor count was dismissed, and his iPhone and $3,000 cash bond were returned to him. According to the documents, Judge Sjue did not give any reason for dismissing Randall’s case.
Since the story went viral on the internet, many users have pointed out the system’s incompetence and how easy it was for Randall to impersonate an officer.
One user commented, “So I can put on an ICE uniform and kidnap people and it’s fine?” and another added: “It’s okay to impersonate ICE officers because, you know, racism 🤷🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️” “Holy f*cking incompetence,” one remarked.
Another user blamed ICE for the incident. “This might be funny if it weren’t so sad. ICE is so dodgy-acting that anyone can impersonate them for any reason — malicious or prank,” the user remarked. “Yeah, just wear black and cover your face. Instant ICE agent,” another agreed.
Another incident occurred last month, which raises questions about ICE’s competence. Two suspects who were held in their custody escaped during a power outage and were never traced down.
The suspects were reportedly awaiting deportation in an Aurora ICE jail center when the power went out, and the automatic exit doors became unlocked. The suspects made their way to freedom, and ICE officials didn’t realize they were missing until three hours later when they carried out a head count in the holding facility.
