Apparently, being a fellow officer is not enough to exempt one from being harassed by ICE officers. An NYPD cop found himself on the receiving end of racial profiling and harassment in a public building. The encounter was captured in a viral video posted on Reddit, captioned, “NYPD cop is sick and tired of TEMU cops (ICE) racially profiling and harassing him.”
The clip opened up to a heated confrontation between the cop and masked ICE officers in a New York court building as a couple of reporters with cameras struggled to capture the exchange. “Why are y’all harassing me for? What is wrong with you? You sick?” the cop demanded. “Go get a real job. Get off me,” he added. As he tried to move past the ICE officers blocking his way, he stated, “I’m an officer too, I want y’all to know that.” Instead, the masked officials pushed him and asked a security man standing by to “escort him out of the building.”
After demanding to be allowed to complete what he had come into the building to do, the cop, who began recording with his phone, went to get his property, which had been thrown on the floor by the ICE officers. “Y’all want to harass everybody in the[expletive] world. Y’all got nothing better to do?” Viewers who were fed up with ICE’s antics flooded the comments, fuming, while some applauded the cop’s bravery. “The fact that they wear masks at all is what gets me. They terrorize others, have access to all sorts of info about folks, but want to be hush/hush about their own identities to keep any kind of consequences from blowing back their way. Cowards”, a netizen fumed, slamming the ICE officers for hiding behind their masks.
Some were alarmed that even a cop was not immune to racial profiling by ICE agents. “He is a cop, and it’s still not enough simply because of his skin color,” a user noted. “Why are they harassing people in a public building where people are just going about their business?” they wondered. “This is an American police officer. We are not taking this seriously enough. Wild times”, a Redditor wrote. Some Redditors saw it as a matter that needed immediate attention. “Cops need to start taking this seriously. ICE thugs don’t care about local cops. They think they are above them. Cops need to start protecting their city”, a user stated.
“So why does a real police officer have no authority against these uninvited, unidentified goons?” another wondered. One user offered a possible solution, “Maybe all local police should protect their citizens, like their motto says! Protect???? & Serve.” Others, however, praised the cop. “As a New Yorker, this dude makes me proud AF. 👊”, a Redditor wrote. Echoing their sentiments, another stated, “Spitting facts, tbh.”
It is getting alarming how ICE continues with the flagrant disregard for citizens and their rights.
