ICE agents don’t like being recorded. They hate it so much that some people have been recorded being targeted for following and recording them while they were doing their operation. One man in Minnesota also encountered a similar experience where he was threatened by ICE agents. The ICE agents assumed that he was following and recording them, but the man denied doing such a thing, claiming that he was just on his phone.
The ICE agent didn’t care, though, as he just continued with his threat. The ICE agent said that he would only give the Minnesota man one more chance. He said that if he saw the Minnesota man continue following and taking pictures of them, he would come straight for him. The ICE agent then elaborated on yanking the Minnesota citizen out of his car, putting charges on him, and labeling him as a domestic terrorist. He ordered the man to leave the area and not come back.
When the video was uploaded online, internet users were outraged at what they were seeing. Many agreed that what the ICE agent did toward the Minnesota man was out of line. Recording ICE agents wasn’t illegal at all, and as long as people weren’t getting in the way, there was no ground for ICE agents to arrest someone. To make matters worse, the Minnesota man himself wasn’t following the ICE agents; it was the agent’s paranoia that made him sure that he was being followed. “We have lost the rule of law,” one user wrote.
Others wondered whether the ICE agent even understood or knew the First Amendment that all American citizens have. “Second time I’ve heard them on video talk about the ‘domestic terrorist app.’ A guy photographing in a public place, as is his First Amendment right, and gets threatened with being labeled as a terrorist? Sheesh,” one commenter said.
Some also found it confusing why the ICE agents were so angry over the Minnesota man having a dash cam in his car. For all they knew, it could have just been installed to make sure that if he were ever to get into an accident, there would be clear recordings that would help the man with insurance. “For a dash cam? These people are so terrified of any camera. It almost makes me think they don’t want to be known for actions they claim to be proud of,” one user said.
