What do you know; a Florida man is on the news again. This time, Indiantown, Florida native Jose Juan Lopez made headlines by impersonating an ICE agent during a fake traffic stop. For some reason, he felt the need to walk up to two individuals and threaten to deport him while he was dressed like a middle school bully.
Martin County police officers arrested the 23-year-old after the individuals who were stopped by him called authorities. For some reason, he felt the need to be above the law and feign authority just because of who he voted for. When officers caught up to him, Lopez instead turned the story on the two men he had harassed, saying that they had done it to him instead.
“Immigrants turning against immigrants. Great job MAGA.”
No matter who you are, that simply doesn’t add up. So, the officers arrested him with impersonating a federal law enforcement agent and are holding him on bond. However, after his arrest, it came to light that Lopez has a criminal history with the county. In fact, some of the charges he has been arrested for in the past include child abuse, domestic battery, and possession of a controlled substance, among others.
Ever since President Donald Trump took office earlier this year, there has been an adamant push toward deportation of those who are suspected of not having papers. I say suspected because there have already been instances where those with legal standing to be in the States have been abducted with the intention of being deported. Just last month, a college student at Tufts University in Massachusetts was taken by police in broad daylight despite being on a student visa.
It appears that authorities are very much under the command of “fight now and ask questions later.” Unfortunately, this mindset has convinced others who are unrelated to the law to try and enforce their own. Lopez’s story of impersonating a federal agent because he didn’t like someone’s race isn’t the first time it’s happened, and it certainly will not be the last.
I hope that if the authorities still think it’s reasonable to pursue citizens for their paperwork, they will eventually start a campaign encouraging officers to actively prevent people from taking the law into their own hands. I’m just afraid of having to write up a story where the outcome is very different from what happened here.
