As more anti-ICE protests break out countrywide, citizens are becoming defiant in resisting unlawful arrests. One such incident was recorded in a Baltimore community in Maryland. A short clip posted on Reddit captured the moment an ICE officer attempted to arrest a man in Canton. However, he was soon surrounded and blocked by well-meaning citizens who demanded to see proper documentation before the arrest could be made.
The supposed ICE officer, who remains unidentified, was dressed in brown cargo trousers and blue tennis shoes. He wore a vest, a hat, and a mask that further helped conceal his identity.
The citizen recording the video politely asked the ICE agent, “Hey my man, why can’t we just see the documentation? If you had documentation, we’d be out of here by now.” However, the officer failed to produce any form of documentation warranting the arrest. Instead, he threatened the bystanders who were recording him, saying that they were going to be taken to federal marshals for blocking the suspect from departing.
The bystanders stood their ground, saying they only wanted to make sure it wasn’t an unlawful seizure. The ICE rep insisted that it was not an illegal seizure, and the bystanders didn’t have the right to stop the arrest because they were not the suspect’s attorneys.
Notably, a local cop was also at the scene, fully dressed in his police uniform. However, he seemed reluctant to enforce the arrest and appeared to be more interested in de-escalating the situation.
Citizens online commented on the incident, pointing out that the ICE agent wasn’t dressed like he was a real officer. One user wrote, “Are those blue tennis shoes standard ICE issued?” Another wrote, “Temu sells these costumes to anyone, Amazon too.”
Other uses outlined the differences between the local cop and the supposed ICE agent.
“Notice how the actual police is in uniform, from the lack of a face covering to the specific shoes, part of a dress code. The LARPer, on the other hand, is wearing a mask, t-shirt, cargo pants, blue tennis shoes, and is sporting a generic ‘POLICE’ Velcro patch that can be bought on Amazon (yes, Amazon). One of these is not like the other.”
One user added, “Even the local cop sees the absurdity of this,” and another pointed out that the police officer doesn’t appear to be working with the ICE agent. “More likely ICE or whatever called the police because people wouldn’t let them leave with whoever they detained. Cop seems to just want to move things along. It’s unclear if they actually detained anyone”
