A peaceful morning in a suburban Utah neighborhood was disturbed by the sound of marching. As the Utah homeowners looked outside, they were surprised and scared to see dozens of armed ICE agents casually passing through their streets, prompting the neighborhood to prepare for the worst and to fight back against a possible ICE raid.
The incident, which likely occurred on July 10, was captured by one of the Utah homeowners in West Jordan City and subsequently posted to Reddit by ashtonsmaille. Apparently, the morning ICE march was part of the West Jordan raids, and according to people who shared the video, some officially curated online pages, such as The Salt Lake City Page for Utah, even censored them:
The woman in the video estimates around 50 armed ICE agents walking down their street as they worry about what’s happening. Others in the comments have since advised neighborhoods to resist these morning raids, telling people to show up with 200 protesters if ICE has 50 officers.
Some efforts to stop and identify ICE and their raids were also established online. Because, as it is, certain right-wing and extremist groups like the Proud Boys or Soldiers of Aryan Culture– or even just Nazi cosplayers– are allegedly impersonating ICE officers. Other angles of the recent West Jordan ICE raids were also available and consist of another woman greeting ICE officers in their cars.
Some of the most common criticisms were how much the federal government was spending just to mobilize these ICE agents and perhaps seize a handful of immigrants or even just people based on their skin color.
Fascist Takeover Concerns from People Online
Those who have seen the footage or even witnessed it personally have likened the situation to how the Nazis persecuted and hunted down Jews back in 1930s and 1940s Germany. Comparisons were even drawn between fictional material such as The Handmaid’s Tale, given how armed men are now unintentionally or maybe even intentionally terrorizing a peaceful neighborhood.
Meanwhile, ICE’s budget has ballooned in the past few months, with an estimated $170 billion, and reports stating that they’re now better-funded than most of the world’s militaries. At the moment, it appears the US federal government is also more keen on spending more, especially in erecting detention centers for people that ICE captured.
In any case, scenes such as the threatening and seemingly unsafe morning ICE march in West Jordan could become commonplace across neighborhoods in the US.
“Not hiding any
jews, I mean illegal aliens on the premises, are we? Papers please,” compares EvilAbacus“Hey everyone, if this looks like fascism to you, that’s because it is! Believe your eyes,” states EmergencyTaco
“I can’t believe we are living through a legit fascist takeover and all we can do is post videos on social media like ‘what is happening?'” worries ZodiacNexus
