Two men were detained by several men identifying themselves as federal officers in Watertown near the Newton line on the morning of May 5, according to a report by Newton-based Fig City News.
Fig City’s article was based on accounts of eyewitnesses and two videos of the incident seen by Fig City News journalists.
The officials, who wore jackets with “HSI” and “Police” written on them, arrived in five unmarked vehicles. HSI (Homeland Security Investigations) is part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Photos show some of them wearing masks.
The officials surrounded a Ford Focus on Maple Street in Watertown at about 8 a.m., according to Fig City. After several minutes the agents broke windows of the car and removed one man from the passenger seat. The driver struggled free and ran several yards and was apprehended by agents near the line between Watertown and Newton on Maple Street.
Fig City News spoke to a witness who heard an agent say one of the men had multiple criminal charges. Witnesses told Fig City the agents used physical force while taking the men into custody.
Watertown News contacted the Watertown Police Department, and a spokesperson had no comment and said the Watertown Police were not involved. Newton Police told Fig City News that the NPD was not informed of the arrest in Newton, and could not confirm the information.
See more details and see photos in the Fig City News report by clicking here.
Thanks for the link, Charlie. I can certainly understand the “unease” the neighbors felt at seeing two men taken into custody on their quiet suburban street. Unfortunately, police often have to use force to detain someone resisting arrest, as 20 minutes of ignoring a direct order from law enforcement and attempting to flee the scene suggest they did. Not being a witness myself, I can’t say what force (such as alleged punching and tasing) was necessary or not. The location and time indicate the two men were under observation, as does the alleged history of criminal activity of at least one of the men. It’s certainly not illegal to be in a locked car at 8 am, and a team of police/HSI agents wouldn’t just happen upon the scene by chance. Without further reliable details, I can’t see this as anything but the legitimate arrest of at least know criminal, possibly (only possibly) in the country illegally. But I’ll be interested to follow the story as or if it develops.
Of interest, the Fig report notes: “ Some Newton residents in the immediate area said that regardless of whether this incident actually spilled over the city line into Newton, from their viewpoint what they called horror had indeed come to their Newton neighborhood, and they expressed alarm and unease. They spoke of a lack of due process, a lack of human civility and kindness, an abundance of fear for what’s next, and concerns about what they could do”.
Lack of due process? Where? How about the horror of having illegal criminal aliens all over the place? Not surprisingly, this comes from residents of a sanctuary city where law enforcement alarms them – but illegal alien do not.
Thank you ICE. Thank you HSI. Keep up the good work.
Illegal aliens, that is.
Suppose you lived in a country where protesters were forbidden to wear masks, while government “agents” routinely wore masks while “enforcing the law”. Suppose in addition that those masked “agents” were empowered to ship you off to a for-profit prison far away on their own say-so — you’re a criminal if they say you’re a criminal, and no lawyers or judges required. How secure would you feel about your own rights?
If you were a uniformed, unmasked, Watertown police officer patrolling along in your marked police cruiser, and you saw a bunch of masked men breaking the windows of a car with a couple of guys inside, would you take it for granted that “HSI” printed on their jackets means you have no reason to stop and investigate? That you have no power to demand they show you their credentials, at least? I mean, how hard would it be for some criminal gang to just print “ICE” on some jackets and beat up or kidnap people without worrying about the cops?
Is this how you MAGA, or what?
–TP
Suppose you go and read this:
https://www.visaverge.com/questions/how-to-verify-ice-agents-identity/
For some of us who live in the real world, the daily arrests and deportations of illegal aliens are what we expect the government should have been doing all along. And now that it is happening big time, we could not be happier.
And this is how we make America safe again. Thank you Mr. President Trump.
They’re acting like the gestapo. People here with permission who are awaiting their legally mandated hearings for asylum are being snatched off the streets and shoved into airplanes then taken to countries they’ve never been to or in. I agree that “criminal” illegal aliens should be deported – but with due process. Deny it to one then it’s a short step to denying it to all. How about if your tan brother in law – here legally – was swept up in a raid. Or, as has happened a Navaho friend was mistakenly identified as a “Hispanic” and having no green card or ID (seriously) held for weeks in a detention center. There’s a right was and a wrong way to do everything. Thuggish tactics are rarely the right way.
What due process? Illegal aliens are not subject to the jurisdiction. Good riddance.
Amendment XIV
Section 1.
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Suppose you tell us whether ICE agents have read that explanation of what your rights are when they accost you. Accounts I have read and videos I have seen suggest that at least some of these “agents” are annoyed — dare I say, triggered — by the idea that their targets have any rights at all. And what’s with the masks some of them hide behind? Are they ashamed of what they’re doing? Are they afraid that a Nuremberg defense will not save them if they’re ever personally called to account?
I know, I know: ICE is the one government agency that can do no wrong, never makes mistakes, and is entitled to complete subservience from the people He, Trump and His minions sic’em on to. If ICE tells you somebody (not you! heaven forfend!) is a “criminal”, that settles it. The accused MUST be guilty, otherwise those conscientious, dedicated, armed civil servants would never have accused him, right? No need for lawyers or judges, right?
That’s how to MAGA, obviously: take The Government’s word for it.
–TP
Read 8 U.S. Code § 1325 – Improper entry by alien
U.S. Code below.
No more open borders. Great!
Deport the illegal aliens. That’s what matters.
Nice work in Worcester yesterday! Didn’t see any masked agents there, and, frankly could not care less if they mask or not.
I understand. You have no problem with masked “agents” acting at the behest of “the President”. Better hope for a third term, then …
–TP
I think that the Administration and ICE’s behavior points out the inhumanity and sadism that is at the core of the MAGA movement. No respect for the constitution or due process. This is the stuff of pure authoritarianism.
Let’s hear what your thoughts are about the “inhumanity and sadism” exhibited by illegal aliens who raped and murdered women and children.
ICE is doing its job by extricating these undesirables from our society. They can’t do it with milk and cookies; force is often necessary. And to call it inhumane and sadistic is beyond histrionics.
Move to Cuba or Venezuela. Get a taste of “pure authoritarianism”. Then tell us about it. Because, as of now, living in a Federal Republic, you have no idea.
How is this relevant to the actual news story above? Two men were arrested by a team of law enforcement officers (not ICE) clearly identified as such. The suspects refused repeated requests to cooperate; one tried to run. They COULD be completely innocent, or they COULD be meth dealers. The story doesn’t say. A fentanyl bust was reported here only a few days ago, so it happens. Arresting people suspected of a crime IS due process. It’s why we fund the police, in places that still believe in that outmoded idea. There’s no MAGA in the story, and no Trump. Just cops and HSI enforcing laws our elected representatives passed for our safety. Until anything comes out to the contrary, this is good news and nothing but.
Oh come on Josh, we are neither stupid nor naive. Read the papers and put the pieces together. Trump is trying to use ICE and HSI to create an atmosphere of fear that clearly reeks of authoritarianism.
Few object to arresting criminals or drug dealers. Most Americans believe that the Administration has gone too far. What is really unsettling is the sadistic pleasure that some seem to be taking in the barbarity.
I should correct for the record that HSI is a division of ICE. I was wrong to write that it was “not ICE”.
A WBUR story by Simón Rios from May 8th indicates that the suspected driver of the car—who refused to cooperate with the officers and agents—had two charges against him from 2020. They were continued without a finding.
Again, the only evidence produced so far is that law enforcement and homeland security approached two men, at least one of who had a criminal record, both of whom refused to cooperate and resisted arrest. There is as yet no other side to the story.
Unfortunately, we don’t need to suppose. This happened in Medieval England, Inquisition Spain, Salem, Massachusetts, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Maoist China, Soviet Union Eastern Europe, and other place where due process was abandoned or non-existent. It’s happening in the Middle East, Southeast Asian countries and Russia today. These incidents make me wonder (if wondering is still allowed) if it would be better to live under the Winter Hill gang who had clearer rules and did not mask up.
Can you imagine masked up ICE doing this in, to quote Big Papi, “OUR F**KING CITY” with the likes of Whitey Bulger around? At least his money went to the IRA and not to line the pockets of Apartheid Musk. In part, I am being facetious. However, if we are having the laws and rules subverted by the government, then I think I rather live with the local thugs. Cletus, Ashli and Levi can stay in their own, to quote the president, “s***hole” states.
And to my fellow neighbors of Southern European extraction, you better forgo the tan this summer because to the likes of Cletus we all look like a bunch of Mexicans. That’s ok. I rather look Mexican than like a bunch of barbarians.
Wrong chronological salad order. Fascist Italy, 1922. Nazi Germany, 1933. Same goes for the Spanish Inquisition and the witch trials in Salem, MA. Look it up. You forgot Genghis Khan and Fidel Castro, among others.
Being facetious? Where is the humor when it comes to the Winter Hill gang and Whitey Bulger?
Stream of consciousness can be fraught with peril. As it is apparent here.
There was no intention of doing a history survey course here.
I was being facetious in throwing Whitey Bulger out primarily because he is dead and as it most of the traditional mob. I am not being facetious when I ask what is the different between a government that subverts rule of law to the leader’s whims and something like a local mob? I also wasn’t being facetious about the IRA. I rather my money go to the Irish Republic to throw of the yolk of British rule than to Elon Musk who espouses the “ideals” of his homeland during Apartheid.
It only is salad to those who can’t think systematically or thematically, and need a chronological play by play as seen daily on what passes for news now.
Cletus is name from the Ancient Greek meaning “summoned one”, or “one who has been called”. Levi was a son of Jacob in the Hebrew Bible, and founder of the Levites, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Moses was descended from Levi. The only Ashli that comes to mind is Ashli Babbitt, shot to death by police officer Michael Byrd at the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. Some “barbarians”. Please don’t be so “facetious” with crude stereotypes.
If you would prefer to live under the tender mercies of Whitey Bulger rather than law enforcement sworn to preserve, protect, and defend the public, there are several so-called sanctuary communities in Greater Boston with policies on policing and justice that might be more to your liking. I pray Watertown doesn’t join them. I hope you stay and enjoy the great spring weather ahead. No one’s going to arrest you or anyone else for being tan or any other color.
Sometimes, an arrest is just an arrest. There is nothing reported in this story so far that suggests this is anything else.
As one who does not give credence to the various books being called the bible – the Catholic one has 10 more chapters, and the Protestant ones are numerous, some are translated from Aramaic and others from Greek – I don’t reference the Bible here. Cletus is a reference from the Simpsons. Levi is one of the most popular boy’s names in NH. Ashli is a very popular name in the South. You do correctly identify that one was in my mind because the news reported that the family of the insurrectionist Ashli B is suing the government for wrongful death. Thank god Officer Michael Byrd did his job that day! May those officers find the peace of mind that was robbed from them that day. You have a very Judeo-Christian lens here. Mine is coming from the fact that many masked-up ICE employees have been coming to Massachusetts from states like TX, NH and others; most of which are not doing much better than some third world countries in terms of education, health, or even clean water.
So what is the difference between the whims of Whitey Bulger and the president? Neither one follows the rule of law. I am sure Whitey had his prejudices, but I don’t know what they are. The president, on the other hand, broadcasts his. He has attacked Mexicans and Muslims constantly, and last time around he held people in cages and detained several others who had never committed a crime and had proper paperwork. The president has even said that some Jewish people are fake Jews because they don’t support Israel. He said that the fake Jews should be rounded up and deported. It is more humane than murder, but still very problematic! Obeying the law haphazardly goes hand-in-hand with whims. Either the law applies to everyone and equally or it is Winter Hill out there.
Frankly, I don’t how else to describe what I saw –the severe beating of people and ripping them from cars without any sort of arrest warrant — as anything other than a barbarous act. Law enforcing entities don’t act that way. There is process and procedure, and when they run afoul of that, then the courts prosecute them, and absolutely should to the full extent of the law. If the barbarians at the gate didn’t have the acronyms on their jackets , then no would know they were ICE, or the Winter Hill gang or MS13. Disappearing people is what they do in South America. Are we now using those tactics?
If people have the luxury to see what happened as an arrest, then they need to remember that as they sit above the fray as the rights of fellow human beings are being trampled, that sitting above the fray is always a temporary spot and dependent on the whims of someone else. 100 years ago, Italian Americans were being lynched, which continues to this day for African Americans. 5 years ago, Asian Americans were being beaten in the streets. 80 years ago, Jewish people were being murdered. 60 years ago, homosexuals were jailed and chemically castrated. 50 years ago, the intellectually disabled were locked up in institutions worse than kennels. I repeat this litany of human atrocities because people have a way of forgetting so easily. It’s a broken record but people apparently need constant reminding. The law ensures us protection from such failures of memory because only it alone can.
As someone who has been seen as various ethnic groups, depending on if I have straightened hair and a bright red sunburn (my Black Irish look) or not, I am privy to conversations where people who are currently comfortably living above the fray speak without shame about those people in derogatory terms, and think it’s ok when those people are treated as less because those people deserve it. And when one reminds them, they were those people just yesterday, they answer but I am not those of those people. Oh to be afforded the tender mercies from those above it all.
Oh, well.
Going from insalata to imbroglio is not an improvement.
Actually, I have just realized how right the Bard was:
“Brevity is the Soul of Wit”
And with that, I part.
Thank you Rita for the human to human perspective.
As has been pointed out, we don’t know the facts of what led up to the arrests. Are there bad people out there? Yes and sometimes it calls for extreme action. However, It is clear that the felon president and his criminal leaning cohorts are playing up the fear and hate cards to make it look like America is under attack from the southern border, from trans gender people, gays and anyone who doesn’t believe his lies. The felon president has made it clear he wants to take away everyone’s rights who do not agree with him.
In the current times, it is as likely that these people are innocent of any serious or any crime as they are guilty. We may never know as they may never get any due process but I would hope that everyone who believes in justice, as has been more than afforded both the citizen and current president would loudly protest for due process for everyone, America is not a democracy with out justice and there is no justice without due process.
Tony, I agree with you. The problem we are facing is the ICE Agents are arresting people indiscrimately; taking people from their homes, places of work and on the street. I do not know anything about the people referred here; however, either I have not paid attention I have not seen the identical concern when Trump pardoned the insurrectionists. If the immigrants or migrants have not commited a crime and are gainfully working or potentally benefit the country after their education, why should we conduct a raid on an individual. Trump used the term raid when the FBI, with a Judge Search Warrant, searched his property at Mar a-Lago and found nuclear secrets among the other confidential information. At least he was given Due Process. Let’s move forward rather than backward as a country. Was it correct to have “No Irish Need Apply” on Beacon Hill or the disciminatory immigration policies against people from the Mediterrian area and Asia?
Glad to hear Federal Immigration enforcement is doing its job, in spite of the lack of cooperation on the part of the Commonwealth. If those 2 men crossed our borders illegally, they are felons period and deserve only to be deported.
No, that’s not even a crime, only a civil offense.
At AllLaw.com, from as recently as March 16th:
“Whether it’s by crossing the U.S. border with a “coyote” or buying a fake U.S. passport, a foreign national who enters the U.S. illegally can be BOTH convicted of a crime and held responsible for a civil violation under the U.S. immigration laws.” (Emphasis added.)
“For the first improper entry offense, the person can be fined (as a criminal penalty), or imprisoned for up to six months, or both. For a subsequent offense, the person can be fined or imprisoned for up to two years, or both.
“Entry (or attempted entry) at a place other than one designated by immigration officers carries ADDITIONAL civil penalties. The amount is at least $50 and not more than $250 for each such entry (or attempted entry); or twice that amount if the illegal entrant has been previously fined a civil penalty for the same violation.” (Emphasis added.)
It’s a crime, as it should be; often the first of many, as it should never be.
Not quite. It can still land you in jail – as it should.
“8 U.S. Code § 1325 – Improper entry by alien
U.S. Code
(a)Improper time or place; avoidance of examination or inspection; misrepresentation and concealment of facts
Any alien who (1) enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers, or (2) eludes examination or inspection by immigration officers, or (3) attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the willful concealment of a material fact, shall, for the first commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both, and, for a subsequent commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18, or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.”
For more on the subject:
https://www.history.com/articles/illegal-border-crossing-usa-mexico-section-1325