Dear Editor,
It is like it has not happened in Watertown.
Whose Job is it to Unmask the Threat to Democracy?
When federal agents conceal their identities behind masks, they don’t just cover their faces — they block accountability, liability and proper identification as a federal agent. In recent months, ICE has deployed masked officers in plainclothes across American cities, detaining immigrants and citizens alike without identification and a charge. This is not just unconstitutional — it’s dangerous.
In a certain case the military has been deployed in a city as though Martial Law has to be invoked because of a general uprising to overthrow the government as was carried out on January 6, 2021.
The Department of Justice has failed to disclose how many masked agents are operating, who they are, and whether any have ties to extremist groups like the Oath Keepers or Proud Boys or for that matter paid mercenaries. The leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers were convicted of seditious conspiracy and later pardoned. Without transparency, how can we be sure these operations aren’t being infiltrated by those who reject the rule of law?
This is not overstating the imminent danger this poses. The rise of the secret police in Nazi Germany began with masked raids, unmarked uniforms, and the targeting of a marginalized community under the guise of national security. Must we repeat their history?
In protecting the public, elected local and state officials must demand that Congress and the courts “Do Their Job” and demand full disclosure. Who are these agents? Are they affiliated with any extremist group? And why has the DOJ refused to account for their identities?
America cannot afford a secret police. Our Liberty demands sunlight.
Clyde L. Younger
Watertown Resident
Where is your outrage at BLM and Antifa masked protesters burning cities? Or masked supporters of Hamas at various universities? Or masked youth looting stores in LA, Philadelphia, etc.?
I guess you would like ICE agents to have photo IDs, and their home address published so that the leftists could terrorize them and their families? Isn’t that what you and others similarly situated are after, like you did to Justices Alito and Kavanaugh?
ICE is not “secret police”. And they carry badges; your assertion of lack of proper identification is not true. ICE is not after a “marginalized community”. They are after illegal aliens and cleaning up the mess caused by the Biden administration allowing open borders for years.
Your attempt to mix ICE with the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and (sic)“paid mercenaries” is absurd. Incidentally, has anyone ever heard of a gratis mercenary? An oxymoron, I guess.
No just have their faces showna and a badge with a number just like a cop, who sometimes has to wear a body camera.
As for the “what about” game, what about the protestors outside of Mayor Wu house or the breaking and beating at Nancy Pelosi’s house? Or the numerous daily threatsa that President Obama got throughout his two terms?
Apparently, you have never seen an ICE agent. They don’t display a badge and will hide in an unmaked vehicle, nothing like a police officer. And they are profiling people by the way they look. Citizens and residents with documentation have been picked up but very few of them tend to be white or part or the non-marginalized community.
The goverment is paying bounty hunters, so yes there is some mercenary work going on. Defending the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys and ignoring the vast majority of horrific crimes of which white males who are citizzens commit the majority is not a good look. Again this is not ok, normal or good in any way.
ICE agents perform the most dangerous job this side of the clearing land mines. They arrest criminals, many violent, often while surrounded by hostile, even violent, crowds. They have been doxxed, they and their families threatened. Biden’s reckless border control let in a ruthless underworld of murderers, rapists, drug and human traffickers, and other elements dangerous to society. They are welcome to self-deport, but otherwise they must be dealt with. And many local governments refuse to defend their communities from these menaces. If some ICE agents wear masks, it is because, as they “Do Their Job”, they know no one has their backs.
Not every mask-wearer is a Nazi, though Antifa anarchists come pretty close. I am repeatedly astonished to read here of villains described as heroes and heroes as villains. ICE agents are cleaning up years of treasonous neglect. If you can’t be bothered to thank them, at least have the decency not to libel them.
Firefighters perform far more dangerous jobs than ICE. I dare you to say the opposite to a firefighter’s face or those who went ran into the buildings on 9/11.
They are not the heroes especially when the priests and nuns have been directed to protect migrants, residents and citizens who fit the profile. Why do they run when they see a priest in court? Other religious orders like the Quakers are also protecting people from these terorizers. Add lawyers, doctors, buiness owners and yes even some police. Why are they going into courts, houses of worship and hospitals? My god, not even vampires go into sanctuaries or on sacred ground. Oh right, there’s no such thing as vampires, just people doing horrific things.
This is not ok. This is not normal. The pot is boiling and you ignore at your own peril.
You got me on firefighters, Rita, although no one’s actively trying to do them physical harm them while they do their job. Or calling them Nazis. Or threatening their families—or even me, if I that’s what you mean by my “own peril”. Let’s say land mine clearers, fire fighters, and ICE agents a close third.
On vampires, Quakers, boiling pots, and people who “run when they see a priest in court” (huh?), I am speechless. You must get out more than I do.
By the way, did you know that the Teamsters’ rank and file voted for President Trump over Vice President Harris by a margin of nearly 2-1 in a straw poll before the election? It’s true. I invite you to say the opposite to any Local 25 picketers to see on your rounds. Like firefighters, they’re gentlemen.
Not quite. Two firefighters were ambushed and shot dead a short time ago.
As to “vampires, Quakers”, etc. it sounds like homage to Timothy Leary, but not quite groovy.
Isaiah 5:20
Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!
Wow, that seems to describe MAGA to a Tee.
Thank you for the insight.
May I inquire discreetly whether you could proofread your comments before posting? Spelling matters, so does punctuation.
Prove the “bounty hunters” claim. I do not believe it.
No. It actually describes socialists more aptly.
Thanks for nothing.
No sir, it is truly MAGA who turn good and evil, darkness and light upside down.
I am in shock at the self styled Christians who would have ICA remove Mary and Joseph from the stable by force and rip the baby Jesus from the manger. They’d have ICE arrest the Three Kings and deport them to South Sudan.
No sir, it is MAGA who would separate and brutalize the Holy Family. It is MAGA who turn Judeo-Christian morality on its head.
“ICE agents perform the most dangerous job this side of the clearing land mines.”
The histrionics and misrepresentations in this post are beyond belief–literally. As in, if you believe this, you might believe also believe that Trump won the 2020 election. Or that vaccines are harmful.
Oh wait. . .
The concept of truth has really gone down the spout.
You mean, “if you believe this”? From ICE.gov:
“Nearly a dozen violent assailants equipped with tactical gear and weapons attacked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Prairieland Detention Facility in Alvarado, Texas, on July 4, shooting a local law enforcement officer in the process.
…
“ICE officials currently face a 700% increase in assaults as activists masquerading as immigrant advocates continue to impede operations. On July 2, a man repeatedly rammed an ICE vehicle with his car in Linda Vista, California, before three activists attacked agents.”
I don’t know, is 700% a lot?
No, Trump didn’t win in 2000. The election itself was a fraud. 81 million “voters”? Where’d they come from? Where’d they go?
Sorry, but I don’t believe the statistic that you quote. Seems implausible and this administration has a long history of lying. So I don’t believe self justifying PR from Trumpville.
The election was a fraud? Please. . .Try another fantasy.
What about vaccines? More to worry about with vaccines than polio and measles.
I’ll bet that you think that all of Trump’s cabinet and competent and qualified.
Oy!
Just do the math. 10 in 2024, 79 in 2025.
On Tuesday, Bill Melugin of Fox News reported on X that DHS told him assaults against ICE and federal immigration enforcement are now up 690 percent from last year. While ICE has previously stuck to publishing percentages, Melugin was given raw data, reporting 79 assaults against immigration enforcement agents between January 21 and June 30, up from 10 that took place in the same time last year.
And I couldn’t care less if 2020 was a fraud or not. 2024 was a victory, and that’s all it matters now. The Cabinet is doing just fine, unlike the rudderless Democratic Party.
Make that 701%:
“An ICE protestor could be seen firing a gun directly towards federal agents on Thursday morning as a volatile standoff escalated at a California cannabis farm.”
That was just about the time you were writing, Joe. What are the odds? Still, get between a Californian and his weed, and what do you expect?
Again agree 100%!
If police officers, sheriffs, the national guard and witnesses in court have to show their faces, then these cowards have to abide by the same standard. Even CIA and FBI operativwes have to do so. If they are to remain masked, then they are de facto secret police, and in the public sphere no different from the Klu Klux Klan.
BLM protestors did not mask up nor did neo Nazi tiki torch marchers. Antifa has masked up but so have the Proud Boys (now there’s an oxymoron) and Oath Keepers. Some insercurectioninsts did and some did not. However, the one thing they have in common is they are civilians. They are the public and not agents working for the goverment.
We the people say no to masked govement agents, it is a gross violation. Maybe someone should invent an app that takes their face and digitally unmasks them. And where are all the free speechers who loved to dox anyone with whom they disagreed? Like why not dox now? Or are you too busy yelling at those now doing the doxing? Sucks when shoe is on the other foot.
How about doing some research before posting inaccuracies?
JEERING MOB Masked BLM protesters hurl racist insults at black cop and call him a ‘n***** b**ch’ at Breonna Taylor demo
Laura Gesualdi-Gilmore
Published: 16:11 ET, Sep 24 2020Updated: 16:29 ET, Sep 24 2020
US-DEMONSTRATION-TRIAL-RACISM
Two women wearing “Black Lives Matter” masks participate in the “Justice for George Floyd” march to the Minnesota State Capitol on March 19, 2021 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Kerem Yucel / AFP) (Photo by KEREM YUCEL/AFP via Getty Images)
News – George Floyd Protest Juneteenth – New York City
MANHATTAN, NY – JUNE 19: A Caucasian protester wearing a mask holds a handmade sign made out of a bag that says, “Black Lives Matter” in Washington Square Park
And there many, many more examples of this. Since I am not your quality control designee, I would suggest that you go and check it yourself and take your comment back.
“insercurectioninsts”? “Operatives”. What on earth is that? We are going to need a bigger keyboard.
When ICE agents mask themselves and don’t wear badges, you have no idea who they are, what agency they work for, and what authority they operate under, so it’s impossible to hold them accountable for their actions. California has proposed a law called the “MELT” Act. It would require “all law enforcement — not just ICE — to wear clear identification with names and badge numbers.” Law enforcement would be allowed to mask up in special circumstances like narcotics operations or SWAT raids. The spectacle of armed federal agents — faces hidden behind neck gaiters and balaclavas — jumping out of unmarked vans to snatch people off the streets is a clear threat to public safety. Their tactic of masking especially when wearing plain clothes and no visible marker of identity spreads fear and endangers citizens as well as immigrants without legal status.
If somebody comes up to you with a mask and a T-shirt and no badge, why would you think they are exercising a legitimate authority, as opposed to being a violent criminal trying to harm you? Regular police officers operate every day with their faces uncovered and their badge numbers visible, and it’s not considered unsafe for their identities to be available to the public. Clearly ICE agents are trying to create an atmosphere of intimidation. By masking themselves, they’re signaling that they’re not accountable to any sort of public.
Some members of Congress are pushing No Masks for ICE Act, a federal bill that would prohibit ICE Agents from using face coverings during operations except for specific safety reasons, and it would require agents to wear visible identification that clearly displayed their name and agency affiliation. Not surprisingly, not a single Republican has gotten on board, even though many alarmed Americans — Democrats, Republicans, and independents — think there ought to be clear federal guidelines on badges, uniforms, and masking.
“When ICE agents mask themselves and don’t wear badges, you have no idea who they are, what agency they work for, and what authority they operate under…”
Hint: check out their jackets or vests: ICE, FBI, HSI, DEA, CBP—the whole gamut of alphabet agencies, as well as “Police”, “Federal Agent”, and “Federal Officer”. In big ol’ white or yellow letters. You know exactly who they are. And you know the absolutely vital job they do. One dumbass Temple College student (but I repeat myself) tried holding a fake raid—but his arrest was real enough, as was his suspension from school.
They arrest the most dangerous criminals, and they’re the bad guys?!! Don’t tempt the asteroid, people.
It’s almost not worth responding to the those who defend masked law enforcement officers. The only reason they defend them is that they are–for now–coming after brown and black “offenders.” If these “brave” law enforcement officers (I put brave in quotes because the danger to these heavily armed warriors, with bullet proof vests, and many colleagues, against usually one scared immigrant rarely rises to the level of a policeman or a firefighter) were coming after white folks the white folks who defend them would likely be singing a different tune.
What is really going on is the legitimization of prejudice against minorities. Can I prove that? No. But keep your eyes open–it’s going to get worse.
If it’s not worth responding, it is not worth reading. And if you cannot prove it, why would you write it?
Bye now.
Nice to be told what I actually think. For free, no less! But as an amateur shrink, you might want to read up on “projection”. It would explain a lot.
Funny thing about engaging in debate on this site. Those who don’t stick their fingers in their ears and deny the facts we present instead resort to the worst of slurs. Or issue threats. Some debate: one would be hard pressed to find an actual argument among the invective spewed.
My modest proposal is that all illegal aliens, however many tens of millions they are, be returned to their countries of origin, wherever they may be, and we start over. You say they’re “brown and black”, but that’s an awfully harsh judgement of people of color. Psychiatrist, heal thyself.
It a clear lie to all who are not emotionally immature or indoctrinated with the lies about their eating the dogs and cats etc to see that the vast majority of the people being kidnapped by ICE are not dangerous criminals. Most are simply trying to work to survive and to follow the law as best they can. In my youth I had moments of bad judgement that caused me to have to pay fines for braking the law. Fortunately, being of a respectable pedigree and skin color, I was not rounded up and deported for my lack of good judgement. I would hope those of you that still support the felon president would look at the absurdity of your supporting a felon for president who is arguably doing far worse for this country than most of these hard working migrants who are being rounded up without even the chance of the due process you would want for yourself, and that the felon president received. It is especially shocking when I hear it from Jewish people. Do you not see that this is very much like what was done to the Jews in the 30’s?
And don’t talk down to me or others about spelling or aerogramme. It just shows your arrogance.
Not to mention the use of – or lack thereof – paragraphs. Uh, what about the aerogramme thing? Context?
“Judgement” is British English. We Americans find it a bit elitist and prefer to use judgment; less arrogant, some would say.
I work in Law Enforcement locally and do support my fellow Federal Agents in their sweep of ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS off of our streets. Some people who quote states passing laws to “unmask” the ICE agents should know that State Laws do not and cannot supersede Federal Policies. This means that even if states require, by their new laws, that ICE agents can’t wear masks, as Federal Agents they don’t need to abide by that law.
Thank you for your service and support. Illegal ALIENS must leave our Country. They even have a choice; either self-deport or ICE-deport.
Thanks to all the commenters. The debate seems to have gotten into tangents. New thoughts or perspectives are welcome.
So noted. Thanks.