In Maine last week, a woman in Portland was filming an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent when the masked official decided to stop what he was doing. In fact, in a video that quickly went viral, he approached the civilian and delivered a chilling message.
When the woman reminded the ICE agent that her presence there was legal, he responded, “Exactly, that’s what we’re doing,” as he tried to record her and collect her information. Asked why, the federal agent replied, “Because we have a nice little database, and now you’re considered a domestic terrorist.”
At that point, the woman asked, “For videotaping you? Are you crazy?”
So according to this unnamed ICE agent, a private American citizen peacefully recording public officials in public isn’t just annoying to federal agencies, it also merits inclusion in a previously unannounced government database.
(The Department of Homeland Security’s Tricia McLaughlin insisted that no such database exists, though McLaughlin says a lot of things, and as MS NOW’s Philip Bump has explained, it’s difficult to consider her an honest broker.)
Time will tell what details, if any, emerge about this alleged database, but the exchange was a timely reminder that as the actions of federal immigration officers generate an intensifying public backlash, the administration appears to have a problem with those who capture agents’ tactics on video.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, for example, recently told the public, “If you see these ICE agents in your neighborhood, take out that phone and hit record. Help us create a database of the atrocities against Minnesotans, not just to establish a record for posterity, but to bank evidence for future prosecution.”
FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News that the Democratic governor’s public appeal not only could lead to “violence against law enforcement,” it also makes him think Walz’s comment should be “examined thoroughly.”
Around the same time, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche appeared on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” and said of Pretti, “He had a phone up right into ICE’s face. You tell me, is that protesting peacefully?”
I can appreciate why federal immigration officers might find it unpleasant to have a cellphone in their face while carrying out their official duties, but to suggest that such a move is necessarily violent or worthy of a violent response is difficult to take seriously.
Taken together, the emerging picture isn’t exactly subtle: Many of the administration’s civilian critics have done exceptional work in documenting federal agents’ tactics, and that is why the administration would apparently like this work to end — which seems like the sort of thing that should inspire more filming, not less.
