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CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – Yesterday more video surfaced with ICE agents interacting with demonstrators in Minneapolis. A woman tried to wedge her car between two ICE vehicles, so close that agents couldn’t open the door. But an agent came up to the other side of her car, broke her side window, and dragged her out. She was arrested.
A mob of protesters gathered and attempted to prevent agents from dragging her away. 60 of them were zip-tied and arrested.
What the protesters are doing is illegal. They are interfering with a legal law enforcement operation. The fact that they detest ICE and are opposed to immigration enforcement makes no difference. Yesterday’s video shows criminal behavior that must be prosecuted.
And shame on the local police, who are under stand-down orders and offer no assistance.
I will give you a hypothetical. These anti-ICE activists are also probably against evicting deadbeat renters. Suppose for a moment that when a landlord gets a court order to evict a non-paying renter, that a mob surrounds the sheriff’s deputies. Should police stand down because evictions are unpopular? What happens if the mob turns violent and police won’t intervene?
It’s called law enforcement for a reason. Police don’t get to choose which laws they enforce and which ones they don’t. Local police may not like ICE tactics in their city. They may despise the unrest that ICE raids cause. But the alternative – letting the mob win – is unconscionable. Interfering with federal law enforcement is a federal crime. Yesterday in Minneapolis, the FEDs began enforcing it. Good for them.
Chris Conley
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