Mike German, an ex-FBI agent, said immigration agents hiding their identities ‘highlights the illegitimacy of actions’

Some wear balaclavas. Some wear neck gators, sunglasses and hats. Some wear masks and casual clothes.

Across the country, armed federal immigration officers have increasingly hidden their identities while carrying out immigration raids, arresting protesters and roughing up prominent Democratic critics.

It’s a trend that has sparked alarm among civil rights and law enforcement experts alike.

Mike German, a former FBI agent, said officers’ widespread use of masks was unprecedented in US law enforcement and a sign of a rapidly eroding democracy. “Masking symbolizes the drift of law enforcement away from democratic controls,” he said.

  • BootyBuccaneer@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    2 days ago

    And neither am I, but that didn’t stop Hexbear and lm users from misinterpreting what I was saying and getting all trigger happy and obnoxious at me.

    • limer@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      2 days ago

      Hexbear has thousands of users who have written 5 million comments; some are crazy.

      Personally I can deal with hexbear crazy better than I can deal with some crazy in other communities, but everyone is different

      • BootyBuccaneer@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        2 days ago

        Sure, but that doesn’t mean people are making things up. One thing is tolerating weirdness and another is getting caught up in it and targeted.