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.
Remember, remember the 5th of November, the gun powder treason and plot. I see no reason the gun powder treason should ever be forgot.
I always wondered if there were people that watched the history of Nazi Germany and didn’t feel immediate revulsion from it.
I mean I just grew up thinking that it was universally true that people thought that fascism and authoritarianism is bad in the US. Like Nazis are bad guys and SS guards were cruel and inhuman. All the usual things.
But there are actually people in the US that would have gleefully cheered on the rise of fascism in Germany and would have been right there to sign up to be SS guards and brown shirts, beating up Jews and gays and socialists and executing them in the streets.
Like, monsters really do live among us. I really didn’t think that that kind of detestable subhumans existed in modern America.
The American Gestapo AKA ICE are objectively bad people. There’s no other way to frame it. They are just bad people, evil, violent monsters who should be purged (jailed) from society.
I can’t imagine growing up thinking “I want to be just like those and SS animals”. Like where did their mothers and fathers go wrong? Total sociopaths.
Oh my sweet summer child. If you really believe this, then you haven’t spent much time around conservatives. I was raised by them. Nazism was/is taken lightly, like a silly joke (that’s why you saw so many people smiling and laughing at Elon’s Nazi salute at the inauguration). Never seen as a serious threat—even today—as it starts to actually become one. The vast majority of conservatives are either in denial over the rise of Neo-Nazism, or are just straight-up Nazis themselves.
I’m not in the US but that’s truly chilling to hear. When you’re not surrounded by it, you don’t realise how normalised something becomes in a different part of society.
It’d be ashamed if they were to get bear sprayed on their masks and had to remove them.
Nah bro, aerosolized coyote piss. Get that up in their mask. Or just a super soaker full of it.
Don’t ask me how you get the piss, just know it works.
You can get it from hunting supply places in bottles. Sometimes people also buy coyote pee for putting around their gardens to spook off the deer.
Reminds me of Squid Game
Lemmy.world fully endorses the.police state and looks forward to more death, deportations, and white supremacist policy.
Then what are you doing on that instance then?
It was the easiest one when I signed up and I did t know what they were then. I dont know how to leave it.
You create an account in another and import your account info, keeps a lot of stuff
What is a good one that rebukes shitlibberie but doesnt fellate Stalin?
The one I’m on is anarchist , and is rather chill. There are actually many small servers that are left, but not authoritarian.
If you like larger, I think the reputations of ml and hexbear here on world are not realistic. More of a scary bedtime story libs tell their kids. But there are a few users there who drift into what you might not like.
the reputations of ml and hexbear here on world are not realistic. More of a scary bedtime story libs tell their kids.
What, because it hasn’t happened to you? Good for you. Lol
I’m not a bellicose type, or a lib, and I’m not an imperialist, so I’m a decent fit with most communities there.
It’s far easier for me to ignore most oddball stuff in those two than things that drive me crazy here.
I like mander, it has neat science stuff.
US law says if you see someone being assaulted, and the perp is not identified as law enforcement, you can kill the attacker in defense of the person being assaulted.
Of course the same goes for self defense.
If someone is assaulting you and not identifing as law enforcement you can kill them in self defense.
What is the legal qualification for “identifying as law enforcement”? Can I don a mask and tacti-cool gear and shout “ICE federal agent” as I attack someone?
Genuine question, because that’s what’s happening
I would say showing a badge, and them waiting patiently while you can call in to confirm their legitimacy with their org.
The precedent tho is that anyone who identifies as law enforcement is supposed to be believed.
People are impersonating ICE all the time these days, its reasonable to not believe someone is an ICE agent based on word alone. If a person killed an ICE agent assuming he was an imposter then a judge might not throw the book at them, considering our current climate.
You can but ICE “plaques” of 5", approximately the right size, here: https://americanplaquecompany.com/product/dhs-ice-badge-plaque/
I wouldn’t be able to tell that from a legitimate badge
So many of the videos I’ve seen are of supposed officers forcibly kidnapping people without giving a badge number or warrant (some claim there are no badge numbers for ICE, but likely that was a fake officer. They certainly aren’t letting people look up a contact number for DHS
Also feels like the administration is waiting for someone to resost so Trump can label them a terrorist and make an example out of them, despite it being perfectly legal self-defense
As much as I like the way you think, I don’t think that would fly in an American court of law. You don’t need to see their face to know their a cop / law enforcement. They’re wearing a uniform.
A lot of them are plain cloths
A lot of ICE agents aren’t wearing a uniform. The domestic terrorist in Minnesota was wearing more of a uniform than 90% of ICE agents
Some brave patriot needs to test it and demand a jury trial
bunch of pussy. Too afraid to show their faces.
In fact, if I ask for identification and they dont provide, I’ll call them: Mr. Pussy #1, Mr. Pussy #2…etc.
Any person hiding their identity while carrying a weapon should be shot and killed on sight. I am with the GOP on this point.
Fascism isn’t some nebulous concept on the horizon. Or maybe hiding around the next blind corner.
It is literally here. Now. Right now.
Wake up call. America has secret police (gestapo) now.
Yes, what to do about it?
I’m going to write my senators and hold up a sign, with a polite yet firm wording, in a very peaceful protest
My advice is, anybody who can leave the Untied States should
general strike
Mfs think they’re in Watchmen, but it’s Birth of a Nation instead.
A major reason police officers wear uniforms is for their obvious identification as a legal law enforcement entity formally trained and endorsed by the state. While it’s generally symbolic, it is at least a basic-ass demonstration of good faith identification/adherence to the law. EVEN IF it’s just performative, it’s still at least saying their actions will be in accordance with the law, and at least implying that their intent is enforcement of that same law.
However, if they not only ditch the uniform, but even literally wear things to mask their identity, the symbolism of good-faith action and intent go out the window. Why would any reasonable person trust such a blatant disregard for clear establishment of authority figures? Furthermore, if such symbolism is reversed in such a manner, how could any reasonable person not assume ill-intent? If they’re taking away even US citizens for an indeterminate amount of time and to an indeterminate place, then wouldn’t it be in the best interest of the people that encounter law enforcement to resist by any means–even lethal means? And to further compound the problem, there were recent high-profile political murders by someone impersonating a police officer. So not only are we unable to trust legitimate police officers while they’re in uniform, we now have(admittedly weak(for now)) evidence that the uniform no longer implies good-faith intent of the person wearing it. Which leads me to one final major issue; if our confidence in officers’ law-bound behavior is shattered, and our confidence in our citizen status to ensure our rights is shattered, and our confidence in police uniforms being fairly reliable identification symbolism is shattered, then what amount of confidence is left in any law enforcement officials when they then wear clothing that is symbolically indicative of someone acting in bad faith with ill-intent? And then local law enforcement, in uniform, protect and assist alleged federal law enforcement in their very high-profile raids.
So, moral reasoning aside, it would be unwise to even engage with any law enforcement or anyone that claims to be law enforcement. They can’t be trusted and their intent is unknown. They are visibly armed with a variety of weapons and are currently engaging in illegal operations systematically–even though the confines of current law effectively gives them legal means to do whatever they want. All that said, it can reasonably argued that it’s effectively a death sentence if you get swept up by someone claiming to be law enforcement, regardless of whether or not they can be confidently identified as such. All that to say: some fed bois are gonna get smoked before the end of the year and they’ve earned it by undermining themselves in the public eye. I have extreme confidence that things will get better in the long run, but as for the foreseeable future, the worst is yet to come.
Tl;dr: Law enforcement abandoning clear uniform identification for bad-faith/ill-intent symbolism logically justifies lethal resistance. There will probably be multiple shootings of feds by the end of the year at this rate. If some alphabet feds get shot, could be claimed as a cases belli for some real bullshit.
It’s not a major reason it’s the reason.
The first question they ask an officer in any situation with force is did you announce your presence and was it obvious you’re police. It’s the whole reason you aren’t supposed to be pulled over by plain clothes, they’re supposed to call a marked unit to effectuate a stop.
This trend didn’t started with ICE officers hiding their face but with the police patrols with “ghost marks”. I remember from years ago seeing memes of those patrol cars compared with European ones, that are full of bright colors, the message of each one as “I’m here hidden to catch you vs I’m here calling your attention to help you*”
* Obligatory All Cops, even the hot Sweeden and Italian cops, Are Bastards.
Even shorter TL;DR: The lack of verifiable face-value LEOs breaks even the shitty social contract we did have, and it’s gonna create problems.
If you have to cover up your entire face like this it should be a huge hint that what you’re doing is fucked up
It’s illegal and they know it. This is a vain attempt to avoid punishment once Biff is not in power anymore.
is this because we’re listening to all that damn “post-hardcore” music on the patios and at the parks in public?
But we’re FREE from the tyranny of forced education and health care, puh-raise JEE-zuz-ah!
Let them wear masks. It’s an important piece of safety equipment in some scenarios. Lets mandate that undercover/plain clothes officers cannot enforce the law beyond what a civilian could do. They should not be allowed to arrest you, or point a gun at you, or demand that you ID yourself. Only officers in uniform should be allowed to do those things, and they should be required to identify themselves, the department they work for, and display a badge with number to be considered “in uniform”.
