ProPublica has assembled a stunning report, including videos, of disgusting police state tactics being employed by the ICE and Border Patrol -- there's no other way to describe them -- goons rushing to make their quota of dubious arrests:
A month into the new Trump administration, on the predawn streets of suburban Maryland, a high-ranking ICE official stood alongside a Mazda sedan that his officers had just stopped.
The official told a local TV reporter at the scene what was about to happen. “He can either give us a license,” he said, “or we’ll smash the fucking window out and drag him out.” Then, as the driver refused to exit the car, officers broke the glass.
It was one of nearly 50 documented instances of immigration agents breaking vehicle windows that ProPublica has identified from social media, local news accounts, lawsuits and interviews since President Donald Trump took office six months ago. Using the same methods, we found just eight in the previous decade. Neither number is comprehensive. The government releases no relevant statistics.
Use-of-force experts and former Immigration and Customs Enforcement insiders say the tactic was rarely used during previous administrations. They say there is no known policy change greenlighting agents’ smashing of windows. Rather, it’s a part of a broader shattering of norms.
There are arrest quotas, and they are increasingly aggressive. “There’s been an emphasis placed on speed and numbers that did not exist before,” says Deborah Fleischaker, who served as ICE chief of staff under President Joe Biden.
Officers who break glass aren’t being disciplined — they’re being promoted. The official from Maryland, Matthew Elliston, now occupies a senior position at headquarters and oversees field operations on the East Coast. On the other side of the country, a Border Patrol chief who also embraced the tactic, Gregory Bovino, was put in charge of sweeps in Los Angeles. (Neither answered ProPublica’s questions.)...
Please go to the link to view the shocking videos. Here's a screenshot from the video of a masked goon about to break the window of a man at a Home Depot last month in Los Angeles:
As these unAmerican police state tactics are being carried out by thugs in our name, ICE is recruiting more goons to carry out its extra-legal attacks on American citizens and non- citizens alike with a stomach-wrenching, Kafkaesque appeal:
The agency responsible for carrying out Donald Trump’s mass deportations is launching a recruiting campaign to entice “brave and heroic Americans” to serve as new deportation officers, lawyers and investigators as the government gears up for a major expansion of immigration enforcement thanks to a recent infusion of money from Congress. The icing on the cake: a promise of up to $50,000 in signing bonuses.
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement campaign, which rolled out late Tuesday, recalls recruiting posters from the second world war with images of Uncle Sam and the words “AMERICA NEEDS YOU.” There also are photos of the US president and top homeland security officials with the words “DEFEND THE HOMELAND” across the images.
“Your country is calling you to serve at ICE,” said homeland security secretary Kristi Noem in a news release. “This is a defining moment in our nation’s history. Your skills, your experience, and your courage have never been more essential. Together, we must defend the homeland.”...
Brave and heroic Americans are those who fight these goons' tactics and methods, not the ones acting them out. The skills and experience Border Barbie is looking for is the ability to use excessive force on civilians without warrants or cause, and the "courage" to hide behind gaiters and masks while doing so. This isn't professional police work. Take a good look at these videos. This is what fascism looks like.
(Photo: masked goons in MacArthur Park, Los Angeles on July 7 /Damian Dovarganes, AP)
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