Political leaders in Maryland are calling for investigations into the conduct of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers as they clashed with protesters during a federal operation in a local community.
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they → call → community
Residents of Frederick, a city about 50 miles north-west of Baltimore, are still shaken more than a week after ICE officers arrived in numerous vehicles and could be seen on video footage using batons on members of the public and driving their cars on to the sidewalk towards people.
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officers → shake → people
At one point during the occurrences last Thursday and Friday, approaching the Labor Day weekend, protesters sat down in a line across the road linking arms, and also tried to block the doorway to a residential address as ICE personnel approached.
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personnel → approach → address
Officers went inside the home but left without appearing to have made any arrests.
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Officers → go → arrests
Federal officers arrived last Thursday, attracting grassroots activists who watch out in communities and warn people when ICE vehicles or agents are spotted.
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vehicles → arrive → people
Protests quickly began and then grew.
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Protests → begin → ?
Cesar Diaz, the president of Frederick city council, heard news of a confrontation and said he rushed to the scene.
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he → hear → scene
He said he had to step out of the way to avoid being hit by an ICE vehicle and saw a colleague, Katie Nash, the vice-president of the council, have to do the same.
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colleague → say → same
“I had to move so I wouldn’t get hit, and the vice-president did too.
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president → have → ?
The vehicle was one foot away from her,” Diaz told the Guardian earlier this week.
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Diaz → tell → Guardian
“We were there to show people that they had our support, and so the officers would see it too,” he said.
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he → show → it
Diaz estimated around 200 protesters gathered quite quickly, carrying signs and singing.
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protesters → estimate → signs
At that point, four or five ICE vehicles were in the area, he said, a number that grew to eight or nine by last Thursday evening.
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that → say → evening
Other witnesses reported that some residents were scared to leave their homes and go to work.
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residents → report → work
Some required help to make sure their kids, who were coming off the school bus on Thursday afternoon, would be safe walking home.
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who → require → afternoon
Protesters can be heard on video footage of the demonstration chanting “Go home”, “Leave Frederick” and “Leave Maryland” at the gathered federal personnel.
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Protesters → hear → personnel
ICE said in a statement to local media that they were in the area in “an effort to arrest a man” during a vehicle stop last Thursday morning but the man fled the scene, the Frederick News-Post reported.
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Post → say → scene
After that more ICE officers arrived and tensions escalated.
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tensions → arrive → that
In the evening, ICE officers confronted protesters by driving their vehicles towards them, as seen in bystander footage, and videos shared by the Hagerstown Rapid Response activist group also showed officers approaching a home.
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officers → confront → home
It was then that some protestors tried to stop them from reaching the building by creating a human chain, and violence erupted.
Officers in tactical vests can be seen raising batons and hitting at least one protester about their body, while others are dragged and shoved.
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others → try → body
“The level of violence went beyond what the situation called for.
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situation → go → what
It exceeded what is permitted,” Diaz said, saying that at least two people had to go to the hospital due to injuries.
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people → exceed → injuries
He called for an investigation, as did Congresswoman April McClain Delaney, whose district includes the city, calling the incidents deeply concerning.
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district → call → incidents
In a statement, Delaney said: “No family should be afraid to leave their home or feel unsafe in their own neighborhood …
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family → say → neighborhood
I am especially disturbed by reports that ICE agents used force against Frederick residents.
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agents → disturb → residents
These allegations demand immediate answers and a full, transparent investigation.”
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allegations → demand → answers
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the parent agency of ICE, did not respond to a request for comment from the Guardian.
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Department → respond → Guardian
In an earlier statement to local network WBAL-TV, the agency declined to comment “for operation security” and “the safety” of their personnel.
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agency → decline → personnel
DHS told the outlet that “criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the US”.
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aliens → tell → US
Frederick authorities said they were not aware of any ICE or local arrests.
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they → say → arrests
Frederick police said personnel were dispatched to try to de-escalate the situation.
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personnel → say → situation
Police chief Kevin Meyer said his officers asked ICE whether they had an arrest warrant but that federal officers refused to discuss it.
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officers → say → it
Soolah Kemp, a member of Hagerstown Rapid Response, said she was recording video when an ICE car drove in her direction.
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car → say → direction
“I heard the siren, I turned, and he was coming at me.
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he → hear → me
He sped up, so I jumped out of the way.
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I → speed → way
He had enough room on the street to not have an issue.
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He → have → issue
He didn’t have to do what he did,” she said.
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she → have → what
She has filed a report of the incident with the state attorney general’s office, she said.
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she → file → office
US senator Chris Van Hollen has demanded an immediate investigation into events and said “[Donald] Trump’s ICE operations are not about making our country safer, they are about creating chaos and instilling fear in our communities”.
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they → demand → communities
Tatiana Santos, of the activist network Indivisible Frederick Forward, said that the ICE conduct she witnessed was “unconscionable”.
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she → say → network
…and 4 more, not listed.
