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. 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. 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.
Officers went inside the home but left without appearing to have made any arrests. Federal officers arrived last Thursday, attracting grassroots activists who watch out in communities and warn people when ICE vehicles or agents are spotted. Protests quickly began and then grew.
Cesar Diaz, the president of Frederick city council, heard news of a confrontation and said he rushed to the 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. There was no warning at all.
The vehicle was one foot away from her,” Diaz told the Guardian earlier this week. Diaz estimated around 200 protesters gathered quite quickly, carrying signs and singing. 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.
Other witnesses reported that some residents were scared to leave their homes and go to work. Some required help to make sure their kids, who were coming off the school bus on Thursday afternoon, would be safe walking home. Protesters can be heard on video footage of the demonstration chanting “Go home”, “Leave Frederick” and “Leave Maryland” at the gathered federal 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. After that more ICE officers arrived and tensions escalated. 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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