Several Congress members are demanding answers from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security after two NYPD officers were injured while interacting with ICE in Washington Heights last month.
New York U.S. Reps. Dan Goldman and Adriano Espaillat, along with New Jersey U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez, announced Wednesday that they dispatched a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Acting Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons urging an explanation for the Nov. 12 raid that they said went awry.
According to the elected officials, officers were called to 164th Street and Broadway after 911 callers reported masked men in plain clothes pulling New Yorkers out of vehicles. When cops arrived, they got into some kind of scuffle with the masked men — who ultimately revealed themselves to be ICE agents.
The two officers suffered minor injuries from the scuffle with the feds, although the exact nature of their injuries was not disclosed.
The Congress Members are seeking the info based on videos of the incident, and others, that went viral online. The videos show ICE agents forcing people into unmarked cars.
“Incidents like these reflect a growing pattern of dangerous — even criminal — incidents arising out of ICE’s violations of its own regulations. When ICE conducts street arrests in dense residential neighborhoods wearing masks while dressed indistinguishably from armed kidnappers, it invites clashes with civilians and local law enforcement,” part of the letter wrote.
According to Goldman, the NYPD is also being tight-lipped about the incident.
He stated that on Nov. 25, he also wrote to Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch requesting more information about what had taken place that day, but had failed to hear back. amNewYork reached out to the NYPD for comment, but they did not immediately respond.
The elected officials charge that more incidents like these will continue to occur if federal agents are not forced to clearly identify themselves when participating in an enforcement operation.
“This behavior is unacceptable and continues to jeopardize both public safety and the ability of our local law enforcement officers to do their jobs,” the letter continued.
The lawmakers also demanded information regarding how many times the NYPD responded to ICE operations because agents did not properly identify themselves.
