Federal agents from ICE, Homeland Security, and the DEA swarm Wilton Drive as ICE raids a local business to enforce Donald Trump’s deportation policies. Despite all that personnel, when someone dares to speak out against the warrantless arrest, feds call in WMPD to assist in their dirty work.
The raid went down around 10:45 a.m. on Feb. 7 at 2389 Wilton Drive, the site of the old Thai Me Up, which is being renovated for a new restaurant. Chief Gary Blocker promptly announced the raid on social media, and many people were concerned about the department’s role. Now the city is releasing more details.
The responding officer wrote: “I was dispatched to provide assistance to a federal agency. While en route, dispatch advised federal agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were on scene attempting to affect an arrest, and were requesting assistance from local law enforcement due to an unknown subject impeding their investigation.”
ICE Special Agent Martinez and her squad were conducting a warrantless arrest of an unidentified man, and were worried about their safety because one man, Guillermo Ricardo Flores Vasquez, was passionately trying to protect the person from arrest by federal agents with no warrant.
“I observed Flores Vasquez was very irate and was actively preventing the federal agents from initiating contact with the subject they were attempting to arrest. While speaking with Flores Vasquez, he requested a copy of the alleged warrant, to which I attempted to explain to him ICE was affecting a warrantless arrest, therefore no paperwork was required due to the fact the arrest was occurring in a public space and agents had probable cause that the subject is both removable from the United States and likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained.”
The target of the federal agents wasn’t in a public space for long. The report says the man was put in the back of an unmarked government vehicle and whisked away.
Flores Vasquez did what he could to prevent the man from being taken away, rattling Special Agent Martinez.
“[She] requested I prevent Flores Vasquez from approaching the transport vehicle. In response to Flores Vasquez’s behavior and actions, I placed my arm across his chest in an attempt to prevent him from advancing toward the transport vehicle. Flores Vasquez reacted in a violent manner by striking my forearm with his hand.”
“In an attempt to regain control of Flores Vasquez, and prevent his continued obstruction of a federal investigation, I restrained Flores Vasquez against the exterior wall of the business until the subject was safely secured in the transport vehicle and Flores Vasquez gained his composure.”
The WMPD officer did not arrest Flores Vasquez, even though the case could have been made for obstruction and attacking an officer.
But perhaps the greater question is: if ICE, DEA, and Homeland Security were all out in force, why did they need to involve WMPD?
Blocker says, “This was a supervisory decision by federal agents to request our response to the scene. Regardless of their decision, our presence provided ICE no greater authorities for them to facilitate their tasks.”
