Thursday morning, October 1, at 7:00 AM, Kent County experienced what I believe was the first raid by masked agents of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. Four masked men approached a car parked in the driveway of a home near the Chester River Country Club, smashed a car window, and arrested two people, including a maid going to work at that home.
I know that many of our residents have long been concerned about the actions of these “Secret Police,” hiding behind masks and usually operating without identification, body cameras, adequate training, or even proper vetting. But we consoled ourselves by thinking that these outrages only happened somewhere else — perhaps in Minnesota, Texas, or California — but not here on “the Right Side of Maryland.”
To put this in context, when I was Mayor and serving on a panel to interview candidates for Police Chief of Chestertown, one of the first questions I asked our candidates was: “What is your attitude toward Body Cameras?” At that time, Chestertown had no body cameras, nor was there any money set aside in our budget to purchase them, but Ron Dixon’s immediate response was: “I support body cameras because I believe they help protect our police officers as well as our residents.” As you may know, Ron Dixon is now Chief Dixon, and right after he was hired, he began writing grants to purchase cameras and quickly ensured that every officer wears a legible name tag and a body camera, and that the body camera is turned on.
You may have heard that the excuse given by ICE for not requiring proper identification, much less body cameras for their agents, is to protect them from radicals in our communities who might retaliate against them or their families. The question I want all of us to ask of the Trump Administration and Congressman Andy Harris is: “If our local Sheriffs and Police Officers who live in or near our community are not afraid to be identified by local citizens, why should ICE Agents, who don’t live anywhere near us, be afraid to show their faces and be accountable?” In addition to asking those government officials, you might also want to ask yourselves and your friends: “How willing would you be to open your car if surrounded by masked men?”
While the use of secret police is anathema in most civilized countries, as a retired Foreign Service Officer, I have served in many countries where such practices were once common and still evoke vivid memories. DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN HERE!
David Foster
Former Mayor of Chestertown
28 Responses
Thank you, David, for speaking up for our community. I add my voice to David’s. Join us!
David,
Thanks for making us aware of this incident. Coincidentally, someone we know in the local community told us she had a relative that was abducted in Dover. They don’t know where he is at the moment. He has two children ages 1 and 3. Shameful. I’m voting to end this in my country.
Brian Schatzinger
Well said, David. Chilling indeed. I would love to know more about the circumstances and why a car window had to be smashed.
Indeed! Why such force? They terrorize the victims by not identifying and by wearing illegal masks; then comes the excessive force. Certainly a police officer could unlock a car without a brick to smash a window. I know they have tools.
Here we are, again, asking why ICE ‘agents’ are not well vetted, not well trained, and why they don’t have proper uniforms with cameras. How is this allowed? Why does Congress allow billions of US taxpayer $ to fund a cult of masked domestic terrorists? I know the reasons! Let’s vote them
Out in November!
David, well said.
The first step to ridding our beloved nation of Trump’s Gestapo-like ICE agents is to elect as many Democrats as possible to Congress (both House and Senate) so they can start the process of national de-Trumpification. This will begin as we engage in mail–in voting, early voting, and voting on Election Day itself, November 3. Of special interest to Marylanders is the delightful prospect of our own Rep. Jamie Raskin becoming chair of the powerful House Judiciary Committee! The Blue Wave is coming!
“We’ve surely got trouble!
Right here in River City!
Remember the Maine, Plymouth Rock and the Golden Rule!
Oh, we’ve got trouble.
We’re in terrible, terrible trouble.”
Thank you David. This is wrong…just wrong.
To whomever witnessed the abduction of the two people by ICE yesterday in Chestertown: report it on https://iceout.org/en/
This is more current: https://www.iceinmyarea.org/
Thank you, David! I’m afraid I thought/hoped living in Kent County meant we would not witness the ICE nightmare firsthand. But here it is. I don’t oppose immigration reform, or immigration enforcement. I oppose masked officers inflicting extrajudicial consequences on human beings who are guaranteed due process under our Constitution. I support a human being’s right to a fair trial. November is coming.
Disgusting. Anyone who is operating within the law doesn’t need to be wearing a mask. ICE agents are terrorists and do not belong in the United States of America, currently celebrating 250 years of freedom which we seem to have lost.
Trump said he would deport the criminals and rapists. Stephen Miller set a goal of at least 1,000 deportations a day, so now ICE has to arrest anyone who is working toward a path to citizenship, even if they have no criminal record. ICE is arresting MD Eastern Shore’s much-needed farm workers, crab pickers, roofers, cleaners, etc.
I have to wonder, considering the location of this abduction, whether a crazy, Fox Entertainment Network addicted neighbor was the source of information for our “protectors” at ICE. If the information is correct, this was not a murderer, rapist or landscaper but in essence, a health care provider for an elderly neighbor of all of us!
SHAMEFUL !
I wondered the same thing! Whomever reported these hard-working folks should be ashamed, as a human and an American, by the way these folks were treated and abducted from private property, with excessive force, and without due process of law.
Yes, let’s ask useless, spineless, Orban supporting Andy Harris.
David’s alert prompts me to ask how can we make contact with local vulnerable people to ask about providing aid they want now. What can they tell us would be helpful? Who wants to talk with me about this?
This was no accident. it means that a neighbor “turned in” the service people who were at this location. How is this different from 1930s when people spied on and turned in their neighbors. My two cents: Kent County residents need to actively observe what’s going on here. This won’t be the last ICE foray here. And are there lawyers and citizen advocates ready to step in and help when people are being taken ? (Roberta Faul-Zeitler, Waterview Lane)
The thought that anyone would be so morally challenged as to call ICE on a fellow human is unfathomable.
This makes me sick.
Are you aware that at approximately the same time there was a larger roundup at Chester River Landscaping on Clovally Lane? I saw a video and the ICE agents were not wearing masks, I guess because of the no-mask law that went into effect that day.
BTW This comment was not meant at all to be supportive of ICE, just informational. I do not condone the raid at the Landscaping Company and am horrified by the ICE actions carried out expressly
to meet quotas established by the Trump administration.
David, you write that this is “what I believe” was the first ICE action here. Belief is not a report. No names, no warrant, no confirmation from ICE, the Sheriff, or Chestertown police, and no account in the Kent County News. Neighbors in these comments have already turned that into “abduction,” “Gestapo,” and “secret police.” One commenter says a video from the same morning, at Chester River Landscaping on Clovally Lane, showed agents who were not masked. Before we are asked to treat a driveway arrest as the arrival of secret police, the Spy should tell us who was arrested, on what authority, and whether anyone local has confirmed the window, the masks, or the “maid.” Enforcement of immigration law is not a raid on Kent County.
My report was based directly on the word of the Kent County homeowner, who is also the employer of one of the people arrested: “Four or five masked men broke the car window with a brick, arrested the occupants, and hauled them away.” I said that I “believed” that this was the first such action because I regularly ask our police and sheriffs about such issues, and none had been reported. Often, the biggest difference between the Gestapo (or Securitate) and ICE is in the eye of the beholder — whether their operations are targeted against “us” or “them.”
This was not a driveway arrest; this incident was an abduction by two masked men. I have first-hand knowledge and I know that both abductors were wearing full face coverings. I have seen images. There is no public report because ICE is a clandestine operation that acts in secrecy. There is a website that helps locate the abductees, but only with knowledge of their full names and other information. The Chestertown police were called and visited the aftermath. The woman’s shoes were left on the yard making it likely that she was hauled off without protection On her feet. Additionally, I know that she has a severe leg injury that may be a broken bone caused by excessive force. I saw the broken car window and the scattered glass all over the car and driveway. I saw the brick lying inside the abandoned car. ICE does not ID or wear uniforms or cameras. How can we really know who it was or why it really happened? Was there due process provided? No. Was it just a racist band of cold- blooded domestic terrorists? Could be! ICE should be held accountable for their actions and be well trained and better vetted for their supposed support of our nation. This was a despicable act that should not occur in the United States.
The abductions and kidnappings by ICE “officers” throughout the country are abhorrent. In David’s article and the responses of public comments, I do not see mentioned if Kent County law enforcement officers have a policy to not assist ICE. I am new to the area, so I am not familiar with the practices or our local officers. While body cameras are often the argument for the safety of both the officer and the citizen, they are not a replacement for vetting recruits, proper training, and basic human decency.
Absolutely agree! Vetting and training are paramount.
I moved from Kent County to San Francisco, where I volunteer to advise Green Card holders who have been summoned to ICE headquarters about their right to free legal representation. But there is no way to anticipate where or when ICE will strike to snatch people off the streets. Thank you for this article, shocking though this news is.
If basic humans rights and respect of another’s humanity have to be suspended for “immigration reform”….then there is nothing reformative about it….it is government sanctioned violence and abuse that is creating generations of trauma.
uupad@npogroups.org
As this shows, the ICEstapo is not going away.
One way to defend yourself and anyone around you is to go to AFT.ORG and click on “Know Your Rights.” This site can be used for a teachin and also provides a script of what to say when confronted by these thugs.
The other thing you can do is buy a whistle. I gave out more than 200 whistles at the AFT convention. They can be gotten at any dollar store.
Remember, they have no rules, only quotas. If you can make them visible, they are less able to be harmful.