ICE Impersonators
CNN
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“Editor’s note: This story contains profane and hateful language.
Authorities in at least three states have arrested individuals allegedly impersonating Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at a time when real ICE agents have ramped up immigration enforcement efforts under the Trump administration, adding to existing fears of law enforcement among migrant communities.
In South Carolina, Sean-Michael Johnson, 33, was charged with kidnapping and impersonating a police officer after allegedly detaining a group of Latino men along a Charleston County road. Johnson is accused of “willfully and unlawfully presenting himself as an ICE Agent and detaining a vehicle of individuals from moving,” according to court records.
The incident, which was recorded by one of the victims, took place on Sullivan’s Island near Charleston on January 29.
“You all got caught!” Johnson is heard saying on the video. “Where are you from, Mexico? You from Mexico? You’re going back to Mexico!”
In the video, Johnson is seen taking the driver’s keys, mocking the driver’s accent, while jiggling the car keys in his face. At one point he is seen trying to take the driver’s phone.
The driver calls a friend and, speaking Spanish, says, “I don’t know man, he’s saying immigration.”
“Now don’t be speaking that pig-Latin in my f**king country!” Johnson says, knocking the phone out of his hand.
“He’s crazy. He’s a racist, man,” one of the passengers in the vehicle, another victim, can be heard saying in Spanish.…”