New video captures ICE in ‘drive-by’ mace attack on peaceful people on sidewalk
Dozens of protesters in Phoenix, Arizona were hit in a drive-by mace attack Monday night by an apparent Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, Phoenix New Times editor Zach Buchanan reported.
“I've been sent video from the end of the ICE raid at the Zipps on 32nd and Shea,” Buchanan wrote in a social media post on X, alongside video of the incident.
“It shows protesters – on the sidewalk, impeding no one – getting drive-by maced by an ICE agent from a truck as it rolls away down the road. Hard to see how such tactics are justifiable.”
In the video, around two dozen demonstrators can be seen protesting ICE on a sidewalk near a sports grill just outside of Phoenix’s downtown area as apparent ICE vehicles drive by. As a silver truck bearing sirens passes by, an individual in the front passenger seat can be seen spraying protesters with what appears to be mace as the vehicle passes by.
“Oh my god, oh my god,” a voice can be heard shouting moments after the protesters were sprayed.
One protester appeared injured by the drive-by mace attack, with others rushing to their aid and one offering them an article of clothing to wipe their face.
The sports grill where the incident took place just outside of – Zipps Sports Grill – was the target of a criminal investigation carried out by the Department of Homeland Security and several partner agencies, Fox News reported, with DHS being granted 15 search warrants for the eatery.Speculation grows over who ICE hired to build ‘Trump’s army’: ‘That’s why they’re masked’
Speculation is growing in the wake of another fatal shooting in Minnesota that the Department of Homeland Security is hiring pardoned Jan. 6 rioters as immigration agents.
Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino confirmed that the two agents who shot 37-year-old Alex Pretti were already back on duty, but not in Minneapolis, and has refused to identify them. Journalists who have covered pro-Donald Trump militant groups suspect some of the agents involved in immigration crackdowns are drawn from those extremist ranks.
"Because I filmed the Proud Boys for years, because I was in Charlottesville and at the January 6 riot, and spent five months filming the ICE agents in Federal Plaza I’m convinced they are the same people," said independent visual journalist Sandi Bachom. "It’s impossible to find a whole new army of aggressive, violent, immature, Call to Duty Trump sycophants. That’s why they’re masked. People are gonna start figuring it out. That’s why he pardoned them all."
"I remember thinking when I got back from January 6, well Hitler had an army and Trump doesn’t," Bachom added. "He does now."
Trump pardoned about 1,500 defendants for Jan. 6-related offenses in one of his first official acts upon returning to the White House, and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) two weeks ago – following the shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good by a veteran immigration agent – asked administration officials whether the Department of Homeland Security was actively recruiting pro-Trump extremists.
"The American people deserve to know how many of these violent insurrectionists have been given guns and badges by this Administration," Raskin wrote in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. "Who is hiding behind these masks? How many of them were among the violent rioters who attacked the Capitol on January 6th and were convicted of their offenses?"
Senate Democrats have threatened to withhold funding for DHS without major reforms to ICE, including a possible ban on masking, and state legislatures are advancing bills to ban federal agents from obscuring their identities while on duty, and the secrecy surrounding Pretti's killers has set off alarms about their actual identities.
"There is another, more disturbing prospect: Are ICE agents actual bad dudes the administration hired rapidly with no background checks — possibly criminal (maybe pardoned J6ers?) — and the administration doesn’t want that information getting out?" wondered journalist Robert A. George. "IOW, the masks represent a LITERAL coverup. Now, we know this isn’t universally the case: Jonathan Ross who shot Renee Good is an ICE veteran. But the spiriting out of Minneapolis the agents who killed Alex Pretti is certainly…curious."
"This is purely speculation on my part, but hey, I didn’t call them domestic terrorists or anything," George added.
Their suspicions seemed to be shared by many others.
"Anyone else notice how the Proud Boys, Three Percenters, Oath Keepers, Patriot Front, etc. were always out there marching to support and protect law enforcement...until recently?" asked University of Washington biologist Carl T. Bergstrom. "They're never out there supporting ICE. It's so odd, like Superman and Clark Kent."
The Atlantic's Robert F. Worth spoke to an activist on the ground in Minneapolis who agreed.
"It became clear very quickly that ICE is the Proud Boys, the Boogaloo boys," said Dan, who trained as a legal observer but asked to keep his last name shielded. "They’ve given them uniforms and let them run wild."
Trump will save Kristi Noem — but shift her away from immigration: insiders
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is expected to keep her job after meeting at the White House with President Donald Trump to discuss her handling of the immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota that has led to the shooting deaths of two Americans.
The president is reportedly unhappy with Noem's response to the fatal shooting Saturday of 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti by federal agents, and sources told CBS News that the DHS secretary was hit with questions about her leadership.
CBS reported that sources said Noem is not likely to be fired, but "her focus is expected to shift from immigration enforcement operations in the interior of the country to securing the southern border and other priorities."
"Noem and top aide Corey Lewandowski had elevated Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino and tasked him with overseeing highly publicized and controversial immigration raids in cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte, New Orleans and, most recently, Minneapolis," CBS News reported.
"The move — intended to bolster President Trump's mass deportation campaign — marked a significant change in tactics because immigration matters in the country's interior have historically been handled by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, not Border Patrol."
Bovino was given a new title of "commander" and reported directly to Noem, which set off internal conflict over the aggressive campaign in the Minneapolis area. After the shootings of two 37-year-olds – Renee Good and Alex Pretti – this month, the administration removed him from the post and sent him back to California. He's expected to retire.
"One official said serious threats against Bovino in Minnesota, including death threats, factored into the administration's decision to pull him from the operation there," CBS News reported.
Trump dispatched his border czar Tom Homan, who reportedly has a chilly relationship with Noem, to lead the Minnesota operation, and government sources told CBS News they were not happy about remarks the DHS secretary and other top officials have made about Pretti's killing.
"When we gaslight and contradict what the public can plainly see with their own eyes, we lose all credibility and it's going to damage our reputation for generations," said one DHS official.
Crack in Trump’s strategy could bring his whole midterm term plot crashing down: expert
New York Times columnist David French recently outlined a strategy that could prevent President Donald Trump from undermining the midterm elections.
In recent columns, French has sounded the alarm about "all of Trump's threats against American elections."
"Trump has filled his administration with cronies and true believers, and his attorney general is one of his chief enforcers. In 2020 Bill Barr, who was then the attorney general, resigned rather than continue to pursue Trump's stolen election claims," he noted on Sunday.
Writing on Thursday, French proposed pushing through the so-called Bivens Act, supported by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Reps. Hank Johnson (D-GA) and Jamie Raskin (D-MA). If signed into law by the president, the legislation would remove federal officials' immunity from lawsuits.
"It would amend Section 1983 by stating that officials 'of the United States' can be held liable on the same basis as officials of any state," French wrote. "That's it. That's the bill. And it's worth shutting down the Department of Homeland Security to get it passed."
The law would also apply to violations of voting rights.
"In my law practice, I saw fear of liability deter many constitutional violations. College presidents have removed speech codes. Police departments have changed policies. And not because of criminal prosecution, but from fear of substantial monetary judgments or injunctions from the courts," French explained. "I'm aware that it will be difficult to get Republicans to agree to greater legal accountability when they control the executive branch, when Republicans would be most likely to be held accountable, at least in the short term. And they would have to do so in force here to get past a potential presidential veto."
"But the Bivens Act would also hold Democrats accountable when they're back in power," he added. "It would give Republicans tools to restrain Democratic excess. The Bivens Act protects the Constitution. It does not punish any particular political party."
"Yes, a corrupt president may pardon the crooks and cronies who act on his behalf, but a modest change in the law could give them pause. Violating civil rights should carry a profound cost, and the message to the Trump administration should be simple and clear: Protect the integrity of the election, or we will make you pay."
