The American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday, Oct. 29, filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security on behalf of a pair of people who said an ICE officer slashed their tire while they were acting as legal observers.
The ACLU also released video footage of the Oct. 7 incident in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon. Footage recorded by the legal observers shows ICE officers drive up alongside their stopped car, and a masked officer hops out and quickly uses a knife to stab multiple holes in the wall of one of the car’s rear tires before driving away without speaking to the observers. The complaint says the observers were stopped at a traffic light.
"What happened to us is not unique, and that is what is so terrifying," the legal observers,
who were in the car together, said in a statement shared by the American Civil Liberties Union. "We observe and record public ICE activity in order to shine a light on their abusive behavior and to create a record of what our government is up to. Because of that, they are terrorizing us and anyone else who dares to exercise their First Amendment right to hold our government accountable."
The ACLU in filing the complaint asked DHS and ICE to investigate, preserve all evidence of the incident and discipline the officers involved. The prominent constitutional rights group did not share the names of the people involved in the incident.
USA TODAY has reached out to DHS and ICE for comment on the incident and the ACLU complaint.
The incident out of Oregon came amid a surge of immigration enforcement activity in the area in early October. According to the ACLU complaint, the observers had been following the ICE officers and alerting the neighborhood to their presence. The ACLU said both actions are protected by the Constitution.
According to the ACLU, the incident is not unique but part of a host of actions by ICE officers aimed at scaring people from recording their enforcement activity. The ACLU has brought cases against DHS over their tactics in courts from Memphis, Tennessee, to Los Angeles.
"The right to record publicly visible law enforcement activity is fundamental to our democracy," said Scarlet Kim, an ACLU senior staff attorney. "Like many people across the country, our clients have been observing and recording ICE activity in their community. These videos have proven critical to exposing ICE’s abuses. If we cannot see and document what our own government is doing on our streets, we cannot hold it accountable for running roughshod over our rights."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ACLU requests investigation into claim that ICE officer slashed tire
