Resist Racist ICE Violence

What would you do if you do if you were a firsthand witness to ICE agents violently arresting someone?

Until recently, I’m embarrassed to say that this question was mostly theoretical for me. I’d mistakenly convinced myself that ICE violence happened “somewhere else”—not in my town, not liberal Iowa City.

Then on September 25, in the Bread Garden Market, a downtown grocery where I buy an occasional beer or sandwich, three white men tackled a brown man—Jorge Gonzalez, a Bread Garden employee. The white men wrestled Jorge to the floor, zip-tied him, threatened to tase him, and then dragged him away in an unmarked vehicle.

As I watched some recordings of the attack, I asked myself: What would I have done if I had been there?

After the ICE Attack on Jorge Gonzalez in Downtown Iowa City

After a press conference/rally for Jorge the next day, I told some friends that I would like to think that I would have leapt onto the back of one of the attackers, inspiring others to do the same with the other two. Jorge could have gotten away, and the attackers would have been humiliated. (Imagine! A big burly federal official with a little old lady—me—hanging off his neck!) But I knew, even as I said it, that this was a ridiculous savior fantasy, one that would have likely got me tased and arrested.

But I had to do something. I had to know, for real, what I would do if I was present at a violent ICE arrest.

So I started attending trainings and rallies sponsored by Escuchez Mi Voz Iowa (Hear My Voice Iowa) and the Iowa City Catholic Worker.

I’m blogging about what I learned because as a recent retiree, I have the privilege of time and energy to participate in, reflect on, and record activist events.

Attending a Training

At the most recent training on October 11, I joined seventy other people as we learned how to legally and safely record an ICE arrest. The visual below offers the basics.

But I learned even more as our group analyzed one of the Bread Garden videos and then participated in two simulations.

Analyzing a Video

In case you haven’t seen it, here is a video of Jorge’s arrest. Content warning: graphic racist violence and (at the very end) homophobic slurs.

When our group discussed this video, we determined that the recorder had done many things right:

• He did not touch the attackers.

• He mostly kept his distance. Arm’s length is recommended.

• He was transparent about the fact that he was recording.

• He recorded continuously.

• He narrated what was happening.

• He asked questions: “Are you ICE or cops?”

• He focused on the attackers and got clear visuals of their faces.

• He got Jorge’s name.

• He filmed the context: the store, the car’s license plate number.

The recorder did not, as the handout recommends, remain quiet. But I believe that this was a good choice. Most important, his words kept the agents from tasing Jorge after they’d already zip-tied him. His questions made it clear that the agents had NOT clearly identified themselves. The recorder identified himself as a combat veteran, which gave him credibility and gravitas. Imagine risking your life for “the land of the free” only to see it descend into racist authoritarianism.

The recorder continually called the attackers racists. Here, he was shouting a significant truth. The three white men were engaged in racist violence on behalf of a racist organization—ICE—and racist administration.

Unfortunately, after the attackers manhandled Jorge out of the store, the recorder started calling them f—-ts. As if that were the very worst thing he could think to call them. Worse than racist. To be sure, those homophobic slurs were far from the biggest wrong recorded in the video, but they were still wrong. Thanks to the organizers of the training for not playing the final part of the video during the training.

Simulation 1

As our discussion of the video was winding down, two “ICE agents” burst into the room and seized one of the immigrants who had shared his story with our group. Although I knew there was going to be a simulation, I froze.

It took me a few seconds to realize that I should take out my phone and start recording. I was so rattled that I (and many others) forgot to hit the record button. Then once I started “recording,” I felt frustrated because so many of us had our phones out but none of us were doing anything else. There were seventy of us and only two fake agents.

From this experience, I learned that the freeze response is real and powerful. I learned that you cannot truly know what you would do when witnessing racist violence. A fireman in the group noted that the freeze response happens in every emergency and that’s why you need to practice moving past it. That’s why simulations are necessary.

This simulation gave me loads more empathy for the Bread Garden employees and customers who simply stood there doing nothing.

Strategies

More important, when our group processed the simulation, I learned what we could do to be more effective.

• Only two or three people need to record.

• Someone needs to call a hotline for immigrants. In Iowa City, call Escuchez Mi Voz at 319 321-8664. (Think twice before calling the police. They may simply help ICE.)

• At least one person needs to take the lead and direct the other bystanders. This leadership needs to disrupt not only the freeze response, but also the impulse to replicate whatever first action is taken (in our case, recording).

• Leaders can direct others to link arms at the elbows and protectively circle immigrants other than the one being attacked—people who are fleeing or hiding from the agents (In our first simulation, no one had thought to do anything to protect another immigrant who shared her story.)  If possible, the linked people should get the at-risk people to a private area of the space. ICE is not supposed to enter private spaces without a warrant signed by a judge.

• Leaders can also direct others to link arms at the elbows and block exits so that the person being attacked cannot actually be taken. (In an earlier training sponsored by Escuchez Mi Voz and the Iowa City Catholic Worker, I learned that people are seldom arrested for resisting or impeding a federal officer UNLESS they touch officers, touch officer’s vehicles, return tear gas, or attempt to de-arrest. If you simply stand your ground with others, elbows linked, the officers are forced to touch YOU. So you should be safe from arrest, but as with any act of nonviolent resistance, you could get injured.)

Simulation 2

So what would I do if I witnessed a violent ICE arrest?

In our group’s second simulation, I left the recording to folks who are more adept with phones than I am. I ran to the most obvious exit to help block it. When I saw that no one was blocking the less obvious exit, I pointed to it. Then I linked arms with the people at my exit and joined in the chant NO ICE HERE. I felt empowered as our group blocked both exits and protectively circled both immigrants.

Would I have the presence of mind and courage to take such actions in the event of a real ICE attack?

I’d like to think so, but in all honesty, I don’t know. What I do know are some viable steps I can take. What I do know is the heady feeling that comes from linking arms with strangers to stand up for a common cause.

Beyond Actual Arrests and Attacks

Upon reflection, what I also know is that you do not need to witness an ICE attack firsthand in order to protect immigrants and to resist racist violence.

As a former professor of literature and writing, I believe in the power of words and the power of story. The power of truth.

We need to challenge the racist lie that immigrants who are being detained are criminals, “the worst of the worst.” We need to share the stories of the many recent immigrants who are making the United States a better place.

The Power of Stories

I’ll end this post with two such stories about recent immigrants.

One story is about Jorge himself, and it appears in The Little Village. In this Iowa City magazine, you’ll learn that Jorge Gonzalez is NOT a criminal. In fact, “González was preparing to file for asylum. He was enrolled in ICE’s Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program, which allowed him to remain free until the final disposition of his immigration case. As part of ATD, he attended scheduled appointments with ICE and was also required to wear a monitoring device on his ankle. Agents would have known exactly where he was when they decided to seize him at one of the most popular eating spots on the Ped Mall just before the daily lunch rush began.”

In other words, it is the ICE agents who are the worst of the worst. Their attack on Jorge was a racist show of power designed to terrorize brown people, immigrants, and their supporters.

The second story is about a recent immigrant who told his story at the training I attended. I shared his story in the Facebook post below so that others could be inspired by his heroism.

In case the “See More” link doesn’t work, here is the entire text of the post:

During these unjust times, we can all fight falsehood by learning and sharing the stories of recent immigrants.

The man in the plaid shirt is an asylum seeker from Colombia. In his home country, he was an undercover police officer working to break up a drug cartel. When his cover was blown and four of his colleagues were murdered, he sought asylum in the U.S.

What did he get as a result–this man who was attempting to help our country by slowing the drug trade? Family separation. He and his wife and his child were sent to three different states. He continues to live in fear, fear that was heightened after another recent immigrant, Jorge Elieser Gonzalez Ochoa, was violently arrested at his place of employment, the Iowa City Bread Garden Market.

Despite that fear, the man in the photo was willing to share his story with 70 strangers and play “Jorge’s” part in a simulated ICE arrest so that we could all learn how to document—and perhaps even prevent—such events.

Why is he smiling in the photo below? My guess is, he knows that he is doing what he can to make the world a better place and that he has empowered others to do the same.

He knows his story is power: a challenge to false, racist narratives. Not only is this man NOT a criminal, he is a former police officer. He is a hero who is trying to help other recent immigrants.

Please share his story, and if you’re able, participate in events sponsored by organizations like Escucha Mi Voz Iowa and Iowa City Catholic Worker. You’ll hear other powerful stories. You’ll BECOME part of a powerful story.