Tong calls ICE's conduct "deliberate provocation" that "resulted in serious injury"
Connecticut Attorney General
“ICE’s deliberate provocation at the courthouse in Meriden resulted in serious injury and caused needless chaos for our court system. ... No one is above the law, including federal immigration officials. We are using every ounce of our authority to protect the people of Connecticut, including vigorously defending the state’s lawful and necessary measures to protect public safety against federal challenges.”
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
Reports on-record reactions from state legislative leaders, the Attorney General, the Governor's office, an immigrant-advocacy coalition and the Judicial Branch as the TRUST Act's October 1 protected-spaces provision approached.
Before the quotation
Tong's office is defending Connecticut in a federal lawsuit over the state's immigration-enforcement limits.
After the quotation
Tong's office does not have criminal jurisdiction over any mask-related violation; that would fall to local prosecutors and the Chief State's Attorney's office.
How this statement is classified
Responding to: ICE's actions at the Meriden courthouse were a deliberate provocation that caused serious injury and needless chaos for the state's court system, and the state will use its authority to enforce the TRUST Act against federal challenges.
The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.
Why this label?
Tong directly denounces ICE's conduct as a provocation that caused injury and chaos, an express criticism of that conduct.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Did ICE's conduct at the Meriden, Connecticut, courthouse violate the state's TRUST Act?
Explore the case context, sources and public responses.
More from this case
Read the full caseHands Off Connecticut
“When federal agents barged into the state courthouse in Meriden, they did not just abduct another community member, they fundamentally challenged the legitimacy of our state government. Marshals opened the doors wide for ICE while pushing the citizens out of their own courthouse. ICE went so far as to pepper spray bystanders and a marshal assaulted another, causing one to be taken from the court by ambulance to the ER. This is an unforgivable act of collaboration, for which we demand justice.”Read statement
“The agency operating ICE inherently understands that some of what they’re doing is shameful, and that’s why they don’t want to be identified. It’s an extraordinary thing for people engaged in law enforcement to think they have to remain anonymous. It means that they don’t have confidence in the morality of their own mission. FBI agents do not wear masks. ATF agents — they don’t wear masks, either. Federal marshals who protect courthouses — they don’t wear masks.”Read statement
“If you look at the law that we passed, adherence to that law is going to avoid the type of situations that we’ve seen that put not only officers in harm’s way but also people they’re trying to apprehend. Storming courthouses or hospitals or schools is not going to make people safer, and I don’t think it’s a good outcome for law enforcement, either. ... It puts our law enforcement in a tough spot. I think it puts the federal officers in a tough spot. We should not have people going into those types of places. They are very sensitive and have long been considered sensitive sites.”Read statement