Ritter says "storming courthouses or hospitals or schools is not going to make people safer"
Matt RitterSpeaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives
House Speaker Matt Ritter said the Meriden incident was exactly the kind of situation the TRUST Act was meant to avoid and that entering sensitive sites like courthouses does not make people safer.
“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.”
Reporting
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Did ICE's conduct at the Meriden, Connecticut, courthouse violate the state's TRUST Act?
On September 23, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, some wearing face coverings, entered a courthouse in Meriden, Connecticut, and took Welington Leonel Almara-Diaz into custody. Activists confronted the agents outside the courthouse entrance, asking why they were violating the state's TRUST Act, which limits immigration enforcement at Connecticut courthouses; sources disagree on whether the law's separate ban on masked law enforcement was already in effect that day. Judicial marshals moved activists away from the entrance; one woman was pepper-sprayed and another fell and was taken to a hospital by ambulance, though sources also disagree on who pushed her. The Connecticut Judicial Branch confirmed marshals had received a warrant of removal or deportation before the arrest and said it was reviewing whether state law was followed. ICE said the arrest was appropriate because Almara-Diaz had a 2023 removal order, and said judicial marshals impeded the arrest; the Judicial Branch later said its review did not support that. State officials, including Attorney General William Tong and Governor Ned Lamont's office, said ICE's conduct at the courthouse was improper. The dispute is whether ICE's conduct at the courthouse, including its use of face coverings and how the operation and marshals' cooperation with it were carried out, complied with the TRUST Act.
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.
Reporting
About this source
On-scene original reporting from the Connecticut Mirror covering the September 23, 2026 arrest and confrontation at the Meriden courthouse. This is the case's primary source.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Ritter said on the day of the arrest that lawmakers knew there would be challenges when the TRUST Act passed.
After the quotation
Ritter said he would be open to calling a special legislative session later in the year if a federal court ruling required changes to the law.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Ritter describes the incident as exactly what the law was meant to prevent and says storming sensitive sites is not safer, criticizing how the operation was carried out.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
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Hands Off Connecticut calls the marshals' cooperation with ICE "an unforgivable act of collaboration"
Hands 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
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The Dispute Index. "Ritter says "storming courthouses or hospitals or schools is not going to make people safer"". First published: 2026-09-29. Last updated: 2026-09-29. https://disputeindex.com/events/3275-house-speaker-matt-ritter-said-the-meriden-incident