Looney says FBI and ATF agents "do not wear masks"
Connecticut Senate President Pro Tempore
“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.”
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
Looney said he believes the TRUST Act is constitutional and that ICE officials are ignoring a presumptively valid state law.
After the quotation
Looney said he would be open to a special legislative session later in the year if a federal court ruling required it.
How this statement is classified
Case context: Did ICE's conduct at the Meriden, Connecticut, courthouse violate the state's TRUST Act?
The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.
Why this label?
Looney criticizes ICE's masking practice as shameful and inconsistent with other federal law enforcement, 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
“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
Office of the Governor of Connecticut
“By designating protected spaces, we can keep these sensitive places safe for all residents, undocumented and citizen alike. ... ICE doesn’t belong in doctors’ offices or in schools, and as we saw in Meriden, its presence in courthouses can endanger people seeking justice. Beginning October 1, ICE agents will be required to show a judicial warrant to enter these spaces.”Read statement