A woman cried into her phone at gas pump one at the Court Street Stewart’s in Utica as a man was taken into custody on August 5, in a video posted to social media.
The video posted online by a resident, four men dressed in matching uniforms adorned with the words “POLICE” and “ERO,” which stands for Enforcement and Removal Operations, the woman was left crying as they drove away.
“Today, I watched ICE rip a man from his family without a care in the world,” Banks wrote on his Facebook.
Utica Police Department Lt. Michael Curley said that the department had no knowledge about ICE operations in the city.
The Utica Police Department has no active cooperation agreement with ICE like the majority of law enforcement agencies in New York and thus aren’t privy to when and where ICE agents may be operating.
Reaching out to the Stewart’s on Court Street, an employee confirmed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement were present at the Stewart’s Aug. 5, but declined to identify or speak further about the incident.
The Observer-Dispatch emailed ICE for additional comment, but has not yet heard back.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: ICE spotted in Utica, 1 taken into custody
Reporting by Casey Pritchard, Utica Observer Dispatch / Observer-Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Casey Pritchard, Utica Observer Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
