ICE Threatened to Shoot Ambulance Driver Picking Up Injured Portland Protester, Medics Say | Common Dreams
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The incident comes as immigrants' rights advocates warn ICE's tactics in US cities are growing increasingly violent.

cross-posted from: https://ibbit.at/post/81808

…the agents had demanded to ride along in the ambulance en route to the hospital. The driver replied that without arrest paperwork, they were not permitted to ride along. Agents continued to insist that the vehicle would not be allowed to leave until an officer was permitted to accompany them.

“I repeated again,” the driver said in their report, “that no officer is permitted to ride in the ambulance and that they can meet us at the hospital and that we needed to be let out of the facility. Officers then began walking away from me whenever I spoke. At that point, a group of 5-8 civilian-dressed men walked into the garage and just stared at me. No identification on any of them. I walked back to the ambulance and got into the driver’s seat. I flipped the emergency lights on and put the car into drive. I inched forward slowly out of the garage.”

A man described as being in civilian clothes and a neck-wrap then stepped in front of the vehicle and ordered the ambulance not to leave, according to the report. As more agents amassed about 15 feet in front of the vehicle, the driver assumed they were preparing to escort the ambulance off the property and continued to slowly inch the vehicle forward. But agents continued to obstruct the ambulance’s path. As of 9:39, a dispatch report said there were “50-60 fed agents completely blocking the road.”

At this point, the crew member in the passenger’s seat exited the vehicle to attempt to reason with the officers. After putting the vehicle into park, the driver began to exit as well. They said that as they opened the side door, “I looked up and suddenly the entire group of officers… were crowded around the open car door, some of them leaning forward towards me, inches from my face.”

The driver recalls that an agent “pointed his finger at me in a threatening manner and began viciously yelling in my face, stating, ‘DON’T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN, I WILL SHOOT YOU, I WILL ARREST YOU RIGHT NOW.”

  • Promy@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
    1·
    5 hours ago

    I would like to genuinely subscribe to the second rabbit hole sometime, whether here or if you have another more appropriate comm. I have had similar musings regarding the effectiveness of religion in dictating behavior at scale, and also feel that a better pragmatic humanity where common sense altruism rules the day and dignity of existence is secured for all can only be achieved by tapping into religion, instead of only seeking to distance from it.

    It’s simply too entrenched a thing in our collective psyche going back to explaining the shadows lightning made on the cave walls, religion. If such a tool could be turned towards the same purpose described in your message…

    My issue was that I couldn’t escape the fact that so much of what seemed to make a strong foundational dogma that historically lasted, was based on unsavory elements like punishment-based reinforcement, The othering of all competing groups, and often heaping doses of sexism. The belief in the supernatural is also pervasive but not strictly required I learned, though personally I’m not bothered by it if it could be put to good use, that’s the whole point of this hypothetical belief system.

    But yeah.

    I’m by no means a theologian, my research didn’t get very far before I got discouraged on the thought experiment.

    But I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the matter, and if you have any prepared ideas to combat the worst aspects of religion in a hypothetical version turned towards the “genuine greater good”, odd as that feels to write.