GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Community members and immigrant rights advocates gathered Monday at Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids to demand transparency and accountability following the Feb. 3 detention of Ecuadorian native, Byron Martinez, by federal immigration agents.
At the center of their concerns, what legal authority was used to detain Martinez and whether local law enforcement followed proper procedures if they assisted.
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Movimiento Cosecha, GR Rapid Response to ICE and other Southwest Michigan coalitions organized the press conference. Family members, faith leaders and Martinez’s immigration attorney addressed reporters, pointing to recorded video of the arrest that they say raises serious questions.
The footage, recorded during Martinez’s detention in Grand Rapids, shows several officers surrounding him and holding him down in the snow as voices can be heard shouting commands. Martinez’s attorney, Richard Kessler, said his client told him officers pushed his face into the snow and that he repeatedly said, “I can’t breathe.”…