“We have bigger fish to fry in the city of San Francisco than protecting ICE.” – Jackie Fielder
SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder is demanding accountability from the city’s police and sheriff’s departments after senior SFPD officials made controversial remarks suggesting the department has a duty to protect federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from unarmed protestors. Fielder issued a formal Letter of Inquiry on July 14, citing not only those remarks but also recent reporting that SFPD accessed Oakland’s license plate reader data more than 100 times on behalf of federal agencies, a move she says violates California state law.
The controversy stems from a July 8 incident outside the federal courthouse at 100 Montgomery Street, where roughly 10 masked ICE agents attempted to detain a migrant individual. In response, about 20 protestors blocked the courthouse doors with their bodies and bikes. According to video footage published by Mission Local, ICE agents pepper-sprayed protestors, shoved them to the ground, and at one point brandished a rifle at both protestors and a reporter. A van carrying the detained individual later drove through a group of protestors, knocking a woman off the hood…