Boston officials are demanding answers after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents stopped a Black man who was jogging on Tuesday. According to WBUR News, 29-year-old Bena Apreala was on a jog near his home when two SUVs with tinted windows approached him. Apreala told the outlet one of the cars blocked the sidewalk ahead of him while the other pulled to the side. “These guys just hopped out in full camouflage uniforms with masks over their face, and stopped me, and told me to immediately identify (myself)," he said. "I was confused as to whether or not they were even legitimate authority."
None of the men from the vehicle, who were all white, identified themselves prior to questioning Apreala on his identity, Apreala said. But he noted at least one was wearing a badge with “ICE” on it. “When I saw the badge and asked them if they were ICE officers, and they said yes, and I explained that I wasn’t an immigrant, I’m born and raised in Boston and that I have no idea what they’re stopping me for, they said that immigration isn’t the only thing that they investigate and proceeded to question me,” Apreala said. Without providing further details, the alleged ICE officials demanded Apreala show identification because he supposedly matched the description of an ongoing investigation. It wasn’t until Apreala began recording the interaction that the men let him continue to run.
While what happened prior to the recording cannot be confirmed, the video depicts Apreala walking away when one of the men asks whether or not he has tattoos on either of his arms. "Am I free to go?" Apreala said in the video. "Do I have to show you? If I’m free to go, then I’m not showing you anything. Thank you. Have a great day, guys."
As video footage of the incident went viral on social media, officials and lawmakers, including the mayor of Boston, demanded an investigation take place. “Let me be clear: racial profiling and stops like these are wrong, unjustified, and will not be tolerated,” Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said on Twitter Wednesday. “For him and others who might have lived through an experience like this, I’m demanding that ICE stop this cruel practice of inciting fear in the lives of our residents, particularly our Black and Brown residents, and undocumented immigrants.” Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley also called for an investigation and said: “We will not stand by and watch them intimidate, harass and racially profile our Black and Brown communities in Boston or anywhere in the country.”
According to The Washington Post, the incident raised concerns about the circumstances that occur when “jogging while Black” and is one of many videos describing police abuse. This year alone, numerous incidents of violence occurred against members of the Black community near their own homes as they went for jogs, including two separate incidents in which two Black men were stopped by police officials and handcuffed for allegedly matching the description of suspects.
Apreala told reporters that he was not carrying identification while running and that “there was a number of families walking down the street, people who were not Black, and they singled me out to stop me.”
ICE initially did not confirm whether or not the alleged agents belonged to the agency and declined to comment on the incident. The federal agency later confirmed to NBC News on Thursday that officers from its Enforcement and Removal Operations division were involved. “ICE officers were conducting surveillance as part of a targeted enforcement action Wednesday in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, looking for a previously deported Haitian national with multiple criminal convictions and pending cocaine and fentanyl trafficking charges that may have been residing in the area,” a spokesperson told NBC News. Additionally, the spokesperson claimed that Apreala allegedly matched the description of the suspect and agents did identify themselves as “Police/ICE.”
Apreala’s family described the experience as traumatic. His wife, Michelle, who initially posted the video on Facebook, encouraged individuals to use this experience as a reason to vote. “This isn’t something you can ignore and say ‘it doesn’t happen here,’ it does. It happens to your neighbors, friends, and family,” she wrote in the caption of her husband’s video. “This blatant display of racism is a direct result of the elected officials we give power to and the man in office turning a blind eye and helpful hand to formerly closeted racists who now have an open forum to degrade and dehumanize others.”
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Massachusetts plans to represent Apreala and investigate further into the incident.“This incident raises serious constitutional questions and is disturbing on a human level,” Rahsaan Hall, director of the Racial Justice Program at the ACLU, of Massachusetts said in a statement.
According to The New York Times, ICE has expanded its surveillance operations in at least nine cities, including Boston. While the city has refused to help with deportations, ICE continues to try to get its way.
ICE has terrorized this country for far too long. Its inhumane practices must end. From detention centers to our homes, the abuse ICE commits is making its way into neighborhoods, making people of color feel unsafe no matter where they go or what status they hold. ICE must answer for its abuse and it must be abolished.