Read our feature article “Only Those With the Courage To Fight Have the Courage To Win: Combat and Resist ICE Terror!” here.
Over 70 protesters forced Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Oswego Fire Department (OFD) and Police Department (OPD) to retreat after attempting to kidnap two roofers in upstate New York following a six-hour standoff on September 30.
The two workers fled their vehicle after being pursued by CBP and climbed onto the roof of a house, according to Oswego Mayor Robert Corradino.
Protesters gathered in front of the house, with the OFD and OPD arriving to guard and assist the CBP agents and surround the house.
One protester shouted at the police officers, “I thought you said you don’t get involved in federal immigration! What the fuck! We just had a city council meeting about this!” per eyewitness video. Mayor Corradino claimed in February that ICE receives “no help from the city of Oswego or the police department.”
OFD firemen attempted to deploy a ladder to remove the workers. The workers kicked the ladder away. OFD left shortly after.
Hours later, footage from a bystander shows protesters cheering while CBP and OPD officers leave the scene empty-handed. The workers then climbed down the roof and protesters immediately evacuated them in waiting cars, according to a report on yourNews.
On October 1, Mayor Corradino claimed that OPD was initially responding to reports of reckless driving, and that OPD only encountered the roofers after they received complaints about protesters trespassing on the homeowner’s property. Corradino claimed OPD only stayed in the area to ensure the residents’ and demonstrators’ safety and keep demonstrators off private property.
CBP said the two roofers were the last of a group of six people targeted for deportation.
Image: A US Customs and Border Protection vehicle in Minnesota, 2019. Credit: Tony Webster (CC BY 2.0).
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