Ban on face masks assures police accountability

By The Herald Editorial Board

Unsurprisingly, federal agents working under the Department of Homeland Security — specifically those participating in immigration operations, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol in Minneapolis and other major U.S. cities — are facing significant public push-back, if not regarding their mission then plainly because of their tactics.

Along with the recent shooting deaths of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, DHS’s federal agents are facing criticism over less-lethal but still heavy-handed tactics that have victimized people regardless of citizenship or legal status.

A New York Times poll taken after Good’s shooting but before Pretti’s showed that 61 percent of more than 1,600 registered voters said that ICE agents had gone too far, including 71 percent of independents, even as 50 percent of respondents said they approved in general of the Trump administration’s deportations of those living in the country without documentation. Only 19 percent of Republicans in that poll said ICE had gone too far.

Following Pretti’s death however, another poll, this at request of Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., saw a shift among Republicans. The America One Policies PAC poll said 41 percent of its respondents said they supported continuation of immigration enforcement but felt “ICE’s tactics need to be toned down to avoid unnecessary harm and confrontation.” Of the poll’s Republicans and independents, 88 percent agreed with the statement.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/editorial-ban-on-face-masks-assures-police-accountability/