Please do not physically interfere with law enforcement
Creating a volatile situation that requires more force to accomplish a legal arrest can only serve to make the situation worse and more dangerous.
I do not know whether shooting a woman protesting against immigration enforcement was justified or not. I hope we get an unbiased investigation and, if charges are warranted, a fair trial that is not tainted by politics from either side. But what I do know is this: This situation should never have happened, because people should not be physically interfering with law enforcement trying to do their jobs. Good and others were following Immigration and Customs Enforcement around and she physically blocked the street where ICE was operating - not only impeding the officers but also impeding civilians who had nothing to do with any of this.
I can hear the criticism before I even post my article: "But would you have considered it wrong to physically resist the government of Nazi Germany as they rounded up Jews to be sent to the concentration camps? Would you condemn Corrie ten Boom?"
Can we please have a sense of proportion here? Whatever you think of the tactics used by immigration enforcement and removing people who are in the country illegally, this is not Nazi Germany. No one is being sent to Treblinka to be starved and gassed. It damages your credibility and needlessly raises the temperature of the debate. It is also highly insensitive to the victims of the Holocaust (Jews and non-Jews alike) when you equate immigration enforcement to a deliberate campaign to exterminate millions of people. It may make you feel better and get praise from your side, but it does not change minds and will increase the intensity of opposition.
Nothing good can come of physically interfering with law enforcement. You are not going to stop them from arresting illegal immigrants and you are not going to stop the deportation proceedings. All you are going accomplish is to force ICE to respond with increasing levels of force so that ICE agents can safely do their jobs while being harassed by people physically interfering with them. You are creating a volatile situation where people can (and will) be hurt or killed.
This does not mean that you must never protest. It is perfectly acceptable to picket, distribute leaflets, and lobby your elected officials to change policy. Show up at the trial and contribute to the defense. Campaign for candidates who will change the policy you dislike. There are a number of lawful and peaceful ways to impact public policy that do not involve getting physically involved to prevent people from being lawfully arrested.
This is not to say that every single thing ICE has done in enforcing immigration law is good - nor does it mean that every single thing they have done is bad. But not only is physically interfering with law enforcement bad, it is dangerous - for the protesters, for the ICE agents, and for the immigrants you are trying to "protect." Showing your virtue is not worth the problems you are causing or the physical dangers you are creating. Protest peacefully and lawfully instead.
