Camden County Commissioner Director Louis Cappelli Jr. has released a statement decrying ICE and the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, and revealed that members of the agency have recently appeared in the county.
“Trump is using ICE as his own personal militia, and they have been terrorizing communities throughout the nation, including here in Camden County,” Cappelli said in the statement. “These agents have showed up in places like Camden City, Haddon Township and Lindenwold Borough, and have indiscriminately worked to undermine the rule of law while simultaneously stopping individuals without cause and arbitrarily arresting them.”
Morgan Callan, the county’s external communications manager, confirmed two ICE interactions in the county over the past few months, one in East Camden and one in Lindenwold. Last February, ICE arrested the husband and wife owners of Jersey Kebab in Haddon Township, leading to their business’ relocation to Collingswood after they were released from custody.
Cappelli joined Congressman Donald Norcross in calling for the impeachment of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem over the ICE shootings.
“We have watched videos of ICE officers with masks up, no body-worn cameras, wearing tactical gear, roaming the streets in unmarked vehicles in search of their targets – our residents,” Cappelli noted. ” .. It’s clear by what we’ve been watching in Minneapolis and other cities throughout the nation that it doesn’t matter if you are a U.S. citizen or not, anyone can be the target of ICE.”
Good and Pretti were both citizens.
Cappelli has also supported a bill introduced by Norcross, the Trust Through Transparency Act, that would require ICE agents to wear body cameras and would demand the federal government issue a public report about ICE actions each year.
Cappelli reiterated that the Camden County Police Department in Camden City doesn’t work with ICE and won’t honor its retainers in prisons. He also supported a recent bill signed by outgoing Gov. Phil Murphy, the Safe Communities Act. It would keep ICE from entering schools, churches, law offices and medical offices without a judicial warrant.
Cappelli maintains that the actions by ICE are making things less safe for everyone.
“(T)he actions by (President Donald) Trump and ICE, acting on his behalf to attain his vision of dividing Americans against each other, are undermining front-line policing everywhere,” Cappelli explained. “This ultimately will make our community unsafe, because individuals living in fear will no longer feel safe calling the Camden County Police Department if they become a victim of crime …
“Many of these ICE operations are breaking up families, terrorizing members of our community and impacting life throughout our diverse and inclusive neighborhoods.”
