Multiple ICE Impersonators Arrested During Nationwide Immigration Crackdown

[RAMROD 117,252]

Authorities in at least three states have arrested individuals allegedly impersonating Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at a time when real ICE agents have ramped up immigration enforcement efforts under the Trump administration, adding to existing fears of law enforcement among migrant communities.

In South Carolina, Sean-Michael Johnson, 33, was charged with kidnapping and impersonating a police officer after allegedly detaining a group of Latino men along a Charleston County road. Johnson is accused of “willfully and unlawfully presenting himself as an ICE Agent and detaining a vehicle of individuals from moving,” according to court records.

The incident, which was recorded by one of the victims, took place on Sullivan’s Island near Charleston on January 29.

“You all got caught!” Johnson is heard saying on the video. “Where are you from, Mexico? You from Mexico? You’re going back to Mexico!”

In the video, Johnson is seen taking the driver’s keys, mocking the driver’s accent, while jiggling the car keys in his face. At one point he is seen trying to take the driver’s phone.

The driver calls a friend and, speaking Spanish, says, “I don’t know man, he’s saying immigration.”

“Now don’t be speaking that pig-Latin in my f**king country!” Johnson says, knocking the phone out of his hand.

Johnson was charged with three counts of kidnapping and one count each of impersonating a law enforcement officer, petty larceny, assault and battery, according to jail records.

Johnson bonded out of jail over the weekend, and in a court appearance Saturday his family pleaded with the judge, saying their son has mental health issues and “has tried to get help” in the past, “but he needs to continue with that therapy,” according to CNN affiliate WCIV.

An ICE spokesperson in a statement Wednesday noted “imposters” who commit such “dangerous” actions can face criminal charges at the federal, state and local levels.

The administration has sent troops to the US-Mexico border, utilized military aircraft to repatriate recent border crossers, and deployed people from multiple federal agencies, including those under the Justice Department, to augment immigration enforcement operations.

“Immigrants are a target for scams anyway, and I think that this just kind of amplifies this, this situation where people who are particularly vulnerable are in this moment where they are kind of looking for ICE agents everywhere,” Siembra NC co-director Nikki Marin Baena told CNN.
 

In another impersonation case, in Philadelphia, police charged a Temple University student in connection with the alleged impersonation of ICE officers on campus. The incident, which occurred Saturday night, involved three individuals, two wearing shirts with “Police” and “ICE” in white lettering, attempting to enter a residence hall on campus, Temple University said in a statement.

After being denied entrance to the residence hall, they were later found disrupting a local business, the university said.

Philadelphia police arrested 22-year-old Aidan Steigelmann, charging him with impersonating a public servant, with the university saying that he’s been placed on “interim suspension.” Two other suspects involved in the incident fled the scene in a light-colored SUV, according to the Philadelphia Police Department.

CNN has reached out to Steigelmann’s attorney for comment.

 

Meanwhile, in Raleigh, North Carolina, Carl Thomas Bennett was arrested for allegedly impersonating an ICE officer and sexual assaulting a woman at a Motel 6 threatening to deport her if she didn’t comply, according to CNN affiliate WRAL.

Police reports indicated that Bennett, 37, “threatened to deport the victim if she did not have sex with him,” and “displayed a business card with a badge on it,” according to WRAL.

Bennett was denied bond and appointed a public defender, court records show, CNN affiliate WBTVreported.

CNN has reached out to Raleigh Police Department for comment.

 

Under the Trump administration, federal immigration authorities are now permitted to arrest people and carry out enforcement actions in and near places such as churches and schools, marking a departure from long-standing policy to avoid so-called sensitive areas. Hernandez said the shift in policy not only threatens public safety but discourages people who need help from law enforcement or health care providers to seek it out.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/04/us/ice-impersonators-on-the-rise-arrests-made-as-authorities-issue-national-warning

[Lord Mayhem 3,448]

These people are showing up in REGULAR CLOTHES and ski masks with no badge or warrant and everyday cars and just rip you off the street and throw you in a car. Straight up kidnapped and bystanders have no way of confirming if they are REALLY ICE agents or kidnappers about to cut up this person and sell their organs on the black market 

Who do we blame?...

[ALGAYDO 35,180]

Ever since people have been impersonating ICE officers and started kidnapping people off the streets, I haven’t left the house without pepper spray and two pocket knives. If a masked “officer” refuses to identify himself and tries something with me he’s getting shanked in the neck, idc. 

[Rumbold 517]

40 minutes ago, ALGAYDO said:

Ever since people have been impersonating ICE officers and started kidnapping people off the streets, I haven’t left the house without pepper spray and two pocket knives. If a masked “officer” refuses to identify himself and tries something with me he’s getting shanked in the neck, idc. 

please be careful

[garbage day 11,842]

Please don't let them get pardoned or some insane BS...

[PartySick 172,975]

De*th penalty.

Literally have zero time or empathy to waste on racist scum, we're better off without them. And if they wanna play rough, we should play rougher