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Police Arrest ICE Protesters Who Bound Themselves Together

Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.
Wikimedia Commons
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The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

Police in Florida say they've arrested six people who bound themselves with bicycle locks outside a federal office in a protest of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Tampa Bay Times reports authorities broke the locks around the protesters' necks and arrested them Monday on trespassing charges. The protest had started days ago with a handful of tents outside the Department of Homeland Security.

Tampa police Capt. Carlos Rodriguez says trespassing on private property led authorities to break up the camp. The Times says police also told protesters they were camping in violation of a local ordinance.

Recently, several prominent Democrats have called for major changes to immigration enforcement. Some critics have been pressing for the outright abolition of ICE, the federal government's chief immigration enforcement agency.