BOSTON — A war of words between Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and U.S. Attorney Leah Foley is heating up over recent ICE arrests.
Foley criticized Wu’s comments during a recent interview with WBUR, where Wu referred to immigration officers as a “secret police who are wearing masks.”
On Wednesday afternoon, Wu fired back at Foley, claiming that ICE arrests undermine public trust.
“The U.S. Attorney is attacking me for saying what Bostonians see with their own eyes.” Wu said. “We know this is happening. We have seen, if not the video of it, we have seen it directly in our communities and it is undermining our efforts at the local level to keep people safe because it is spreading fear that undermines the trust with local police.”
Wu pointed to Boston’s track record as “the safest major city” in the country, saying that officers don’t need to wear masks to do their jobs effectively.
“They are on the street 24 hours a day, they are in very complicated daily interactions,” Wu said. “They do all of this without wearing masks...We know that there are other groups that routinely wear masks: NSC-131 routinely wears masks, others may do that, but for our law enforcement officers at the local level to do their jobs well, to be the safest major city in the country, it relies on trust.”
NC-131, also known as Nationalist Social Club-131, is a neo-Nazi group based in New England, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
In a statement, an ICE spokesperson said officers wear masks for their safety and the safety of their families.
“We have already had officers doxed online – some have had their wives’ and children’s social media accounts made public and even schools where their children attended," the spokesperson said. “There are some sick and crazy people out there who would like to see harm come to our officers and their families.”
In closing, Wu said she was proud of how Boston police’s it’s community.
“We do things very differently in Boston and we are proud of how we do things,” she said. “We know there is more work to do and we hold ourselves to the very highest standards of accountability with our community, of being there when people need help, and of building a trust to do that right.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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