‘Untrue smears!’ White House rages as D.C. residents mark ICE ‘kidnappings’ around city

The White House is pushing back against residents of Washington, D.C. over a new campaign to mark locations around the city where Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had “kidnapped” suspected migrants.

“ICE ABDUCTED SOMEONE HERE,” read one hand-made sign tied to a telephone poll, which also bore the date and time of the suspected arrest, along with contact information for residents to share information on other suspected ICE arrests, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

The campaign did not go over well in the White House, with spokesperson Abigail Jackson condemning the signs as another example of rhetoric that increases violence against federal officers, calling them “untrue smears,” and that claims that ICE is “kidnapping people” were “false” in an email to The Washington Post.

Barbara McCann is among the Washington, D.C. residents placing signs around the city, and said she felt compelled to do so after witnessing federal officers pull two men out of their car in her neighborhood.

“They are targeting those who are least able to defend themselves, people without homes and people without documentation,” McCann said, speaking with The Washington Post. “In the past, when there’s been great injustice, moral clarity takes a long time.”

It remained unclear as to what level of coordination there was behind the campaign, if any, but nevertheless, it has sparked outrage not only in the White House, but among leadership in the Department of Homeland Security, the agency led by Secretary Kristi Noem that ICE operates under.

“ICE is not ‘kidnapping’ illegal aliens,” said DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin in an email to The Washington Post. “These smears are leading to our officers facing a 1000% increase in assaults against them including terrorist attacks, cars being used as weapons, and bounties on their heads.”