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As a nonprofit news organization fueled entirely by reader donations*, we have to make decisions every day on what to cover with our limited resources. Today, it could have been Donald Trump’s crusade against his political enemies, the administration using taxpayer money to help an ally win an election in Argentina, the looming government shutdown, plan-less Democrats, or any number of other topics (and we will get to some of them).

However, we prioritized this article on ICE for two reasons: First of all, more than anything, Trump’s mass deportation plan, which was the central theme of his election campaign, typifies the administration’s approach to governing: It is frequently unconstitutional and intentionally cruel. There is no accountability, and what unidentifiable government agents are doing resembles the violent crackdown on “unwanteds” from other past and present authoritarian regimes.

The second reason is just as important: Trump and other top government officials have made it clear that they do not want us to write about ICE the way we do. They are trying to use isolated acts of violence against government agents, which we condemn, to silence criticism of a lawless army of masked goons.

But they don’t get to tell us what to write about and how to write it, so here we go:

A picture says more than a thousand words, and a 15-second video clip can speak volumes. Here is one that caught our eye today.

https://bsky.app/profile/bradlander.bsky.social/post/3lzojyaq63k22

It was posted by New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who came in third in the Democratic mayoral primary earlier this year and has personally experienced what it’s like to be arrested and manhandled by ICE agents.

What struck us is not the violence used against a distraught woman who did nothing that would have justified throwing her to the ground.

Instead, it is that this is what ICE does in plain view of cameras.

This incident wasn’t filmed by a hidden camera or just the cell phone of a bystander. There are at least five photographers on the scene who are recording the entire thing.

And still, the ICE agent is using excessive force.

What that tells us is that this man is not worried about facing repercussions for assaulting a civilian.

As we have noted in past articles, we have asked the Trump administration to provide us with any example of an ICE agent being disciplined for the use of violence, arresting the wrong people, or any kind of conduct unbecoming a government agent.

Unsurprisingly, we have yet to hear back.

Frankly, we would be surprised if there were such examples, because it seems as though this administration is encouraging cruelty rather than punishing it.

And if this is how ICE acts in public, in front of cameras (and there are hundreds of these clips from around the country), then what are these agents doing behind closed doors when nobody is watching?

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