Video shows protest after 16-year-old RI Superior Court intern is detained, released by ICE

Ryan Medeiros,

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — There was a heated exchange between protesters and ICE agents Thursday morning in downtown Providence.

A witness shared footage of agents apprehending a person outside of Providence Superior Court.

The state court system now confirms the person detained and later released was a 16-year-old intern working at the courthouse.

An anti-ICE protest was already planned for Thursday afternoon at the court, and demonstrators soon swarmed the scene.

Video shows agents taking the intern into custody and moving him from one unmarked SUV to another, before eventually letting him go.

A spokesperson for the court system said a Superior Court judge intervened and told ICE agents they had wrongfully detained his intern.

Agents then verified the information provided by the judge and released the intern, the spokesperson said.

“This egregious incident underscores both the community’s and the Judiciary’s concerns about how ICE is conducting its operations in Rhode Island,” Rhode Island Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul A. Suttell said in a written statement.

Shortly after, the anti-ICE protest commenced behind the courthouse.

Protesters from Rhode Island’s Deportation Defense Network, which notifies people through a chat of ICE sightings in the area, are asking Suttell to make court hearings virtual.

Organizers said they want that to happen because Thursday is not the first time ICE has been seen outside courts across the state.

Suttell said in his statement that he will consider that request:

“Given this climate, the Judiciary understands the call to implement remote hearings in Providence County, and beyond. The need to balance constitutional considerations, the public’s right of access, and the integrity of testimonial and evidentiary processes do not allow for a fully virtual court system. What occurred today, however, reinforces the Judiciary’s need to focus on ways to enhance access to virtual hearings and to educate the public as to how to request such hearings. The courts are here to serve the people and the Judiciary remains steadfast in preserving and augmenting access to justice for all persons.”

ABC6 also reached out to ICE to ask for its response to the incident but we have not yet received a reply.

Categories: News, Providence

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