NORWALK, Conn. — Two straight days of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in Norwalk ended in protest Friday night, after agents detained three men, including two seen in an arrest caught on video.
“Today we saw videos, we saw pictures… those are real people, they aren’t just stories….
City of Norwalk Common Council Member Jalin Sead Sr.
We need to say their names.”
ICE’s media office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An automatic reply said the spokesperson was out of the office.
The arrest followed two tense days in the city. On Thursday, ICE agents appeared at Norwalk Police headquarters, where Police Chief James Walsh confronted them and told them to leave.
The next morning, ICE returned, and video shows agents detaining two of the men outside the AMC theater in South Norwalk.
At least one of the men was tased during the arrest. Family members and protesters said a third man was also taken into custody and identified the three as Juan, Leo and Richardo Chávez.
However, it was not immediately clear which of them appear in the video.
The incidents drew sharp condemnation from city officials and set the stage for a large evening protest.
It began on the East Avenue overpass above I-95, where demonstrators waved signs at rush hour traffic.
There, Leonela Chávez, a daughter of one of the men, told NancyonNorwalk that her father called the family after being detained.
“She just called me and she just let me know that my dad called her and let her know that he had been detained,” Chávez said. “My dad is someone who is very aware of his rights.”
“He asked them, ‘Where is the arrest warrant? Why are you arresting me?’ … They’re not responding to him. They’re not giving him any answers…”
Leonela Chávez
Chávez said her father was tased at close range, leaving him injured, and that no warrant was presented during the arrest.
“Never break my dad’s spirit, because I was able to speak with him, and he just told me, he’s like, ‘You know what you need to do — take care of your siblings and your mom. Everything’s gonna be okay. We’re gonna figure it out,’” she said.
From there, the crowd regrouped at Norwalk Police headquarters, joined by city and state leaders.
Chávez told the crowd what the arrest had done to her family.
“My dad and my uncles are hardworking individuals in this country,” Chávez said. “They raised me, a UConn graduate. I’m getting my master’s in clinical psychology at Sacred Heart University. I want to be better for my dad, for my family, and yet he was still ripped away from me … What happened today is not okay.”
She said the family had been sharing ICE sighting videos in a group chat the night before. Her father’s last message was short: “Don’t worry.” “And the next day, today, he was ripped out of our lives,” Chávez said. “Please think about them and say their name.”
Common Councilmember Johan Lopez said, “[The federal administration has] failed to live up to American values, which is to be a defender of our constitutional principles, of our civil liberties, and of our neighbors, regardless of where they come from, what they look like, or immigration status… every human being deserves to be treated with dignity and humanity.”
“Let’s push back,” Senator Bob Duff urged. “Because you know what a bully doesn’t like — a poke in the eye. Let’s poke him in the eye. Let’s push them back. Let’s make sure when ICE comes back to Norwalk, we say, ‘Get out. Get out. Get out of our town.’ We are Norwalkers. We stand together.”
State Rep. Kadeem Roberts said the arrest struck close to home: “My parents are Jamaican and Antiguan, straight immigrants off the boat,” Roberts said.
“I had to tell my mom today, ‘Make sure you walk with your paperwork.’”
Connecticut State Representative Kadeem Roberts
Though she’s a citizen, her accent is very strong, and Lord knows what can happen,” he continued. “Though her son is a state representative, respectfully, in America, as a Black man, that doesn’t mean anything.”
Mayor Harry Rilling told the crowd that Norwalk would continue to stand by immigrant families: “Our goal is to ensure all residents are treated with dignity and respect, regardless of anyone’s immigration status or background.”
“The saying is ‘United, we stand,’ but the next sentence is ‘Divided, we fall.’ So let’s not divide ourselves. Let’s not stop until we have every single Norwalk resident here protesting.”
City of Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling
Other community leaders echoed the same theme. “We are a diverse and welcoming community,” Common Councilman Josh Goldstein said. “Our values of dignity, respect, and equality are stronger than anything ICE can bring.”
Several lawmakers pledged to strengthen Connecticut’s Trust Act, which limits local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
“My colleagues that are here with me today, they have my back, and I know they know I have their back,” State Rep. Travis Simms said. “So we’re going to make sure we go up to Hartford and we put forth legislation that will stop ICE in their tracks.”
“We got to make it difficult for them so they can’t continue to run rampage and just destroy our homes, destroy our families.”
Connecticut State Representative Travis Simms
State Rep. Lucy Dathan said she worried about how ICE activity would affect children when schools reopen.
“I am very worried about what’s going to happen in two, three weeks’ time, when schools start up. Are children going to feel safe going to school? Are they going to feel safe waiting for the buses? We need to ensure as a community that we stand by them and protect everyone in our community.”
Rilling said he has been in contact with federal and state authorities since the incidents.
“We have been in touch with federal and state authorities to work through this issue. One of the things that I’ve been guaranteed is that the federal authorities are going to ask the agents not to wear masks while they’re in the city of Norwalk. The other thing that we want them to do as a courtesy — because any other law enforcement organization does it — is to call and let us know you’re coming.”
The protest then turned into a march through downtown, with chants echoing off the buildings.
“Los latinos unidos no serán vencidos! Latinx united will not be defeated!”
Protestors
Finally, the marchers reached the corner of Main and Ann Street, the spot where ICE agents had tased and detained Chávez’s father earlier that morning.
Glass from his car windows, broken during the arrest, was still scattered on the ground.
Among those attending were Mayor Harry Rilling and his wife, Lucia; state Sen. Bob Duff, state Reps. Travis Simms, Kadeem Roberts, and Lucy Dathan; Common Council members Barbara Smyth, Darlene Young, Josh Goldstein, Nora Niedzielski-Eichner, Anne Wennerstrand, Johan Lopez, and Jalin Sead Sr.; and Board of Education members Diana Carpio, Sheri McCready-Pritchett, Kara Nelson Baekey, Ashley Gulyas, and Jasmine Prezzie.
The crowd may have included other local officials and community leaders not seen by NancyonNorwalk.
Editor’s note: A previous version misattributed a quote to Sen. Bob Duff. The quote was said by Mayor Harry Rilling. The story has been updated.
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