Ogden police speak out after ICE arrest

OGDEN — Ogden police are speaking out in response to the detention of a man on Tuesday by a federal immigration agent on an Ogden street as an Ogden police officer watched.

The encounter was caught on video by a passerby and posted to social media, prompting questions about the level of involvement of Ogden police in assisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in their moves to crack down on illegal immigration. Police Chief Jake Sube and Ogden Mayor Ben Nadolski have emphasized that the city won't enter a cooperative accord with ICE, and the Ogden Police Department issued a statement Tuesday defending its role.

"The Ogden Police Department did not initiate the stop, did not conduct the arrest, did not ask for or run any information and did not assist with immigration enforcement," reads the statement, issued Tuesday night. "The officer's involvement was limited to maintaining safety and attempting to de-escalate an unusual and potentially escalating interaction."

The Ogden officer was on scene near 22nd Street and Porter Avenue responding to a report of an aggressive dog when an ICE agent was simultaneously tracking a suspect in the same area. Tuesday's statement, posted to the Ogden Police Department Facebook page, included video of the encounter from the police officer's body camera.

"This officer unexpectedly found himself in the middle of a situation he did not create, trying to determine the appropriate role for him to play while also recognizing the potential for the situation to escalate," Sube said. "Our officers are asked to navigate difficult situations like this in real time, make judgment calls and do the best they can to keep everyone safe, knowing those decisions may later be publicly scrutinized without the benefit of the full circumstances they were facing at the time."

The incident underscores the delicate role police sometimes have amid increased efforts under Pres. Donald Trump to detain and deport immigrants in the country illegally. While some agencies like the Weber County Sheriff's Office have entered into cooperative accords with ICE, known as 287(g) agreements, others, like the Ogden Police Department, have not.

"We are not part of the 287(g) program. We will not be a part of the 287(g) program. I hope you can hear that and see that I'm stating that very clearly," Sube said at a meeting last January of the Ogden City Council, after numerous residents spoke out against the federal crackdown. "We do not participate in ICE operations, in raids or sweeps."

Tuesday's police statement notwithstanding, Ogden resident Oshun Dayo, who's been vocal over the years about Ogden police issues, has his concerns. He posted a video made by a passerby who happened to be present when the ICE agent arrested the man and later reviewed the officer's body-camera video after the police department posted it. While lauding police for quickly releasing their video, he interprets the Ogden officer as aiding the ICE agent.

"Although I applaud OPD for being transparent with the body cam video, I also believe that the police officer was not just there to keep the peace; he played a role in assisting in the arrest," Dayo wrote in a public Facebook post on Wednesday. "So in my opinion, the police officer fully cooperated with the ICE agent and assisted in the gentleman's arrest that was in the car. He wasn't only an observer; he was an active participant."

Police say the man ultimately detained by the ICE agent had flagged down the Ogden officer, expressing concern that he was being followed by a black sports utility vehicle, the ICE agent's car. In the video, the police officer approaches the agent in his car to find out what's happening.

"But he's like, 'This guy is following me, and I don't know what's going on,'" the police officer tells the ICE agent.

The officer goes back to the car of the first man, who says he had been delivering food, and then the ICE agent approaches to arrest him, calling him Jonathan. In broken Spanish, the agent advises the man that he's in the country illegally and that he's going to be arrested. Jonathan attempts to roll up the window of his car.

"Don't do this, don't," says the Ogden officer. "Don't, don't, don't."

The immigration officer orders Jonathan to turn off his car, take off his seatbelt and open the locked door of his car.

"Why is he detaining me?" Jonathan asks in Spanish, still seated in his car.

"This is the police," the Ogden officer answers, also in Spanish, pointing to the ICE agent.

"It's ICE," Jonathan answers.

"Police," the Ogden officer responds.

The ICE agent keeps pressing Jonathan, who ultimately gets out of the vehicle. The agent handcuffs him and arrests him.

As the arrest unfolds, the Ogden officer can be heard discussing the turn of events to somebody, apparently on his police radio or a phone. He explains that the ICE agent had asked the officer to stop Jonathan's vehicle, which he didn't do, and that Jonathan had expressed concern about the agent following him.

The officer says he told the ICE agent he could remain on the scene "and make sure that nothing goes south here, but I can't help. So I just don't know what the extent of what we're allowed to do is."

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