A group of software engineers were humiliated and accused of being pedophiles after they were falsely accused of being U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents while trying to grab lunch in Minneapolis.
The men – all white men wearing casual sweatshirts and jackets – were eating lunch at Clancy’s Deli when one of them received an alert from Anti-Ice Signal Chat, telling members that plainclothes agents were in the restaurant, Alpha News reported.
An engineer named Lee told the outlet that people who received the message in the “SW Minneapolis Rapid Response” chat were politically aligned with anti-ICE causes.
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A group of software engineers in Minneapolis were mistook for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents while having lunch at a restaurant and were verbally abused.
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“My friend was shocked. He was [anti-ICE] political aspect. He lives nearby. He had eaten there before. All of a sudden, he saw a message saying we were ICE,” Lee said.
Video shot by one of the men showed dozens of anti-ICE agitators swarming the restaurant and peering into the windows after the alert was issued.
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After the group left, they were met with jeers from the crowd on the street.
“You’re a fucking sycophant!” one of the stirrers can be heard saying.
“Get out of our damn neighborhood!” screamed another.
“The next thing we knew, people were yelling ‘I hope you die’ and calling us pedophiles,” Lee said.
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One of the men tried to explain that they were software engineers and wanted to eat.
“We develop custom applications for a bunch of companies in Minnesota and around the country,” he said.
Still, the crowd seemed unconvinced.
“Do I look like an ICE agent?” one of the men asked, to which a woman responded, “Yeah, you look like an ICE agent.”
A man can be heard saying “get out” and whistles can be heard in the background.
“This is what’s wrong with your career,” the man said.
One woman asked: “Are you supportive? [us]? “
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“How are you behaving? No. And I don’t support ICE,” one man said. “I just want to enjoy my lunch!”
Original source of the article: Minneapolis software engineer mistook for ICE agent at lunch, harassed by anti-ICE crowd
