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Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Boston Police don't wear masks, neo-Nazi group does, Wu says in talking about masked federal agents
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu volleyed additional criticism against federal law enforcement on Wednesday while speaking about masks worn by federal officers who are enforcing immigration laws. Acting Director Todd Lyons and U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said this week that federal agents and officers have been 'doxed' on social media, and sometimes wear masks while on duty and making immigration arrests after officers, and their families, have received death threats. In a recent interview with WBUR, Wu likened ICE immigration officers to 'secret police.' Foley, in a video message on social media Wednesday morning, condemned Wu's comments, calling them 'reckless and inflammatory statements.' The U.S. Attorney again cited the increasing threats faced by federal law enforcement in doing their job. It didn't end there. Wu, when asked later Wednesday about Foley's remarks and while discussing masks worn by some law enforcement, brought up the prominent New England neo-Nazi group Nationalist Social Club, also known as NSC-131. 'I don't know of any police department that routinely wears masks,' Wu told Boston 25. 'We know that there are other groups that routinely wear masks: NSC-131 routinely wears masks.' Boston's mayor added: 'The action of ICE officers who are wearing masks are intimidating residents, it's undermining safety in our communities and it's making it harder for Boston Police to do their jobs effectively as well.' When asked for comment late Wednesday afternoon, an ICE spokesperson said, 'Our officers wear masks for their safety and the safety of their families.' 'We have already had officers doxed online – some have had their wives' and children's social media accounts made public and even schools where their children attended,' the ICE spokesperson said. 'There are some sick and crazy people out there who would like to see harm come to our officers and their families." 'Our officers risk their safety every day to prioritize the safety of all Americans, regardless of race or religion,' the ICE spokesperson said. Wednesday's exchange wasn't the first between Wu and a federal official. Border czar Tom Homan has criticized Wu and other Massachusetts politicians and communities for not complying with federal authorities who are trying to apprehend hard criminals who are in the country illegally. In March, Homan traveled to Boston to oversee a federal law enforcement operation over several days. 'I made a promise at CPAC that I was going to Boston after reading about numerous illegal alien child rapists walking the streets of Boston and Massachusetts,' Homan said in a post on X in March. 'ICE had to find and arrest these illegal alien rapists because Massachusetts and Boston are sanctuaries that refuse to cooperate with ICE,' Homan said. 'They would rather release these animals back into the community rather than honor ICE detainers or notify ICE when they are scheduled to be released.' 'Mayor Wu later testified that I was lying,' Homan said in his March post of Wu, who testified before Congress with other mayors on March 5 about Boston's sanctuary city policies. Wu hired a Boston law firm to prepare for the congressional hearing. Wu, meanwhile, said Wednesday that Boston Police officers do not wear masks. 'Boston Police make arrests, they are on the street 24 hours a day, they are in very complicated daily interactions,' Wu said. 'They do all of this without wearing masks, displaying their badges publicly, with body cameras that document the interactions that take place with full transparency because we have nothing to hide.' Earlier Wednesday, Foley denounced Wu's comments targeting federal agents and officers. 'Referring to federal agents as 'secret police' is offensive,' Foley said. 'There are no secret police.' 'ICE agents along with other federal law enforcement partners are making immigration arrests. That is no secret,' Foley said. 'They are arresting individuals who are here illegally, which is a violation of federal law. Every enforcement action is conducted within the bounds of the Constitution and our laws, with oversight, legal justification and accountability.' 'To claim otherwise is a gross misrepresentation and a disservice to the public,' Foley said. Foley also spoke about the masks worn by federal agents and officers in her video message on Wednesday. 'Federal agents in marked jackets and vests are masking their faces because people like Mayor Wu have created false narratives about their mission,' Foley said. 'Federal agents and their children are being threatened, doxed and assaulted. That is why they must hide their faces.' Wu, later Wednesday, responded to Foley's remarks. 'The US Attorney is attacking me for saying what Bostonians see with their own eyes,' Wu said. 'We know this is happening. We have seen, if not the video of it, we have seen it directly in our communities and it is undermining our efforts at the local level to keep people safe because it is spreading fear that undermines the trust with local police.' 'We do things very differently in Boston and we are proud of how we do things,' Wu said. 'We know there is more work to do and we hold ourselves to the very highest standards of accountability with our community, of being there when people need help, and of building a trust to do that right.' Assaults against ICE officers are up 400 percent since this time period last year, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said late last month. Lyons, a native of South Boston and a graduate of Boston College High School in Dorchester, said the surge in assaults on federal law enforcement officers is, in part, due to politicians who 'are careless with their politically motivated rhetoric.' On Monday, he and Foley were among federal officials who announced the arrest of nearly 1,500 people in Massachusetts, in the month of May alone, who are living in the U.S. illegally. More than half of those arrests, authorities said, were of people with 'significant' criminal backgrounds -- convicted murderers sought by Interpol, child rapists, drug traffickers. His comments came weeks after reported assaults on law enforcement officers in a Worcester neighborhood on May 8. On May 16, the city of Worcester released body camera footage after chaos erupted when a crowd surrounded and assaulted law enforcement officers. A link to the full Worcester Police body camera video can be found here. ICE agents at the time were trying to detain Brazilian national Rosane Ferreira de Oliveira, 40, who is in the country illegally and faces previous criminal assault charges, federal authorities said. Several people, including City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj and Worcester School Committee candidate Ashley Spring, are seen in the videos shouting angrily at the officers and pushing and shoving the officers. Haxhiaj has since been charged. Spring, 38, was arrested, accused of throwing an unknown substance at an officer. 'I'm sorry if people are offended by them wearing masks, but I'm not gonna let my officers and agents go out there and put their lives on the line and their family on the line because people don't like what immigration enforcement is,' Lyons said Monday. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Boston mayor fires back at US Attorney, says recent ICE arrests ‘undermines' trust with local police
A war of words between Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and U.S. Attorney Leah Foley is heating up over recent ICE arrests. Foley criticized Wu's comments during a recent interview with WBUR, where Wu referred to immigration officers as a 'secret police who are wearing masks.' On Wednesday afternoon, Wu fired back at Foley, claiming that ICE arrests undermine public trust. "The U.S. Attorney is attacking me for saying what Bostonians see with their own eyes." Wu said. 'We know this is happening. We have seen, if not the video of it, we have seen it directly in our communities and it is undermining our efforts at the local level to keep people safe because it is spreading fear that undermines the trust with local police.' Wu pointed to Boston's track record as 'the safest major city' in the country, saying that officers don't need to wear masks to do their jobs effectively. 'They are on the street 24 hours a day, they are in very complicated daily interactions,' Wu said. 'They do all of this without wearing know that there are other groups that routinely wear masks: NSC-131 routinely wears masks, others may do that, but for our law enforcement officers at the local level to do their jobs well, to be the safest major city in the country, it relies on trust.' NC-131, also known as Nationalist Social Club-131, is a neo-Nazi group based in New England, according to the Anti-Defamation League. In a statement, an ICE spokesperson said officers wear masks for their safety and the safety of their families. ICE agents 'doxed' on social media, wear masks after receiving death threats, director says 'We have already had officers doxed online – some have had their wives' and children's social media accounts made public and even schools where their children attended," the spokesperson said. 'There are some sick and crazy people out there who would like to see harm come to our officers and their families.' In closing, Wu said she was proud of how Boston police's it's community. 'We do things very differently in Boston and we are proud of how we do things,' she said. 'We know there is more work to do and we hold ourselves to the very highest standards of accountability with our community, of being there when people need help, and of building a trust to do that right.' This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Boston Globe
6 days ago
- Business
- Boston Globe
WBUR convened a dream lineup for its inaugural festival. Facing funding threats, can the event help it reinvent its business?
Advertisement Tectonic shifts in the media business have forced all news organizations to rapidly adapt to the digital age, including at public media organizations such as WBUR. Led by Margaret Low, an NPR veteran who helped pioneer The Atlantic's successful events business, WBUR's inaugural festival was not just a 75th anniversary celebration, but a test case for a business facing immense financial challenges. The festival turned a profit and brought in roughly $3.7 million in revenue from ticket sales, sponsors, and an anonymous $1 million donor, WBUR said. But now, with the federal government mounting the most significant threat to public media's federal funding in its history, the test is whether tentpole events such as the festival can help sustain the organization for years to come. Advertisement 'I would love this to be the first of many,' Low said. 'I do see it as both a revenue source, but also an ability to sort of expand our circle and do more in the city.' Over the course of two days, with special events such as a live taping of NPR quiz show 'Wait Tell Me!' held before, WBUR convened a dream lineup of conversations for its faithful audience. Friday alone featured headliner after headliner: Garten, Barbaro, tech journalist Kara Swisher, The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, bestselling author Roxane Gay, and environmentalist Bill McKibben. 'We care about what's going on in the world, and this is a great opportunity to bring things like [Jeffrey] Goldberg on the Trump administration, but also art and science and innovation,' said attendee Connie Breece, 73, a midwife from Boston. The station held a 75th anniversary bash during the midpoint of the festival, transforming BU's fitness center Friday night into a fête replete with hors d'oeuvres, a live auction, and sit-down dinner featuring awards, a Josh Ritter musical performance, and interview with Nobel Laureate and Substack writer Paul Krugman. The architect of the festival is Low, who after nearly 26 years at NPR joined The Atlantic in 2014 as president of its events business, where she helped rebrand the magazine's Washington Ideas Forum into The Atlantic Festival. By the time she left The Atlantic for WBUR in 2020 her team was producing more than 100 conferences a year. 'I knew that that public radio in particular, had a natural entrée into this world. We're constantly grappling with big issues and ideas,' Low said. 'We have people who understand what it means to lead a conversation.' Advertisement Those conversations were on full display this past weekend. WBUR journalists such as 'Morning Edition' host Tiziana Dearing interviewed Mayor Wu and her City Hall challenger Josh Kraft, and 'On Point' host Meghna Chakrabarti interviewed Dr. Anthony Fauci and Krugman. Events are a not a sure-fire moneymaker. The costs of bringing speakers in, renting and decorating venues, buying food and drink, and more is high, and profit margins can often be thin. 'Taking risks these days is not something you see very often in the media business,' said Evan Smith, co-founder of the Texas Tribune and an advisor to the WBUR Festival. But those risks are necessary for many media organizations. Just this week, WBUR's public media counterpart in Boston, GBH, This year, Low said, her organization's financial picture is stronger. She said this week that the station expects to have $2 million more than its budget at the end of June, when its current fiscal year ends, and she is not planning on making any cuts. Now, in addition to the larger financial challenges, public media organizations such as WBUR and GBH are facing the most significant threat of losing federal funding in its existence. President Trump signed an Advertisement The threats make alternative ways of making money crucial. But at a time when Trump and some Congressional Republicans argue that public media no longer needs taxpayer support, events such as the WBUR Festival 'might even weaken the rationale for continued public support,' said Victor Pickard, a University of Pennsylvania media policy professor. It also might provide more fuel for Trump to call out NPR for its perceived liberal bias. WBUR Festival speakers including Goldberg and Fauci have both been the subject of attacks from the president, and many of the speakers leaned liberal. 'If I'm seeing this from the White House, I can't help but notice how the lineup of the speakers leans one way politically,' said Howard Husock, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and former board member at the CPB. Low said that WBUR had 'a wonderful mix' of speakers and that while there were people who declined invitations to participate, the organization was 'really happy with the lineup.' While students received free or discounted tickets, and some events were covered on WBUR's website or streamed at WCVB, festival such as this one can't be open to all. Two-day tickets to the festival cost $250, single days went for $150, and VIPs, who received front orchestra seats to the separately-ticketed 'Wait Tell Me!' event and other perks, shelled out $500. 'They're certainly going to be beyond the means of many poor and working class households,' Pickard said. Advertisement While Pickard would rather public media be truly public, and receive federal funding akin to similar organizations in other liberal democracies, he understands why WBUR and other public media organizations would turn to revenue-generating events. Smith, who helped create the annual festival at the nonprofit Texas Tribune, said he didn't believe that putting on an event with important conversations and making money had to be mutually exclusive. 'The content at WBUR is free,' Smith said. 'You need to fund the ability to make it free.' Aidan Ryan can be reached at
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
US Attorney condemns comments by Wu that ICE agents are ‘secret police'
U.S. Attorney Leah Foley on Wednesday condemned recent comments made by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu who called ICE immigration officers 'secret police.' Wu made the comments during a recent interview with WBUR. 'People are terrified for their lives and for their neighbors,' Wu told WBUR, according to the news organization. 'Folks (are) getting snatched off the street by secret police who are wearing masks, who can offer no justification for why certain people are being taken and then detained.' In a video message on social media on Wednesday, Foley denounced Wu's comments, calling them 'reckless and inflammatory statements.' 'Referring to federal agents as 'secret police' is offensive,' Foley said. 'There are no secret police.' 'ICE agents along with other federal law enforcement partners are making immigration arrests. That is no secret,' Foley said. 'They are arresting individuals who are here illegally, which is a violation of federal law. Every enforcement action is conducted within the bounds of the Constitution and our laws, with oversight, legal justification and accountability.' 'To claim otherwise is a gross misrepresentation and a disservice to the public,' Foley said. Foley's remarks come two days after federal authorities announced the arrests of nearly 1,500 people in Massachusetts who are living in the U.S. illegally in the month of May alone. More than half of those arrested have criminal convictions or charges, federal officials said. 'His dad knows he's the target of it': Milford teen being held by ICE after weekend arrest Those arrested include drug traffickers, sex offenders, murderers and foreign fugitives, officials said. They also include a 45-year-old Guatemalan national who is in the country illegally who was convicted of murder in Boston in 2020, for which he received a life sentence. ICE detention of Chelsea High students adds to escalating tensions over immigration enforcement On Monday, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons doubled down on so-called sanctuary city policies in several Massachusetts communities that are thwarting public safety initiatives by his agency. 'If sanctuary cities would change their policies and turn these violent criminal aliens over to us, into our custody, instead of releasing them into the public, we would not have to go out into the communities and do this,' Lyons said Monday. Lyons also said Monday that federal agents and officers have been 'doxed' on social media, and often wear masks while on duty and making immigration arrests after officers, and their families, have received death threats. Assaults against ICE officers are up 400 percent since this time period last year, Lyons said late last month. Foley also spoke about the masks worn by federal agents and officers in her video message on Wednesday. 'Federal agents in marked jackets and vests are masking their faces because people like Mayor Wu have created false narratives about their mission,' Foley said. 'Federal agents and their children are being threatened, doxed and assaulted. That is why they must hide their faces.' 'Furthermore, suggesting that federal law enforcement officers are 'snatching' people off the streets is also false,' Foley said. 'It's offensive to the men and women who risk their lives every day to uphold the rule of law. On the contrary, every arrest or detention is pursuant to and sanctioned by federal law.' Her comments came weeks after reported assaults on law enforcement officers in a Worcester neighborhood on May 8. In May, the city of Worcester released body camera footage after chaos erupted when a crowd surrounded and assaulted police officers trying to detain Brazilian national Rosane Ferreira de Oliveira, 40, who is in the country illegally and faces previous criminal assault charges, federal authorities said. 'The U.S. attorney's office stands in support of our federal law enforcement partners whose mission it is to protect the residents of Massachusetts,' Foley said Wednesday, 'regardless of the noise being generated by politicians who either do not understand federal law or simply believe our nation's immigration laws should not be enforced.' 'We will not apologize for doing our job,' Foley said. Boston 25 has reached out to Wu for comment on Foley's response on Wednesday. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Take a stand against terror in Boulder
A wall in Tel Aviv, Israel, is covered with photos of hostages held in Gaza. () Ever since 251 people were taken hostage during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, a group of residents in Boulder have refused to let the community forget the people who were abducted. The group is the local chapter of the global Run For Their Lives, which organizes events calling for the release of the hostages. Participants in the Boulder chapter have demonstrated by walking in the city's downtown area every week — 80 weeks so far — since November 2023. Their walk on Sunday came on the 604th day since the hostages were taken. It also marked the first time they encountered violence. An assailant attacked the demonstrators with a flamethrower and crude homemade bombs in what federal prosecutors say was an antisemitic hate crime. The attack came amid rising antisemitism throughout the country and followed other recent acts of violence against Jews. The threat of more violence is real. It's uncertain when the group will walk again. The tragedy is compounded to the extent terror muzzles the group's message. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Run For Their Lives is nonviolent and nonpolitical. It is not pro-Israel. It is not anti-Palestine. It has a single purpose, which no person of conscience should find objectionable: to raise awareness and call for the release of hostages. There are still 58 hostages in Gaza, including four Americans. Roughly 20 are believed to be alive, and group members want the remains of the rest to be given a proper burial. 'This is an international humanitarian crisis, where people from many varying backgrounds and religions and ethnicities were taken hostage. They were not just Israelis,' Shari Weiss, global coordinator of Run For Their Lives, said during an interview this week on WBUR. She acknowledged the horrors that have befallen Gaza as Israeli forces continue military operations that have resulted in more than 50,000 deaths, most of the territory destroyed, and unspeakable hardship among survivors. 'The same people do understand the suffering of the Palestinian people and do understand that they are going through something extremely traumatic. You can absolutely hold space for that at the same time,' Weiss said. When members of the group demonstrate in Boulder, they walk silently for 18 minutes, the number value of the word 'chai,' Hebrew for 'life.' Many of the participants are older adults (the age range of victims is 52 to 88). They carry photos of the hostages. Tara Winer, a member of the Boulder City Council, sometimes joins the group on their walks. 'It's not a protest, it's not a march. Nobody talks, nobody does anything except walk,' said Winer, who is Jewish. 'I'm upset about the hostages, who are still there. So it's just a way to remind myself about them and also to remind my community about them.' Many participants have friends and family in Israel. 'They do not want people to forget these hostages … And this is their way of keeping their memory alive,' Winer said. 'I know on the walks I go to sometimes they mention all the people who have died in captivity. They mention the hostages by name. They say them by name, so people won't forget.' She was not on the walk Sunday. She described the victims as 'good friends.' Police said 12 people were injured in the attack, and at least one was in critical condition, but all are expected to survive. Run For Their LIves organizers intend to continue the walks, though they might stop for a time until adequate security can be ensured. Whatever the group's future, the Boulder and Colorado communities can sustain its humanitarian message. Terrorism succeeds only when its target is cowed or diminished. There is a way everyone who is horrified by the attack in Boulder can honor the victims and take a stand against terror: Remember the hostages. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
