From Hitler’s Brownshirts to the covert forces of military juntas, the common thread is the erasure of accountability. The United States now stands at a crossroads.
By Matthew A. McIntosh
Public Historian
Brewminate
Secret Policing, Extremism, and the Fight for Accountability
In cities across the United States, residents have reported scenes that look more like abductions than law enforcement. Masked men in tactical gear, faces obscured, scoop people off the streets into unmarked vehicles, often without showing identification or explaining charges. Civil liberties advocates warn that such practices by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) strip away the basic principles of transparency and accountability. Commentators have asked bluntly: what are ICE agents hiding behind the mask?
In California, reporters have documented how masked agents have blurred the line between official enforcement and something far more secretive. A Voice of OC investigation titled “Unmasking ICE” raised alarm about the anonymity of those carrying out sweeps in immigrant neighborhoods, while KQED uncovered cases in which communities could not even verify if those making arrests were legitimate officers. In the absence of clear identification, the public is left to wonder: are these federal agents, contractors, or something far more troubling: deputized members of extremist groups operating under the cover of government authority?
