The Dark Knight showed up at a Santa Clara City Council meeting on Tuesday to criticize city officials for what he described as a failure to protect the community from ICE.
Clad in a Batman costume, the public commenter delivered a profanity-laced, two-minute screed accusing the council of failing to act ahead of Super Bowl LX. The Department of Homeland Security has confirmed that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will conduct operations in and around Levi’s Stadium during the game on Sunday, February 8.
With the exception of Kevin Park, the unidentified speaker labeled members of the council “cowards” and “traitors” for not standing up to federal authorities.
Watch the video here. Caution: NSFW.
It's not clear how many federal agents will be deployed to the Super Bowl or what the scope of their activities will be.
San Jose City Councilmember Peter Ortiz said he has “heard through various sources that ICE will be arriving the Friday before the Super Bowl and they will be having a presence at the Super Bowl location.”
Ortiz cautioned anyone of “mixed immigration status” to avoid going to the Super Bowl. But some U.S. citizens fear they too could get swept up in raids due to racial profiling. In Minneapolis, where ICE has been conducting a massive operation, there have been reported instances of U.S. citizens being mistakenly detained or arrested by federal agents. Two U.S. citizens have been killed in that city over the past month after tense interactions with federal officers.