PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — States at the Core’s three priorities are to educate people on their right to document federal agents in public spaces, discuss the best ways to support those targeted by agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and encourage de-escalation.
More than 1,500 people attended a virtual training session on Wednesday evening, which was led by States at the Core co-director Jill Garvey.
“The point is that this is non-violent. This is not a training to encourage intervention; it’s really a training about being a good witness,” Garvey said.
Strategies include using the SALUTE method. If you’re the first to witness what you think might be ICE activity, Garvey said you should figure out the Size of the group, their Actions, the precise Location, their Uniform, the Time, and their Equipment – including vehicles and weapons. With that information, you can better ascertain what you’re witnessing.
Another key point is you shouldn’t be observing alone; that way, some can document, and others can support community members being targeted. Garvey said there was an uptick in interest after federal agents shot and killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis last month.
“More people came to our trainings than ever before after those killings,” Garvey said. “And what we heard from them was that they understood that if others had not been filming those killings, we wouldn’t really understand what had happened.”
The federal government maintains that ICE is targeting violent criminals and trying to keep Americans safe.