FEDERAL IMMIGRATION officials say they were searching for a deported Haitian man with multiple criminal convictions when they stopped and questioned a black jogger in West Roxbury on Tuesday, calling the stop “standard practice.”
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency’s enforcement arm said it was searching for Friendy Grandoit, a Haitian national who has pending charges for drug trafficking, and had been removed from the US in July 2008.
“ICE officers were conducting surveillance as part of a targeted enforcement action Tuesday in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, looking for a previously deported Haitian national with multiple criminal convictions and pending cocaine and fentanyl trafficking charges that may have been residing in the area,” said a spokesperson for the agency.
According to a Facebook post by his partner, Michelle Lynne, Bena Apreala was jogging on VFW Parkway on Tuesday morning when two SUVs approached alongside him and in front of him, blocking his way. Three white law enforcement officials exited their cars and asked Apreala for identification. They said he fit a description of someone they were pursuing and asked for his name and ID.
Since he had been running, Apreala didn’t have identification on him. Lynne said Apreala asked if the officers were with the Boston Police Department, to which they said no and showed him badges that said “ICE.” Lynne said Apreala told her the officers did not actually identify themselves out loud as law enforcement.
“I’m not who you’re looking for. I was born and raised in Boston,” Lynne quoted Apreala as saying. Apreala gave the men his name and his home address.
At that point, Apreala began recording the interaction with his phone, and the men decided to let him go. “We’re all set, sir?” asked Apreala in the video. The men said they were done and one told him to “enjoy his run.”
As he began to walk away, one of the men asked Apreala if he had any tattoos on his arms. Apreala responded by saying, “Am I free to go?” The officers didn’t respond, and Apreala began to back away adding, “If I’m free to go then I’m not showing you anything, thank you. Have a great day, guys.” He then yelled to a person across the street: “Record this in case bro, for real.”
The incident was first reported by Universal Hub, then WBUR, and other outlets.
ICE said an individual matching Grandoit’s description was spotted by ICE officers, who questioned the man and determined he was not the subject of their investigation.
Lynne said Apreala was stopped because he was black. “He was stopped for running while black in a predominantly white neighborhood,” said Lynne. “This blatant display of racism is a direct result of the elected officials we give power to and the man in office turning a blind eye and helpful hand to formerly closeted racists who now have an open forum to degrade and dehumanize others.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts said it is representing Apreala, a lifelong Massachusetts resident. “This incident raises serious constitutional questions and is disturbing on a human level,” said Rahsaan Hall, director of the racial justice program at the organization.
Local and state officials are calling for a formal independent investigation into the incident.
“This is unacceptable & Boston deserves full transparency about who these men were & how we will ensure this doesn’t happen again,” tweeted Boston mayoral candidate and City Councilor Michelle Wu. “I’ll be following up with our federal representatives to investigate further.”
City Councilor Matt O’Malley, who represents the area Apreala was stopped in, said that as someone who jogs along that same stretch of road, the encounter hit “particularly hard.” O’Malley expressed concern that what he considers to be “an unlawful stop” was caused by racial profiling.
“This unlawful stop was outrageous and unacceptable. Racial profiling should not happen here or anywhere else. I am working to follow up w/the victim and will address this issue immediately w/ federal reps,” he tweeted.
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley said in a statement she is calling for an immediate investigation, and said that ICE should disclose how many agents it has patrolling the area. “We must understand what they were doing and rationale behind their deployment,” she said.
State Rep. Ed Coppinger, who lives right off the parkway, said he was disgusted by the incident. “How many times have I been stopped by ICE and asked to show them my tattoos?” he wrote online. “Zero. This is infuriating. It is racist, It is illegal.”
ICE said in a statement that it “regularly conducts targeted enforcement operations dedicated to apprehending removable foreign nationals,” and that “it’s standard practice for law enforcement officials to request identification documents to confirm the identity of a potential target while conducting an investigation.”
The agency said its enforcement actions are consistent with federal rules passed under the Obama administration that prohibit racial profiling and the consideration of race and ethnicities in investigations.
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