Emily Witt

And if they ID it, the idea is they follow it a safe distance and they just want to be there to record some of what we've been seeing.

Right.

And because the government is not really telling us who they're taking and where and how many people with any specificity, they want to make sure somebody is bearing witness to that and also just drawing attention perhaps to help some of their neighbors have time to lock their doors or get somewhere safe as the agents are moving around the city.

About eight hours.

I was very surprised that the person we just heard from was interrogated as if he were not just a person out exercising his right to observe and protest, but someone who was part of an organized network of bad actors.

He was just kind of baffled.

I mean, both of the people I spoke with were angry.

Genuinely surprised that the people interrogating them believed their own narrative about who was doing this, I think.

They also asked, do you know of any protesters that are planning any violent protests?

or might be capable of planning violent actions.

And I was like, well, what do you mean by violent actions?

And they're like, well, say, creating maybe, or making plans to set off a bomb or potentially snipe ICE agents.

And I just responded and I was like, a bomb?

He's the only person that I heard that from.

And I should say that the Department of Homeland Security said that no money was offered.

But, you know, yeah, it is surreal and...

And yet, I do think the federal authorities believe in this kind of story they're telling of an organized resistance to them that might be armed.

And I think you see that in the really trigger-happy response of the agents that are out in the streets.

No, that's totally correct.

And I think it's just a really different situation.