To the editor:
The Wednesday, June 4, 2025, edition of The Berkshire Edge ran a Letter to the Editor titled, “Anger toward the ICE agents involved in the recent Great Barrington arrests is misdirected,” along with the deck, “If someone believes that a person is being taken into custody unlawfully, they should call the police. Interfering is neither wise nor lawful.”
In today’s unsettled times in America, in what many of us think as a constitutional crisis, the idea that a citizen has no right to demand of a police officer his or her identification is not only troubling but legally incorrect, as Massachusetts General Laws, Part I, Title VII, Chapter 41, Section 98D makes clear, although whether this law extends to federal agents is less certain. What is certain is that the current deployment of ICE and other supporting agents, in lacking clear agency identification, no badge numbers, refusals to provide identification, and the ubiquitous use of masks and balaclavas all contradict what should be an obvious right: We should know who is acting with the power of the state behind them, a power that includes the potential use of deadly force—as we see so aggressively and absurdly displayed in the carrying of tactical rifles in the various ICE raids of late.
I watched the video of the Creative Building Solutions owners, and I saw nothing misdirected with their anger toward the ICE officers. Without identification, citizens cannot know if these officers are ICE agents or otherwise sworn officers, with the possibility—already noted in some news stories elsewhere—of cosplaying hooligans who are all too reminiscent of totalitarian brownshirts infamous for whisking people off the streets in the dark.
There are instances within Massachusetts law when requests by citizens that a police officer provide identification may not be actionable, of course, as in the case of undercover police, for instance. I have heard no compelling legal rationale for ICE and friends to avoid identification or to wear masks, and those few reasons sometimes proffered, such as to protect themselves and families against retaliation, are absurd and severely uncharacteristic of the basic civil assumptions of our society. More likely is that the appearance of secret police supports the Trump administration’s ongoing and pervasive efforts to intimidate citizens, citizens that include members of Congress and other elected officials, judging from too many recent news items.
The dangerous precedents on display in the DHS-approved behaviors should, of course, be quickly and effectively dealt with by Congress, but with Trump holding sway over the Republican majority, this, shamefully, isn’t happening. Citizens acting in good faith to support the basic rights of Americans—including requesting open identification of officers of the state—is the next bulwark against the diminishment of all our rights.
David Guenette
New Marlborough
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