HARTFORD, CT — The social media storm surrounding a Connecticut legislator took another turn Wednesday, as US Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-CT, announced he will be initiating an investigation.
The investigation will focus on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency sharing a message demanding that state Rep. Corey Paris, D-Stamford, be arrested.
Paris posted an Instagram story Friday stating he had received reports of ICE operating in the district, and encouraging residents to look out for each other. The X (formerly Twitter) page Libs of Tiktok shared the message, along with the comment, “Charge him.” The official ICE X page later shared the message, tagging the US Justice Department.
“Corey Paris did nothing wrong,” Blumenthal said Wednesday at a news conference attended by about three dozen legislators and state officials. “He did nothing illegal. He did nothing that would warrant an official agency of the United States government to say, ‘Charge him,’ which is what ICE did when it reposted a Libs of Tiktok posting.”
Blumenthal, the ranking member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, said the retweet was “the language of a totalitarian agency out of control. A rogue instrument of law enforcement that has to be contained.”
Blumenthal said he plans to announce the investigation within the next few days.
“This kind of action well warrants a congressional inquiry,” he said.
He added the reposting of “Charge him” was only one incident of ICE exceeding its lawful authority. Other examples include using unwarranted and excessive force, use of unidentified and masked agents, and seizing people off the streets who may be lawfully going about their business, Blumenthal said.
“We need an official congressional inquiry that will uncover who is responsible and who should be held accountable for this incident, but also for the pattern and practice of potentially violating our laws,” he said.
A handful of other speakers, including Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, made similar comments Wednesday.
Bysiewicz in particular criticized the Trump administration for its role in Paris’ situation.
“This current administration’s hate-filled agenda has bred a very toxic environment that’s just disgusting and downright dangerous,” she said. “The president has sought to spew hate and division and encourage the people of our country to treat our neighbors and people who are new to our country with disrespect.”
State Sen. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven, said what is happening is an attempt to get Paris to stop acting to benefit his constituents.
“That’s something we can’t stand for,” he said. “Then a government agency … chooses to put their stamp on a lie. Think about that. An agency that we know has been operating in ways — rogue is a nice word. We don’t have secret police in the United States of America. Or do we?”
State Rep. Eleni Kavros DeGraw, D-Avon, said Paris’ post was an example of “acknowledging the fact that people are terrified of being disappeared from our streets as they have been across the country.”
Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, said the state is seeing the weaponization of federal agencies and said people need to “rise up as Americans for America.”
“He (Paris) is today. Who’s tomorrow?” he said.
Connecticut Republicans issued a statement Tuesday condemning the threats against Paris, but followed that later the same day and again on Wednesday with other statements attempting to highlight Connecticut as a sanctuary state and also celebrating ICE’s actions.
State Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, on Tuedsay said, “There must be zero tolerance for these threats. Violence and threats of violence are never acceptable. There is no place for this, it has to stop, we condemn it in the strongest of terms, and we are glad Rep. Paris and his family are safe.”
But later Tuesday, Harding and Sen. Rob Sampson released a statement critical of Gov. Ned Lamont’s response to US Attorney General Pamela Bondi regarding the state’s policies with respect to what Republicans describe as its “sanctuary” status. Lamont and Attorney General William Tong have repeatedly said that the state is not operating as a “sanctuary” in the context described by the Trump administration, and is not hindering federal law enforcement.
“Gov. Lamont really, really doesn’t want the term ‘sanctuary state’ applied to Connecticut. And he’s right. The term ‘supersanctuary’ state is more appropriate for Connecticut,” Sampson and Harding said. “In his letter, Gov. Lamont fails to remind Attorney General Bondi that he and Connecticut Democrats prohibit local and state law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities – including for those who have been convicted for violent felonies.”
The Republican news release then lists examples of crimes, including the “contamination of water supply or food supply for terrorist purposes” and “damage to public transportation property for terrorist purposes.” An email to the Senate Republicans requesting substantiation of either of those incidents was not immediately returned.
In a statement released Wednesday, Sampson and Harding celebrated the arrest of 65 people described as “illegal aliens” in Connecticut through ICE-Boston’s Hartford field office during a four-day operation in Connecticut dubbed “Operation Broken Trust.”
US Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District, issued a statement in response to the Trump administration’s raids in Fairfield County and other parts of Connecticut:
“Since taking office, Donald Trump has launched a disgusting attack against immigrants in this country. Entirely contemptuous of legal precedent, his administration is more focused on instilling fear than on effectively decreasing crime,” Himes said. “Masked ICE agents are targeting schools and churches, dragging people, including legal residents, off the street, and throwing them into inhumane detention centers without recourse. This is the behavior of an authoritarian, not a democratically elected leader.”
He continued: “We will not allow MAGA to dehumanize members of our community based on their skin color or ethnicity. A person’s legal status does not negate their right to due process in the United States, and I will keep fighting alongside state local leaders to uphold the rights and civil liberties of all of Connecticut’s residents.”
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