Outcry Continues In Newark After ICE Car Chase; Feds Blame Driver For Crash That Hospitalized 3 Kids

NEWARK, NJ — A car chase that ended with a crash and sent three minors to the hospital on Wednesday morning in Newark has sparked some harsh criticism of ICE from local civil rights advocates – and a stiff rebuttal from federal authorities.

The encounter began around 8:20 a.m. on Shanley Avenue when a man in a van tried to flee from ICE agents, according to statements from Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and the Newark Police Department.

The pursuit ended when the van crashed into two other cars near Clinton and Shanley avenues, including a rideshare vehicle with three juvenile passengers. The three youths – two aged 15 and another 12 – were transported to University Hospital after complaining of pain.

The suspect who fled from police was hospitalized with injuries, the mayor’s office said.

Newark’s mayor said the chase took place as the city continues to dig out from a historic blizzard that hit a few days prior.

A post on social media reportedly shows video footage from the scene, with large snowbanks visible in the background (WARNING: contains profanity). Another video shows agents leading someone away from the crash site in handcuffs. Other footage shows a tense scene in the aftermath of the crash, including onlookers trading words with federal agents – and Newark police standing between them.

A Department of Homeland security spokesperson said the driver made a “dangerous attempt to evade arrest” in statement to Patch:

“On Feb. 25, ICE conducted a targeted operation to arrest Christian Oswaldo Guevara-Guerra, a criminal illegal alien previously charged with receiving stolen property. He attempted to evade arrest by ramming his vehicle into federal law enforcement vehicles. During his attempt to evade arrest, he struck multiple civilian vehicles – some of which had children in them. After a head-on collision with a civilian vehicle, Guevara was taken into ICE custody. Three children were taken to the hospital as a result of this illegal alien dangerously fleeing authorities.”

Federal authorities said Guevara-Guerra was issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge in Newark in October 2017.

Advocates are painting a different picture of what happened Wednesday morning in Newark, however.

Representatives from several groups issued statements about the crash, including the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, New Labor, the People’s Organization for Progress, and the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice.

“If you still believe that immigration enforcement only affects illegal immigrants, take a look at what happened in Newark today,” said Amanda Winkelman, a community organizer with New Labor.

“[Wednesday’s] crash involved three children and resulted in yet another person's detention,” Winkelman said. “This is the consequence we live with when federal agents are given free reign in our communities.”

“What the nation watched happen in Minneapolis is not a ‘what if’ scenario for Newark,” Winkelman charged, “It is simply a question of ‘when?’”

Henal Patel, law and policy director at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, pointed to Newark’s recently dismissed federal consent decree as an example of police can work together with a local community.

“For nine years under the Newark consent decree, residents worked with the Newark Police Division to reimagine public safety: building trust, accountability and a vision rooted in community well-being,” Patel said.

“ICE simply has no home in that vision,” Patel continued. “Their reckless presence in Newark today reinforces what we all know: ICE does not make communities safer – it makes them more dangerous.”

• See Related: Obama Praises Newark’s Efforts To Stop Violence By Boosting Its Youth

Others pointed to other recent incidents and ICE-related controversies that have been taking place across New Jersey.

“There is not a world where true public safety and ICE can coexist,” said Amy Torres, executive director of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice.

“ICE did not promote public safety in Lindenwold when federal agents chased down school children,” Torres continued. “ICE did not promote public safety in Union City when federal agents kidnapped worshippers on their way to church. And ICE certainly did not promote public safety today in Newark nor during last year’s lawless opening of Delaney Hall, the arrest of [Mayor Ras Baraka], and the charges brought against [U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver].”

MAYOR: ‘SOMEBODY COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED’

“Somebody could have been killed in Newark today,” Baraka charged, noting that state law prohibits law enforcement from chasing vehicles unless the suspect poses an imminent threat.

“These agents have to adhere to local laws,” he said.

>> Read More: ICE Chases Driver Through Blizzard-Clogged NJ Streets, Mayor Says

Baraka wasn’t the only person in Newark who has criticized the car chase.

“This was more than poor judgment – it is a dangerous disregard for human life,” said a churchgoer who attends services on the block.

Others blasted the mayor for his statement about the crash.

“So what Ras Baraka is saying [is that] criminals should be able to flee ICE, and ICE shouldn’t be able to chase them, because the criminal may cause a wreck?” another person commented.

The mayor’s statement raised several questions from people on social media. As seen online:

• “Why was the van fleeing the scene?”
• “Was the pursuit proportionate to the threat?”
• “How’s the agent?”
• “Will tickets be issued or arrest be made?

TRUMP STATE OF UNION

Newark activists said the crash took place less than 24 hours after President Donald Trump “villainized and scapegoated” immigrants during his State of the Union speech.

According to the White House, the president delivered a record-breaking speech on Tuesday, which ranks as the longest in U.S. history. Watch video footage here.

Trump is claiming that “historic reductions” have been made regarding illegal immigration since he took office, including more than 675,000 deportations – more than 400,000 of whom were “illegal aliens” charged with or convicted of crime.

Experts have since questioned and fact-checked several of Trump’s quotes and figures from his State of the Union address.

Recent data shows that 73 percent of current federal immigration detainees have no criminal convictions on their record, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC).

Larry Hamm, founder of the Newark-based People’s Organization for Progress, said there is “no acceptable political position that isn’t the full abolition and dismantling of ICE” – and Trump’s latest speech is rallying another wave of opposition.

“The president continues to come after our cities and scapegoat our people as criminals, but it is he himself who is sowing chaos and breaking the law,” said Hamm, a former U.S. Senate candidate.

“Newark will not be the federal government’s playground for recklessness, terror, and abuse,” he added.

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