The City of Iowa City, under the headline “City of Iowa City issues statement on Sept. 25 incident” in reference to the highly visible chasing, tackling and detention, by unidentified agents of the state, presumably from United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, using an unmarked van, of Jorge Elieser González Ochoa during his work day in downtown Iowa City:
The City of Iowa City is aware of an incident involving federal law enforcement at Bread Garden Market, 225 S. Linn St., that occurred around 11 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. The City was not involved in the initial incident and did not have advanced knowledge.
As the incident was unfolding, Iowa City Police were dispatched to Bread Garden for a disturbance in progress related to the incident. The federal law enforcement action was concluded prior to officers’ arrival.
Because the City had no prior knowledge and was not directly involved with this incident, all questions should be directed to federal authorities.
Since this “not us” statement: nothing.
There were local politicians, some of whom are running for reelection, who provided some proof-of-attending-the-call-to-action social media posts.
There’s nothing on the agenda for the regular work session or the regular formal meeting on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, we have well-meaning white people ready to call 911 if ICE shows up [buzzer noise and/or sad trombone] and understandably scared or at least uncomfortable folks who wonder what the fuck local government might do if something like this happens again.
So what the fuck are you doing?