Federal officers at
the scene of a killing by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Maine were wearing body cameras, according to four ICE officials who reviewed images from the scene — but the cameras are on multi-function devices that ICE officers use as radio mics.
How ICE Arrests Went Quiet — and Got Even More Deadly
After an ICE officer shot and
killed a 25-year-old
Colombian national this week in
Biddeford, Maine
, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin reportedly told Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, that officers involved in the shooting were not wearing body cameras.
Yet the ICE officials who spoke with The Intercept, all of whom requested anonymity to protect their livelihoods, identified cameras among the equipment worn by two ICE officers nearby in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.
The body-worn devices were not designed solely to capture evidential video, and are used primarily as remote microphones for ICE officers’ radio communications. (ICE did not respond to a request for comment.)
“We are currently only using them as mics because of the AXON contract.”
ICE officials who spoke to The Intercept identified the accessories worn by ICE officers on the scene of the Maine shooting as Motorola SVX Video Remote Speaker Microphones, a wireless radio mic with one other important feature: a camera. (Motorola did not respond to a request to comment.)
Although the Motorola SVX worn by ICE officers are designed to work as body cameras, the ICE official said the function isn’t used.
“They have multiple functionalities,” one ICE official who identified the Motorola SVX at the scene in Maine told The Intercept. “However, we are currently only using them as mics because of the AXON contract.”
The Department of Homeland Security, ICE’s parent agency, purchases body-worn cameras through a contract with Axon, a
law enforcement tech firm
. (Axon did not respond to a request for comment.)
Another ICE official showed
… [more]
