SCARBOROUGH, Maine — Blaze News, reporting with the Maine Wire’s Jon Fetherston, documented a Sept. 14 town hall where anti-ICE organizers discussed doxxing and road blockades. A week later, spike strips were found outside Scarborough’s ICE facility, according to the same reporting.
Inside the Scarborough meeting
Blaze News reported that the Indivisible Team of Southern Maine (ITSME) convened at Scarborough Town Hall wearing red-and-white “STOP ICE” shirts and played a video endorsement from Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine). Town Councilor Jonathan Anderson (D) and state Rep. Sophia Warren (D) delivered remarks; Warren asked, “Are we prioritizing our immigrant neighbors and people of color?” according to Blaze News.
A masked organizer introduced as Rich Nowak urged attendees to gather information on ICE personnel. “We get pictures of who’s working down there, we get license plate pictures, we get pictures of the people themselves,” Nowak said. “We want to know all that information,” Blaze News reported. Another attendee suggested blockading ICE vehicles to search them; the outlet reported organizers did not explicitly condemn or endorse the idea.
Blaze News noted Nowak wore an “86 47” hat, described in the outlet’s story as a message some have interpreted as a call to violence against former President Donald Trump. The outlet also reported Nowak told Blaze News and the Maine Wire there was no contradiction between doxxing ICE agents and protecting his own identity, and that he shared the ICE facility landlord’s name and contact information with attendees.
What followed at the ICE site
Blaze News reported that spike strips were discovered outside the Scarborough ICE facility about a week after the meeting. The strips were near red paint left from a July parking-lot defacement following an agent-involved fatal shooting in nearby Biddeford. The outlet said a sign on town property referred to the shooting as “murder.” Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey is reviewing the Biddeford incident under the state’s deadly force statutes, according to Blaze News.
During a subsequent protest, Blaze News reported that a masked companion of Nowak taped over his front and rear license plates and drove off with both still covered. The outlet also reported some protesters attempted a blockade-and-search operation at the site. Blaze News wrote that both ICE and protesters said the spike strips jeopardized the safety of agents and detainees.
Blaze News further reported that its reporter was invited into the ICE building. An agent wearing a “No Kings, No Tyrants, No Fascists, No Nazis” hat said he wore it to bother protesters and later donned a “Hope Not Hate” hoodie to return lawn chairs the facility had previously allowed protesters to store; Blaze News said that arrangement ended that day.
Vandalism and prior clashes reported
Fetherston of the Maine Wire told Blaze News that while he stepped away from his car to interview rally-goers near the protest, he returned to find his rear tire slashed. The source reported a local Firestone auto store confirmed the tire had been cut by a knife or similar tool. The Maine Wire has also reported earlier incidents after the Biddeford shooting, alleging Fetherston was struck in the head with a skateboard by a rally-goer and that another protester punctured all four of his tires with a screwdriver.
Who’s organizing—and what’s possible
According to Blaze News, ITSME is a local branch of the national nonprofit Indivisible. The outlet reported Maine has 29 chapters, including Indivisible Scarborough, which organizes a daily “Quiet Resistance” watch outside the ICE facility alongside ITSME.
Blaze News reported the federal government has a 15-year lease with the property owner. The township could potentially amend zoning laws before any renewal, the outlet wrote, while noting that some activists call for spot zoning—which the report said may be illegal. Blaze News also cited prior reporting that Councilor Anderson told the Portland Press Herald the municipality had “no mechanism” to evict a federal tenant. One protester told the outlet the goal was to be “enough of a pain in the neck that they [ICE] move somewhere else.”
Blaze News reported that some younger protesters said they oppose deportation in all cases, including for violent crimes and “child rape,” arguing removals would harm people in their countries of origin.
Context on the Biddeford shooting review
Blaze News reported that Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey is reviewing the Biddeford shooting pursuant to the state’s deadly force statutes. A sign displayed on town property labeled the incident “murder,” according to the outlet.
