House Speaker Mike Johnson defended federal immigration enforcement, rejecting claims agents were hostile to clergy protesting deportations.
On Wednesday, Responding to a Religion News Service question about footage of federal officers “shooting Christian clergy with pepper bullets, pepper rounds and rubber bullets,” Johnson addressed concerns raised by videos purportedly showing one minister “being hit in the head with pepper rounds” and a United Church of Christ minister “shot directly in the face with a pepper round.”
Pressed on whether the incidents amounted to a religious freedom issue, Johnson replied, “I can't comment on any of those instances. I haven't seen or heard any of those videos,” adding, “Religious freedom does not extend and give you the right to get in the face of an ICE officer and assault them, if indeed that was what happened there.”
Characterizing the federal response as “measured,” Johnson said “ICE officers, by the way, are under tremendous strain and pressure.”
Listing the challenges those officers face, he urged reporters to consider, “How would you like to do that job?”
“You have the media criticizing [your] every move and you have wild protesters in your face cursing at you, waving their finger in your face and sometimes pushing you and assaulting you,” Johnson said.
“Thank the Lord that there are people who are willing to do that difficult job, to put on the badge and show that kind of courage. We should be on the side of law enforcement and anybody who's trying to disrupt those operations … they need to be handled the right way.”
He concluded by urging demonstrators, including clergy, to “get out of their face and let them do their job.”
One cited incident occurred Oct. 23 on Coast Guard Island in Alameda County, California, where protesters attempted to block federal personnel, pounded on police vehicle hoods, and were pushed aside by agents, according to NBC Bay Area.
Video from that protest shows demonstrators shouting obscenities at ICE agents and Rev. Jorge Bautista of College Heights Church in San Mateo being struck in the face with a pepper round, with Bautista later displaying cuts on his chin during an interview.
A second incident took place Sept. 19 outside an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois, where video shows officers on the roof firing a pepper ball that hit Rev. David Black, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Chicago.
