This story was originally published by the Nashville Banner. Click here to sign up for their newsletter.
Video footage obtained by the <i>Nashville Banner</i> sheds new light on the state-federal joint immigration sweeps last month and further undermines the Tennessee Highway Patrol’s claim that its troopers were focused on traffic safety.
On the night of May 8, several days after arrests began and amid intense public scrutiny, Metro Nashville Police officer Deonte Harris pulled over a vehicle along Murfreesboro Road for what he described in the footage as a “suspended tag.” In the video, from Harris’ body-worn and vehicle cameras, it is clear that other law enforcement vehicles joined him on the scene almost immediately.
After Harris briefly spoke with the driver, called a Spanish translation service, and informed dispatch that he had “THP and ICE out with me,” a THP trooper approached the MNPD officer.
Trooper: “You mind if I take this over?”
Harris: “Huh?”
Trooper: “You mind if we take this over?”
Harris: “You wanna take this over?”
Trooper: “Yeah.”
Harris: “I ain’t got a problem with it. … If you want to take it, you take it.”
“Yeah, I’ll take it,” the trooper said with a grin on his face. “I’m going to take it.”
The incident was one of about 500 similar stops made by THP with federal immigration enforcement in tow during a sweeping, week-long traffic operation in largely immigrant neighborhoods of South Nashville.
While Nashville officials have consistently distanced themselves from the immigration operation, the video shows that THP and federal agents were able to insert themselves easily into a routine MNPD traffic stop.
A confluence of authorities
MNPD spokesperson Don Aaron explained that the department does not have guidelines for such a “takeover” by other law enforcement, calling the circumstances “a very unusual situation that is not addressed in policy.” Aaron added that the department is not aware of any similar encounters between MNPD and THP.
“On the following day, after seeing the officer’s required Executive Order 30 report concerning an encounter with ICE personnel, and after reviewing the body camera footage, the MNPD expressed its concern to the THP about the trooper’s approach,” Aaron wrote in an email. “A representative of the THP came to MNPD HQ that day and watched the video. The leadership of the THP shared our concern over what had taken place and said it would be addressed.”
THP did not answer specific questions from the Banner, including about the identity of the trooper, but similarly acknowledged the irregular stop in an emailed statement late Sunday.
“THP’s role during this incident was part of an ongoing multi-agency effort targeting individuals with prior violent criminal histories who may be subject to federal immigration enforcement,” the statement reads. “That said, the manner in which this particular stop occurred, intersecting with a Metro officer’s stop, was unusual and not reflective of our standard traffic enforcement procedures.”
In the statement, THP says that the trooper did not violate any policies, but that the stop “prompted internal review,” and they “clarified operational guidance moving forward.”
The trooper and a federal agent both acknowledge in the footage that they did not witness any traffic violation. In May, the highway patrol described the operation as a “coordinated public safety effort” requested by the federal government, touting around a dozen arrests, including charges directly related to public safety, like DUIs and child endangerment.
Though the THP maintains that all stops were valid traffic stops, incidents like the one in the video suggest that nonmoving violations unrelated to public safety were often the cause of stops that resulted in people being arrested and bussed out of state to face deportation. Others claim loved ones were stopped without cause.
“The trooper saw you light up and flipped a U-turn,” the federal agent told the MNPD officer.
“I was just in the area and saw you and thought it might be something,” the trooper added.
At least three federal agents, including one who identified herself as working for the Department of Homeland Security, then took over the stop as the MNPD officer looked on. MNPD redacted the footage released to the Banner, including blurring the federal agents and muting some of their words.
Aaron said that the footage was redacted at the request of Rob McGuire, acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. The MNPD spokesperson said the department did not know the status of the ICE personnel and sought not to identify any undercover law enforcement personnel. McGuire requested that facial features, names, phone numbers and tattoos be redacted because “the work of federal agents is regularly covert in nature and at least one (if not more) of these agents either has served in a covert or undercover capacity in the past or will potentially serve in such capacity in the future.”
McGuire also cited unverified Department of Homeland Security claims about an apparent “significant increase in threats to and assaults on agents.”
The man, who is not fully identified in the footage, was taken into custody. Though the Banner asked for documentation of the stop, MNPD did not provide any information about the subject’s identity. A federal agent in the footage said the group had a Guatemalan man in custody.
Since May, it has been a challenge for local authorities and advocacy groups to identify the approximately 200 people detained during the sweeps. The THP denied Metro’s request for a list of people detained last month, and federal authorities have released limited information about only a handful of those arrested. According to data released by the federal government, less than half of those arrested had a criminal record.
'Basically commandeered'
Metro and MNPD officials have reiterated since May that local police do not assist federal authorities with immigration enforcement. Harris did offer to arrange a tow for the vehicle.
“I’m glad I could pull somebody over and help,” the Nashville officer added.
Eventually, after federal agents get his name and contact information, he returns to his vehicle, muttering, “That’s crazy.”
He immediately called his supervisor and explained the situation.
“I don’t know if you heard, but I had ICE out with me,” Harris told a sergeant. “I pulled a car over for a suspended tag and THP and ICE just rolled up behind me. Basically scooped the dude up.”
The sergeant questioned Harris about whether he had invited the state and federal authorities to join the stop.
“You didn’t ask for help?” the sergeant asked. “You didn’t say, ‘Hey, come get this dude?’”
“Didn’t ask for nothing,” the officer responded.
The sergeant asked if the other agencies “basically commandeered” the stop, to which Harris agreed.
The situation was also reported up the chain of command as required by the mayor’s Executive Order 30, a policy that has drawn the ire of state and national Republicans. The publicly available report for this situation never included any names of federal agents. The report notes the officer was “caught off guard by the presence of the trooper and 4 non-uniformed personnel wearing raid vests.”
Metro Legal Director Wally Dietz told the Banner he had not seen the video.
“I can only say that MNPD works with ICE on criminal investigations but does not work with ICE on immigration enforcement,” Dietz wrote in an email. “Metro complies with federal law, including the law that makes it unlawful to obstruct immigration enforcement, and in some cases, criminal. The MNPD officer complied with federal law.”
He added that the officer could have sought to finish his stop and citation before turning over the stop to the other agents.
“But if the ICE officer insisted on taking over immediately, MNPD would have to comply,” the legal director added. “Either way, the result would have been the same.”
At the time of publication, the Tennessee Department of Safety had not released any THP report or footage related to the incident, which the Banner requested in May.
This first appeared on Nashville Banner and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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