Overview
- The high school intern was detained outside the Licht Judicial Complex on Nov. 20 and released after Superior Court Judge Joseph McBurney insisted agents had the wrong person.
- The Rhode Island Judiciary called it a wrongful identification and said the teen would likely have been taken into custody without the judge’s intervention.
- DHS said agents were searching for a child predator and briefly questioned someone who resembled the target, asserting the person was never arrested or taken into custody.
- Video shows officers leading the teen away with his hands restrained, and reports say agents earlier took photos of him inside the courthouse before being told to stop.
- State leaders condemned ICE courthouse tactics as protesters outside recorded the encounter, and the judiciary emphasized plans to increase access to remote hearings.