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A Church Group Surrounded ICE After It Arrested An Illegal Alien, 27 Left In Cuffs
[Daily Caller] Police arrested 27 members of a North Carolina church for surrounding an Immigration and Customs Enforcement van and refusing to move after immigration officers arrested an illegal immigrant.

Members of CityWell United Methodist Church in Durham accompanied illegal immigrant Samuel Oliver-Bruno, whom they protected from deportation for 11 months, to an appointment to be fingerprinted at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Morrisville, North Carolina. The group initially prayed for Oliver-Bruno and sang hymns in the parking lot, but turned frantic when they witnessed immigration officers arrest him. They surrounded the van into which officers placed Oliver-Bruno, refused to move after being told to disperse, and were arrested.

"We told the police chief, ’We understand this is your job, but we need you to understand that as a matter of conviction we cannot move, and you will have to arrest us,'" Pastor Cleve May told The Washington Post.

Congregants initiated a nearly 3-hour standoff with ICE officers to block Oliver-Bruno’s arrest. Officers attempted to disperse the crowd, explaining to the congregants that according to U.S. law, Oliver-Bruno had to be deported.

"Listen up!" an assistant field officer shouted to the crowd. "The only way this is going to go down is this way: He’s been ordered removed from the United States. That’s it. I know the law, okay? So what we’re going to do now ‐ you’ve got to disperse."

The congregants refused to move from the van, however, and instead continued chanting "Shame" at ICE officers and sang hymns.

The agent eventually stepped away from the crowd while Oliver-Bruno and two other officers remained in the van. Police arrived and arrested 27 of the church congregants and booked them in Wake County Detention Center with Oliver-Bruno.
Posted by: Besoeker 2018-11-27
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=528526