On slippery ICE
Published: Sat, 01/31/26
Updated: Sat, 01/31/26
prisoners. If I had realised what was going on we could have hung back on the bridge until the arrest was completed, which would probably have saved the Roman cop a certain amount of anxiety. However, he was handling the whole business in such a cool and low key way that I really didn’t realise what was going on until we had already passed through the situation.
I was reminded of this incident, which could have turned nasty, but thankfully didn’t, by the stories coming out of Minneapolis and the situations that the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents have been getting themselves into. The ICE agents have been sent into the ‘Twin Cities’ to find, arrest, and remove for deportation, illegal immigrants. There has been a lot of local opposition to the activities of the ICE agents and two civilians have been shot and killed by these federal agents. A great deal has already been written and discussed about these incidents and it is apparent that the whole messy situation has a many different levels in play. I don’t intend to analyse the rights and wrongs of the US government enforcing its immigration laws. The more interesting question is how, and why, the agents tasked with the responsibilities of ICE and having, and seemingly causing, so much trouble?
In Stav terms we have five principles of managing conflict. The Trel level where you simply remove yourself from the situation if at all possible. The Karl where the emphasis is on the defence of space. The Herse whose responsibility it is to conflict and enforce laws. The Jarl who judges and leads in conflict situations. The Konge who may sacrifice himself for others if the need justifies it. It is apparent to me that the ICE agents are in a Herse role, but some, maybe many, of them don’t really seem to be up to the job. It also seems questionable for constitutional and legal reasons whether or not ICE agents in places like Minneapolis should be acting in a Herse role at all, more of that below.
Each principle has a rule which must be fulfilled for the principle to work. For the Herse each action splits the attention of the opponent and makes it progressively more difficult for them to resist. The Herse accomplished control of others by being completely in control of himself and of every move he makes. The Herse creates a situation where the subject is perfectly safe if they comply with instructions, and yet resistance is futile. This is not quite what we have been seeing recently. However, I am not at all sure that away from the actual borders of the USA or detention facilities the ICE agents should be in a Herse role at all. According to those who understand the US constitution such as Scott Ritter, the 10th amendment makes protecting citizens the full responsibility of the State in which they reside, work, or visit. I believe there is also the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 which forbids the use of federal forces, such
as the army, but also including federal agencies, from acting as a police force in civilian affairs.
As a British citizen my main knowledge of these matters comes from conversations with a friend of mine who was a Deputy US Marshal for many years. US Marshals are mainly responsible for managing federal prisoners outside of actual correctional facilities as well as providing security for Federal courtrooms and judges. If a Federal criminal either absconds from custody or fails to attend court when bailed to do so it falls to the Deputy Marshals to find, arrest, and return the fugitive to custody. Such arrests would often involve dawn raids where a warrant had been issued by a federal judge. For the US Marshals there is really no issue of jurisdiction since they will be executing a federal warrant. However, my friend told me that whenever possible he and his team always coordinated with local law enforcement when executing such an arrest warrant. There were various reasons why this was a good idea. Firstly, the local police would
feel involved and that their jurisdiction was being respected. Secondly, local knowledge is always valuable when locating an address and carrying out the arrest. Thirdly, if the situation turned awkward, if not downright nasty, a cooperative local police presence should be able to control the situation. Once this collaboration was established the Herse role of protecting and controlling the environment could be fulfilled by the local cops operating on their own patch. The marshals could act in more of a Jarl role by simply identifying the fugitive and fulfilling the terms of the warrant. To put it simply, it is beneath the dignity of someone in the Jarl role to get into punch ups with angry members of the public. That is the role of the Herse who are there to support the Jarls.
It seems to me that the ICE agents, as we have seen them, are not operating in the manner that the US Marshals would consider to be best practice. In fact it seems that the ICE agent have had no support, or cooperation, from local law enforcement at all at the instigation of the state governor and city mayor. I have also seen reports that the opposition to ICE and its efforts to find and arrest illegal immigrants is well funded and highly organised. Some have even described the situation as a low level insurgency, similar to that carried out against occupation troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. I will accept that many of the ICE agents are under-trained, poorly led, and ill-disciplined. They are also working in a very difficult situation without the support and cooperation of local authorities and law enforcement that they might have the right to expect.
Something really doesn’t make sense and the conflicts building up between a federal agency and organised civilian resistance, and between Federal and State authority looks to me like a society tearing itself apart. Someone needs to get a grip on the situation by clarifying objectives, roles, and responsibilities, and soon.
regards
Graham
PS If you are interested in learning how the Five Principles work in martial training and how they can then be applied to self-defence then please come to:
Salisbury course on the 21st of March https://iceandfire.org.uk/salisbury210326.html
Stavcamp on the 4th to 6th of September, I will be updating with a full programme very soon https://www.stavcamp.org/
Graham Butcher
21 Beaver Road
Beverley East Yorkshire HU17 0QN
UNITED KINGDOM
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