ICE officers clashed with onlookers in South Tucson April 6, and an officer can be seen pepper-spraying an observer.
South Tucson will ask outside law enforcement agencies to investigate the use of pepper spray by an ICE agent against an observer during a traffic stop last month.
In the April 6 incident, immigration agents made a stop at a Walgreens parking lot, attracting members of Tucson Community Rapid Response, which deploys people to observe agent encounters.
At some point, pepper spray was deployed on the group. Steven Davis, an observer who was recording the confrontation, was sprayed in the face.
Davis tried to file a police report, but it was denied. Police accepted his second effort; however, the report was closed shortly after being filed, with South Tucson police saying they lacked jurisdiction.
Davis also filed complaints with the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to The Arizona Republic.
At the South Tucson City Council meeting on May 19, Pima County Attorney Laura Conover sent a statement supporting a probe of the incident.
"It does not matter what uniform you wear or what badge you claim to carry, you cannot violate state law. You will be held accountable. I continue to push for and anticipate a legitimate law enforcement investigation in to the incident in South Tucson. At that time we will apply the law to the facts and evidence. And again, no one is immune from prosecution. If you cause harm, and I can prove it, we will haul you into court."
In January, Conover joined Fight Against Federal Overreach, a national group of prosecutors who seek to confront what they say is federal overreach and hold officials accountable.
Davis spoke at the same meeting as a representative of Defend Tucson. Davis presented a video of immigration agents recently arresting Karla Toledo, a Tucson Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient, at her home. The arrest has sparked outrage.
“We've seen and recorded multiple abuses of civil and other rights, and that's why Rapid Response observers are here, and that's what I was doing the day that I was assaulted in the Walgreens parking lot,” Davis told the council.
The council passed a motion to pursue a probe, but said it would need to be pursued by an outside agency due to a lack of resources.
“We request support if we don't have the resources, which we know we don't have here in South Tucson, and we request support from our local jurisdictions, from anybody else around us,” Councilwoman Dulce Jimenez said.
Although local police have the right to conduct their general police powers, they do not have the authority to interfere with federal operations, City Attorney Jon Paladini said in a memo before the council vote.
In addition, the Supremacy Clause, which prevents state prosecution of federal agents when acting within their duties, alongside intergovernmental immunity, restrains local law enforcement’s power to investigate federal agents, the memo said.
“Practically, the viability of local investigation and prosecution turns on whether the conduct at issue was within the scope of a federal agent’s official duties and whether the agent was reasonable in his or her belief that it was necessary. If so, state investigative efforts will generally be precluded,” Paladini continued in the memo.
