1 week ago
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After more than four hours of public speakers, a majority of the Escondido City Council Wednesday said they support maintaining a contract with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency for use of the city-owned firearms training range.
Councilmember Judy Fitzgerald said as a former law enforcement officer that she knows how important training is and that she strongly supports maintaining the contract with the agency, better known as ICE.
“We should welcome any opportunity to create spaces for officers to improve their abilities,” she said.
Consuelo Martinez was the only council member who spoke in opposition to the contract. She made a motion to cancel the contract, but failed to get a second needed for a vote.
“I do believe that ICE is a rogue agency. It’s unaccountable,” she said. “I want to protect you. I hear you. I see you.”
Before the council’s discussion at the often-chaotic meeting, members of the public pleaded with council members to cancel the contract.
Anthony DiMartino, an Escondido resident, told the council he gets anxious every time his young son leaves the house with his grandparents, fearful that they’ll be targeted because of how they look. Like more than half of Escondido residents, DiMartino is Latino.
“I no longer feel safe in my city,” he said. “It shouldn’t be this way, and it doesn’t have to be this way.”
Before public comments, Police Chief Ken Plunkett gave an overview of the history o...
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