An SFO employee who was reportedly upset by the noise coming from a church apparently ordered a "novelty" Immigration and Customs Enforcement jacket and appeared at the place of worship during a Spanish-speaking service.
According to CBS 5, the man (who has not been publicly named) pulled the stunt on June 4, at San Rafael's Lutheran Church of the Resurrection.
San Rafael Police Lt. Raffaello Pata tells KRON 4 that the man "took pictures on a cell phone in the church parking lot and videotaped the people inside of the church" during a Spanish-language service. All the while, the Ex reports, he was wearing a jacket with "ICE written on it and an official looking emblem or seal on the back."
CBS 5 reports that he "was driving a government vehicle registered to the city of San Francisco when he showed up at the church. The vehicle belongs to the San Francisco International Airport, city officials confirmed."
The incident was alarming enough that it got the attention of the Canal Community Alliance, a San Rafael non-profit focused on immigrant advocacy, as well as San Rafael-based US Congressman Jared Huffman. At their urging, police then "contacted ICE and the FBI and learned the man was not employed by either law enforcement organization," KRON 4 reports.
He was instead identified as a San Francisco International Airport employee who lives near the church.
KRON 4 reports that the man's issue was apparently noise, as "he had prior unresolved complaints about amplified noise from the church services and went there to document it."
He didn't have an explanation, Pata says, for why he chose to do the documenting in a "novelty" ICE jacket he apparently purchased online.
“This person — out of I don’t what kind of motivations — decided to scare them and make them feel uncomfortable knowing this is something very sensitive for the Latino and Hispanic community right now," Canal Community Alliance spokesperson Lucia Martel-Dow told CBS 5.
SFO spokesperson Doug Yakel confirms that the man is employed by SFO, and says that he's been "placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation," KRON 4 reports. According to Pata, no laws seem to have been broken in the incident, but "police are referring the case to the Marin County District Attorney’s Office for review."