from the but-what-will-ICE-learn-from-this dept

Quite a bit has occurred since final week when my post about Des Moines (IA) school superintendent Ian Roberts being arrested by ICE first hit the entrance web page right here at Techdirt. Lots of new data has come to mild, virtually all of it obtained by Des Moines Register journalists, which signifies the arrested man could not have been the person he pretended to be (a authorized migrant with solely the slightest quantity of earlier authorized troubles).

He very a lot seemed to be the particular person others thought he was, although. And whereas that’s one thing, it’s definitely not sufficient to make a bunch of previous felony prices and a few discrepancies on his academic historical past fully irrelevant. Roberts doesn’t seem like a con artist and really appears to have been a really well-liked and revered faculty administrator. However that doesn’t excuse the route he took to get there.

It additionally doesn’t excuse any of the incorrect assumptions I made in my authentic submit. I don’t take pleasure in being incorrect and I don’t exit of my solution to make careless errors, however typically it occurs. And for that, I apologize. Readers belief this web site to offer them with details and clever evaluation. My submit didn’t have sufficient of both.

My assumptions had been the issue right here. The submit itself is linked to a number of sources and incorporates a variety of direct quotes from folks about Ian Roberts, in addition to ICE’s personal press launch concerning the arrest. I drew the conclusion that the mugshot launched by ICE couldn’t presumably be the identical particular person ICE arrested, but it surely’s undoubtedly attainable that I received that incorrect.

I additionally urged ICE’s timeline by way of felony prices and immigration incidents didn’t line up with the details. It nonetheless appears to be off, however that very nicely might be as a result of Ian Roberts’ bio (no less than as introduced to colleges he attended, in addition to these hiring him in Des Moines) might need some factual holes of its personal.

I’ll run down the recent findings by Des Moines journalists so you may weigh that towards the assertions and assumptions I made in my submit. However I need to level out that a variety of that is drawn from the DHS’s launch of Roberts’ felony report, a few of which has but to be independently verified. (I’ll additionally level out the apparent: that is hardly the type of rap sheet that ought to end in somebody being referred to as the “worst of the worst” and who ought to “by no means have been in a position to work round kids,” as DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin claims in the DHS press release.)

  • July 3, 1996: Fees for felony possession of narcotics with intent to promote, felony possession of narcotics, felony possession of a forgery instrument and possession of a cast instrument in New York.
  • Nov. 13, 1998: A cost for third-degree unauthorized use of a car in Queens, New York, which was dismissed July 6, 1999.
  • Nov. 1, 2012: A conviction for reckless driving, unsafe operation and dashing in Maryland.
  • Feb. 3, 2020: Fees for second-degree felony possession of a weapon (having a loaded firearm exterior his dwelling or enterprise); third-degree felony possession of a weapon (an ammunition feeding gadget); and fourth-degree weapon prices. A doc from Feb. 4, 2020, signifies that the second-degree felony possession cost was inchoate.
  • Jan. 20, 2022: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania convicted Roberts of illegal possession of a loaded firearm.
  • Sept. 26, 2025: Roberts was arrested with a Glock 9mm pistol and a fixed-blade looking knife in his possession. He additionally had $3,000 in money.
  • Oct. 2, 2025: Roberts criminally charged with being an unlawful alien in possession of firearms. 

The final two prices are from his arrest by federal officers final week. The earlier prices are a mix of weapons prices and shifting violations. “Third diploma unauthorized use of a car” is a elaborate approach of claiming “borrowed mother’s automotive with out permission” or “drove an organization car dwelling throughout a lunch break.”

As for the weapons prices, that’s extra problematic. Roberts’ bio states he’s an avid hunter, which could clarify him having weapons in locations he wasn’t speculated to, however doesn’t clarify how he had any weapons within the first place, if he wasn’t legally allowed to have them. However nothing in that checklist (apart from the felony possession cost that by no means materialized) suggests it was unlawful for him to have them, solely that he shouldn’t have had them the place he had them and/or the after-market merchandise that made them unlawful.

Nonetheless, you’d suppose a screening for a place involving managing colleges would have raised extra purple flags than it did, which might be why the varsity district is now suing the third-party that performs employment screenings.

The DHS press launch additionally provides up a listing of his actions in and in another country. However the checklist doesn’t actually say a lot apart from Roberts entered and exited the nation continuously, with among the dates aligning with visa expirations. The checklist additionally exhibits Roberts dutifully utilized for some type of authorized standing when re-entering the US (if the earlier authorization had expired), which doesn’t do a lot for DHS’s narrative that Roberts was not solely a gun-carrying menace to public security however routinely ignored his obligations on the authorized residence entrance. The truth is, it states the other. When he was arrested (and that is primarily based on DHS’s unverified assertions), he had most certainly solely been within the nation illegally since April 24 of this 12 months.

So, while he’s not the choirboy I may have presented him as, he’s undoubtedly not the type of harmful felony ICE must be centered on. He has, in truth, obtained a number of levels. He was revered and appreciated whereas he was nonetheless a faculty superintendent. He was a former Olympic athlete who appeared to have discovered one thing he may do nicely and — even given the checklist offered by the DHS — had not been in any critical (or unserious) authorized hassle for the previous 5 years.

That being mentioned, I’m not right here to let myself off the hook. With ICE doing what it’s doing day after day, it’s extraordinarily straightforward to imagine the worst and simply run with it. Clearly, not each arrest ICE performs is unjustified. And the federal government will nonetheless spherical up some individuals who actually should be arrested and deported resulting from their felony exercise.

However, at this level, actually justified arrests by ICE are simply the results of it spamming so-called “enforcement efforts” which might be the last word instance of biased policing. Arrest sufficient folks of any race, coloration, or creed and also you’re sure to finish up catching the occasional “worst of the worst.” However that’s not how America is meant to work. The federal government is meant to restrain itself, respect rights, and carry out cautious investigations. This authorities does none of that.

As a substitute, this administration has shrugged off — if not outright rejected — the guiding rules of governance. Each day, it steamrolls rights, ignores court docket orders, arrests folks en masse simply because they’re the incorrect race, and is doing this not only for the quick impact, however to make sure it has burned the Republic to the bottom and salted the earth earlier than Trump exits workplace… one thing that’s undoubtedly not assured. ICE has been unleashed and inspired to be the worst it may be. And now that it’s completed that, it’s being showered with billions in tax {dollars} and exempted from the federal government shutdown the administration is utilizing as an excuse to fireplace any authorities staff DOGE didn’t get round to shitcanning previous to Elon Musk exiting the administration and promising to begin his personal bigoted political celebration.

ICE doesn’t get let off the hook simply because I made a decision to provide myself a headstart over the details. And I understand that admitting fault in public simply encourages individuals who argue in dangerous religion to take action extra continuously sooner or later. The federal government (and its vocal supporters) will at all times be the primary to search out fault in any insufficient or inaccurate reporting and use that to smear a complete vocation. If I get one thing incorrect, I’ll admit it. This administration won’t ever give the general public the identical respect. When others are incorrect, they’re pilloried. When this authorities is incorrect, it chooses in charge everybody else when not selecting to easily double down on its wrongness.

We don’t do this right here. We admire you giving us your consideration and can at all times attempt to earn your respect and loyalty. My apologies for blowing this one. And I can be extra cautious sooner or later.

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