JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 The National Baptist Convention USA, Inc. is making a bold statement against what it calls lawless ICE operations, hosting a press conference in Jacksonville on Wednesday to unveil a strategy aimed at protecting people of color from harassment, unlawful arrests, and deportation.<\/p>\n
Speaking directly to the public, Dr. Boise Kimber, National Convention President, drew a stark comparison between ICE agents and the Ku Klux Klan. \u201cFor more than a century, black people experienced the horror unleashed by the Ku Klux Klan that is now replaying across America, unchecked. The Klan was a secret society that hid behind masks, as do ICE agents. ICE has no legal nor moral authority to disappear people or do them harm, as the Klan did,\u201d Kimber said.<\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/a><\/p>\n The convention leaders are calling for cities and states to follow the example set by California\u2019s \u201cNo Secret Police Act\u201d or Senate Bill 627. The legislation makes it illegal for law enforcement officials, including federal agents, to wear masks while carrying out official duties. The faith leaders say they want this message spread nationwide, emphasizing that law enforcement should be accountable and visible to the communities they serve.<\/p>\n Dr. Kimber made it clear that the action is rooted in protecting lives. \u201cNo law agency should come into any city nor our homes with their face covered, as if though they are hiding from someone. If some officer in your own community would knock at your door with a mask on, you would either grab your gun or not open your door,\u201d he said. \u201cUnder the leadership of Donald Trump, we are in a position where we must protect ourselves from those who desire to take our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite their efforts, convention leaders shared that attempts to reach Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have been unsuccessful. \u201cWhy would he reach out? He didn\u2019t even return the state president\u2019s calls. Dr. Kimber said. Carl Johnson, president of the Florida General Baptist Convention, added that he had tried repeatedly, in writing and verbally, to get a response.<\/p>\n Faith leaders are urging members of the public to take action as well, reaching out to their local and state legislators to support anti-mask legislation for law enforcement officials, following the California model. \u201cOur people are here, and we must go where our people are. Our people are in danger, and that does not mean that we cannot go where they are,\u201d Kimber said.<\/p>\n The press conference and the convention, which have drawn thousands to the First Coast for reflection, worship, and social action, make clear that faith leaders intend to continue this push across the country. \u201cThis call to end masked ICE agents will be spread everywhere our convention goes,\u201d said leaders.<\/p>\n Action News Jax has reached out to ICE and is still waiting for a response. The Office of Governor DeSantis said they are working on responding to the claims that the governor ignored repeated requests to meet. The Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office confirmed it is part of the federal 287(g) agreement, which allows local law enforcement to handle some immigration enforcement responsibilities.<\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\n [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/a>] <\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here<\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here<\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/p>\n Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 The National Baptist Convention USA, Inc. is making a bold statement against what it calls…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":118751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[14115,982,3017,7894,59707,59709,7840,43680,4535,12909,18583,2683,59710,28,7246,6281,1877,969,116,118,117,6458,59711,634,59706,1276,641,132,59708,45479,34238,22136],"class_list":["post-118750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-287g","tag-action_news","tag-america","tag-bank","tag-baptist","tag-baptist_national_convention","tag-ben_becker","tag-ben_tanika","tag-california","tag-deja","tag-deja_mayfield","tag-desantis","tag-first_coast","tag-florida","tag-gavin_newsom","tag-governor","tag-ice","tag-jack","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-jacksonville_sheriffs_office","tag-ku_klux_klan","tag-local","tag-national_baptist_convention","tag-north","tag-north_bank","tag-police","tag-proposition","tag-ron_desantiss","tag-taneka_hughes","tag-trump_administration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}