ICE fires back: Fox 4 has "chosen to ignore the facts" in the Abel Arango case

http://www.fox4now.com/Global/story.asp?S=8728247

ICE fires back: Fox 4 has "chosen to ignore the facts" in the Abel Arango case




The office of Immigration and Customs enforcement is beginning to respond to a barrage of calls and e-mails from Fox 4 viewers. Those viewers are demanding answers about how criminal alien Abel Arango was allowed to slip through the cracks and remain on the streets, where, according to police and eyewitnesses, he eventually shot and killed Fort Myers Police Officer Andrew Widman. Our viewers began jamming ICE switchboards two nights ago (Tuesday, July 22), when we suggested to you that since ICE doesn't want to face our cameras and answer questions, these are your public servants, and maybe they'll talk to you. Two viewers have sent us the e-mails they received from Washington-based ICE press secretary Kelly Nantel. The responses are virtually identical. Nantel comes out of the corner swinging, saying ICE has already provided the "full facts" to Fox 4, that we "chose to ignore them." The e-mail goes on make a number of points ICE had previously made to us, the gist of which have been fully reported in our coverage. Indeed, Lisa Gundell, one of the viewers who received one of these form letters, wrote us, "I was already aware of most of what she said to me because of your reports." You can find the full text of ICE's form letter by following this link.

In the legal profession, ICE's opening volley is what is known as an "ad hominem attack." The idea is, if your case is going south and you have nothing to say to effectively respond to your opponent's points, you confuse the issue by making it personal, besmirching your adversary's competence or character. Nantel's blast is a continuation of the personal attack ICE regional Public Information Officer Barbara Gonzalez begaon on Tuesday, when she labelled Fox 4 reporter Tyisha Fernandes (one of the classiest and nicest ladies you could ever hope to meet) as unprofessional and classless for daring to show up without an appointment, after having been turned down for one.

Our reporting is out there for everyone to see, and we stand by it. Fox 4 is not ignoring the facts. ICE is ignoring the point. The point, once more, for the record, is this. We would like someone in authority at ICE to come out from their fenced-in, guarded compounds, quit hiding behind press officers and their carefully prepared print statements and e-mails, and have a conversation with us on behalf of our viewers. We'd like someone in real authority -- an actual decision maker with actual responsibility -- to share their views and expertise with our viewers in a free-ranging, open discussion about what, if anything, went wrong, what we've learned from it, and what, if any, corrective action needs to be taken. This is a concept known as accountability. It's something citizens in a democracy have a right to expect from those in power.

It's also a concept that appeared to alarm Press Secretary Nantel when we mentioned it to her yesterday. One can understand, really, what ICE is afraid of. Politics is an ugly game. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of public opinion. Still, it's how we do things in America. It's the method we have chosen as a society to work through our problems. Democracy -- embrace the concept. In our case, Fox 4 has no interest in embarrassing, berating or beating up on ICE or anyone else. We just want to explore solutions, calmly and professionally, for our viewers with the people who are charged with keeping us safe -- and being a TV news outlet, we'd like to do this on TV, using a camera and microphone, so that our viewers can hear from these officials in person. But Nantel gave us a hint yesterday of her real concern. She told us ICE has no interest in going on television to "point fingers at our law enforcement partners." Now we begin to see what is really going on. But come on, ICE. If there is a communications breakdown of some sort between you and other agencies that's posing a threat to public safety, this issue needs to be discussed, vetted and thoroughly aired out. The public servants at ICE should have enough commitment to public service, enough moral courage, and enough common decency to assist with this process. Quite literally, this is a life and death matter. If ICE doesn't believe it, that's because its Washington-based bureaucrats weren't here in Southwest Florida to watch 2,500 people bury a fine young man yesterday who died trying to protect us -- an event so important that not one but three television stations chose to carry it live.

Nantel says the "person in authority" you want to speak with is:

Michael Rozos
Special Agent in Charge of Investigations
954-545-6037
Email: michael.rozos@dhs.gov

She says you are welcome to call or e-mail him. But Nantel also says, Rozos won't take your call or return it, and won't respond to your e-mail. Instead, he'll relay it to her for response. So if you'd like to get one of her form letters for your very own, please contact him. We hope that you do. Past experience shows that if the bureaucrats' phones ring enough, good things are prone to happen. By contrast, if they don't ring, those in charge get to assume that people don't care, that the storm is over, and they've weathered it successfully.

Related story:
Fox 4 viewers jam ICE phones, demanding answers in the Widman murder
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-124656-widman.html