SCARBOROUGH, MAINE — On September 14, a group of older anti-ICE activists met at the Town Hall to strategize on topics such as doxxing and roadblocks, drawing inspiration from Saul Alinsky. The gathering featured calls for more aggressive measures.
Just a week later, graffiti artists placed spike strips in front of Scarborough’s ICE office. These were situated beside patches of blood-red paint that had been used by activists to vandalize the parking area back in July, following a shooting incident involving an ICE agent in nearby Biddeford.
A town sign labeled the incident as a “murder,” and Maine’s Democratic Attorney General Aaron Frey is looking into the matter, focusing on the state’s deadly force laws.
Participants at the Town Hall, dressed in red-and-white “STOP ICE” shirts and featuring a video endorsement from Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), initiated efforts to form “working groups.” However, these groups quickly grew into a convoluted system of committees led largely by Baby Boomers.
Each new suggestion seemed to prompt another call for a committee formation, leading to a situation where the number of committees almost outweighed actual participants.
Town Councilor Jonathan Anderson (D) and state Rep. Sophia Warren (D) spoke to the crowd. Anderson proposed various hypothetical scenarios under which the ICE facility could be removed from Scarborough, while Warren applauded the activists for their ongoing protests. Despite some attendees criticizing political engagements throughout the evening, both officials ended up advocating for Troy Jackson’s U.S. Senate campaign.
“Are we prioritizing our immigrant neighbors and people of color?” Warren asked, eliciting affirmative murmurs from the audience.
After the speeches, a masked organizer wearing an “86 47” hat— interpreted by some as a call to violence against President Donald Trump— introduced himself as Rich Nowak. He made an impassioned plea for volunteers to gather information on specific ICE agents.
“We should get pictures of who’s working down there, license plates, and other identifying information,” Nowak stated. “I cover my face because they knew my name and where I lived.”
During the meeting, another participant suggested blocking ICE vehicles to search them, a comment that the organizers acknowledged but did not openly endorse or reject.
Later, Nowak clarified to Blaze News and the Maine Wire that he saw no conflict between doxxing ICE agents and maintaining his own anonymity, going as far as providing the full name and contact details of the ICE facility’s landlord.
In a subsequent protest, Nowak’s masked associate was seen illegally covering both front and rear license plates before merging into traffic with them still obscured.
Nowak is not an isolated case; he’s part of the Indivisible Team of Southern Maine, a chapter of the national nonprofit Indivisible. Maine has 29 chapters, including Indivisible Scarborough, which conducts daily “Quiet Resistance” outside the ICE facility alongside ITSME.
Indivisible employs these ICE-occupied buildings as focal points, persistently pressuring them with doxxing strategies, loudspeaker confrontations, and thinly veiled threats.
The federal government has signed a 15-year lease with the property owner, complicating efforts to displace them. Activists are pushing for spot zoning to prevent lease renewal, although this could be illegal.
Anderson explained in an interview that the city lacks any method to evict a federal agency.
As one protester summarized, the goal is to create enough disturbance to compel ICE to relocate.
Activists also aim to drive out the agents themselves, suspecting that some may even reside at the facility.
A representative from Blaze News was allowed into the building to interview ICE agents regarding this assertion.
Upon arrival, a uniformed agent wore a “No Kings, No Tyrants, No Fascists, No Nazis” hat to irritate the protesters gathered across the street. He later donned a “Hope Not Hate” hoodie while returning chairs previously lent to the demonstrators.
This arrangement was short-lived, as spike strips were placed around the site that morning, raising safety concerns for both agents and detainees according to statements from ICE and protestors alike.
Some activists attempted to carry out the blockade-and-search strategy suggested at the Town Hall meeting.
While photographing agents’ and contractors’ license plates, a younger activist stated they opposed deportations in all circumstances, even concerning those involved in serious crimes like violence or child sexual assault, due to the potential harm such individuals could face in their countries of origin.
A woman in a shirt that read, “Retired: The ability to do what I want, when I want,” observed this dynamic.
Another group was stationed outside a local donut shop, with Nowak and his masked colleague leading them.
Jon Fetherston from the Maine Wire stepped out of his car to interview participants, some of whom reacted with hostility. Upon returning, he found his rear tire slashed. A local auto shop confirmed the tire had been cut with a knife or similar tool.
This incident wasn’t isolated; Fetherston had previously faced violence during coverage of the same anti-ICE groups, being hit in the head with a skateboard and having all four tires punctured with a screwdriver by protesters.
The anti-ICE movement in Scarborough is notably aging, overshadowed by a leftist inclination towards bureaucratic procedures. Yet beneath its seemingly farcical surface, it wields considerable power.
With self-identified “children of the ’60s” willing to confront journalists, damage property, and intimidate law enforcement, the essence of these picturesque New England towns could be in jeopardy if this continues.
