COLUMBUS, OH - Police in Columbus reportedly responded to an area hotel earlier in December after a group of protesters positioned outside the building believed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and agents were staying there, with the protesters blaring music in an apparent effort to disturb agents ostensibly staying at the establishment.
Columbus Police confirmed they responded to an Embassy Suites location on the evening of December 19th due to noise complaints stemming from the anti-ICE protesters positioned outside of the establishment.
While it’s unclear whether any arrests or citations were issued due to the disturbance, a hotel employee did confirm that some guests were given refunds due to the noise caused by the protesters.
Video outside the hotel was captured by 36-year-old Brandon Baker, a Columbus local who is mostly known for his appearance on the Netflix series “The Circle." Baker clearly endorsed the disruptive demonstration based on his commentary during the recording.
“So, people are blaring music to keep ICE awake,” Baker says during the video, adding, “I think ICE was staying at this hotel and they’re blaring music and setting off the alarms to keep them from sleeping. This is crazy – this is amazing!”
Baker’s video was captured at approximately 9:30 p.m. on December 19th outside the Embassy Suites located on Corporate Exchange Drive, with him later telling local news outlet The Columbus Dispatch that the reason he recorded the video and shared it online was “to recognize that Columbus is a melting pot and we're not going to tolerate this kind of intolerance.”
It's unclear how protesters learned about the presence of ICE agents at the hotel in question, but immigration enforcement operations within Columbus did begin occurring in the days preceding the noise disturbance. An employee at the location emphasized that they’re open to the public and have zero control over who books a room/stays at the location.
Agency officials have yet to comment on the attempt by anti-ICE activists to disrupt paying guests at the Columbus hotel, indicating that while some guests who were issued refunds were perturbed by the presence of agitators, the attempted noise disturbance wasn’t as significant as some agitators would’ve hoped.
As evidenced by the video captured by Baker, it appears as though protesters did not directly access the hotel property or the parking lot.
In Baker’s statement shared with The Columbus Dispatch, he compared ICE to terrorist organizations, telling the outlet, “It was a good symbol and a good thing to see Columbus kind of fighting back against this group of individuals who have pretty much taken it upon themselves to terrorize people. If we're so anti-terrorism in the United States, why are we allowing something like this to even happen?”
Columbus Police confirmed they responded to an Embassy Suites location on the evening of December 19th due to noise complaints stemming from the anti-ICE protesters positioned outside of the establishment.
While it’s unclear whether any arrests or citations were issued due to the disturbance, a hotel employee did confirm that some guests were given refunds due to the noise caused by the protesters.
Video outside the hotel was captured by 36-year-old Brandon Baker, a Columbus local who is mostly known for his appearance on the Netflix series “The Circle." Baker clearly endorsed the disruptive demonstration based on his commentary during the recording.
“So, people are blaring music to keep ICE awake,” Baker says during the video, adding, “I think ICE was staying at this hotel and they’re blaring music and setting off the alarms to keep them from sleeping. This is crazy – this is amazing!”
Baker’s video was captured at approximately 9:30 p.m. on December 19th outside the Embassy Suites located on Corporate Exchange Drive, with him later telling local news outlet The Columbus Dispatch that the reason he recorded the video and shared it online was “to recognize that Columbus is a melting pot and we're not going to tolerate this kind of intolerance.”
It's unclear how protesters learned about the presence of ICE agents at the hotel in question, but immigration enforcement operations within Columbus did begin occurring in the days preceding the noise disturbance. An employee at the location emphasized that they’re open to the public and have zero control over who books a room/stays at the location.
Agency officials have yet to comment on the attempt by anti-ICE activists to disrupt paying guests at the Columbus hotel, indicating that while some guests who were issued refunds were perturbed by the presence of agitators, the attempted noise disturbance wasn’t as significant as some agitators would’ve hoped.
As evidenced by the video captured by Baker, it appears as though protesters did not directly access the hotel property or the parking lot.
In Baker’s statement shared with The Columbus Dispatch, he compared ICE to terrorist organizations, telling the outlet, “It was a good symbol and a good thing to see Columbus kind of fighting back against this group of individuals who have pretty much taken it upon themselves to terrorize people. If we're so anti-terrorism in the United States, why are we allowing something like this to even happen?”
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