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ICE Agents Surround Judge’s Car and Briefly Detain High School Intern After Mistaken ID in Providence

ICE agents briefly detained a high school intern outside the Licht Judicial Complex in Providence on November 20 after a mistaken identification. Agents surrounded Superior Court Judge Joseph McBurney’s car and threatened to break windows before court security intervened. DHS said officers were targeting a suspected child predator and only questioned someone who resembled that individual. Local officials and civil-rights observers criticized the operation and called for greater oversight of ICE actions near courthouses.

11:09 AM, 11/22/2025Politics
ICE Agents Surround Judge’s Car and Briefly Detain High School Intern After Mistaken ID in Providence

On November 20, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents briefly detained a high school intern outside the Licht Judicial Complex in Providence after what the agency later described as a mistaken identification.

Court staff say the intern, who worked at the Superior Court, was photographed from outside the building earlier in the day. When confronted, the photographer identified himself as an ICE agent and was asked to stop taking pictures. Shaken by the encounter, the intern accepted a ride home from Superior Court Judge Joseph McBurney.

Witnesses report that multiple ICE agents then surrounded the judge’s vehicle and threatened to smash the windows if the judge and the intern did not exit. The court’s head of security intervened and instructed them to remain inside the car. Bystander video circulating online shows the intern being handcuffed and briefly taken into custody before an on-scene confrontation.

After a dispute at the scene, ICE agents acknowledged they had misidentified their target and departed. In a statement, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Homeland Security Investigations had been pursuing a suspected child predator that day and that officers briefly questioned someone who resembled that individual. “He was never arrested or taken into custody,” the statement added.

The incident took place amid a protest outside the courthouse by members of the Alliance to Mobilize Resistance, who were demonstrating against ICE operations. Video from the protest shows an agent pointing a taser at a demonstrator before leaving the scene, contributing to heightened tensions between federal agents and local residents.

Miriam Weizenbaum, an attorney who witnessed the detainment, told observers: “If ICE had the wrong person, then they didn’t really know who they were looking for, which calls into question whether they had a legal right to seize anybody. It’s very frightening.”

Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee condemned the action on social media, calling the detainment “outrageous and indefensible” and warning that such incidents can upend young lives. The episode has renewed scrutiny of ICE field practices, particularly when agents operate near courthouses and during public protests.

What remains unclear

Officials have not released additional details about the suspected target or the steps ICE used to verify identity prior to detaining the intern. Local leaders and civil-rights advocates are seeking more transparency and assurances that court personnel and the public will be protected during federal enforcement actions.

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