I want to tell you a story that says more about why I am running for Congress than any slogan or talking point ever could.
Earlier this year, in the middle of the afternoon, ICE agents stormed Concordia Cemetery in Forest Park, where I’m proud to serve as Mayor. The workers on site had just tried to help a man who was struggling in the river. They were doing their jobs. They were watching out for human life. They were on private property.
Then ICE showed up.
Agents cut the lock off the cemetery gate. They pushed their way inside. They fired pepper balls and pepper spray at the workers. They slammed men to the ground. They zip-tied four of them and hauled them away for questioning. And every single one of those workers was a United States citizen.
Let me pause on that. These were working people. Groundskeepers. Fathers. Neighbors. They were not suspects. They were not fugitives. They were not even the individuals ICE claimed to be looking for.
The agents held them for hours. No charges. No explanation. No respect for due process, private property, or basic constitutional rights.
I stood with those workers the next day. I listened as they described what it felt like to be thrown to the ground in a place families consider sacred. I heard how agents tried to intimidate them. I saw the bruises. And I made one thing very clear.
What happened in that cemetery was unlawful, unconstitutional, and unacceptable.
My job as mayor is to protect the people of Forest Park. My job as a human being is to defend dignity wherever it is under attack. So I called on ICE leadership to explain why their agents behaved like an unaccountable militia. I demanded answers. I brought attention to the workers’ story. I made sure they had support and legal assistance. And I refused to let anyone in Washington pretend this was normal.
I am running for Congress because this cannot continue. If federal agents can break into a cemetery in broad daylight and assault four innocent workers without consequences, then we have lost something fundamental. We have lost the principle that no one is above the law. We have lost the idea that government power must be accountable to the people. We have lost the basic promise that the Constitution protects every single one of us.
I am not willing to lose that.
If you believe we need members of Congress who will enforce the Constitution against abuses of power, I am asking you to stand with me. Chip in whatever you can to help me and Resist Reclaim Rebuild take this fight to the halls of Congress. $10, $25, or even $50 would make such a massive difference to this team.
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