Mainers mocked Gov. Janet Mills (D-Maine,) expressed support for ICE, and criticized Attorney General Aaron Frey via the email tip line he established in January for people to report on ICE activities.
[RELATED: AG Frey Creates Email Address for Mainers to Report on Federal Law Enforcement…]
“If ICE was up your ass right now, you wouldn’t be able to tell. I bet it’s crowded in there you freak,” said one Mainer.
“I was just in Portland and saw ICE arresting an illegal. I wanted to let you know they’re doing a great job. On a side note, the Chinese triad bought 200+ homes in rural Maine to grow black market weed. Their lawyer is a guy named Paul Mills. Lastly, Aaron Frey sucks,” said another.
Frey announced his tipline on January 26 amid the heightened ICE enforcement surge in Maine.
At the time, he encouraged Mainers to report on the federal immigration enforcement activity, including specific information such as the names and contact information of anyone involved and the times and locations at which enforcement action took place.
On February 5, The Maine Wire sent a Freedom of Access Act (FOAA) request, asking the AG’s office for all emails sent to the tip line up until that point. State employees eventually fulfilled the request in April and sent 151 pages worth of emails.
It is not clear why it took officials so long to compile the records and redact the names and email addresses of the senders. Officials did not appear in any rush to hand over the barrage of emails mocking them and their policies.
The AG’s office did note that some records were withheld under Maine law governing the disclosure of investigative information. It is not clear how many emails were withheld in their entirety.
Within the records provided to The Maine Wire, only one was a clear attempt to report ICE activity, while another appeared to report some law enforcement activity, though redactions made it unclear whether that activity was being carried out by ICE.
Frey previously claimed that his office identified 14 credible complaints about excessive force from federal agents, based on tip line submissions. The Maine Wire has no way to verify that claim, and even if it is accurate, the vast majority of emails sent to the address were not what Frey wanted.
Mainer used the email to report Gov. Mills at the Blaine House as a mentally deranged woman likely “loaded up on alcohol.”
Many people used the address to commend ICE’s performance and express their support for the rule of law.
“I saw some agents in Westbrook and just wanted to report that they’re doing a good job,” said the email. “Can I report Medicaid fraud at this email address?”
Others complained about the icy winter conditions: “i wanted to report seeing ice as i was on my morning walk yesterday..it was all over the side of the road and the sidewalk.. could i get one of your idiots to come and remove it as it poses an existential threat to my well being [sic].”
Many people used the address to submit grievances totally unrelated to ICE, including one lengthy message from a man complaining that his Instagram account had been permanently suspended.
When Frey first established the email address, he claimed that it would not be accepting images, but some appear to have slipped through the filter, including an image of a man in a speedo and another of what appeared to be actual human feces.
Strangely, many of the emails to the account were confirmations that the address had been subscribed to a variety of state and local information mailing lists. It is not clear whether the AG’s office intentionally subscribed to those lists or whether someone else signed up with the address, though they all appeared to be official government mailing lists.
It is not clear how much taxpayers spent to pay state employees as they trawled through images of human waste, various trolling statements, and irrelevant tirades in search of genuine information to help Frey impede federal law enforcement.
How about the State posting a free phone number to report illegal aliens.