Main image: the baseball field at 71st Street in Riverside Park. Inset: Coach Youman Wilder
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Baseball may be America’s pastime — but what happens when armed ICE agents show up and start questioning kids during practice? Coach Youman Wilder says that’s exactly what happened to his players on June 26 in Riverside Park–as we reported last week–near the batting cages close to West 71st Street.
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“They just walked up and they started asking my kids where they’re from. How old they are, are their parents from here?” said Youman when we spoke to him in a phone interview. The coach of more than 20 years, who’s coached multiple players to the major leagues, told us he was shooting hoops at the nearby basketball courts as practice had just ended. He noticed a group of six individuals, four of whom were wearing masks. “The whole get-up,” said Wilder when asked what they looked like. “The suit, the camouflage, the ICE, the gun, the taser.”
Wilder instructed his boys to move to the back of the batting cage as he approached the agents. Acting as their legal guardian, he said, “In my protection, I’m going to ask them to invoke their Fifth and Fourth Amendment rights.” Turning back to the players, he warned, “If they start attacking me — whatever — get over that fence and get the hell out of here.”
Holding a law degree from Grand Canyon University, Wilder noted that none of the passersby stopped to record the confrontation or take pictures. “You had bikers going by — nothing. Older people going by — nothing. ICE screamed at them to get back.”
“I hate to say this,” Wilder added, “but they just looked like cowards,” referring to the onlookers who stood back.
Coach Youman and his team have been working out in Washington Heights and Inwood, where he says they’ve seen ICE agents before. “I’ve been seeing them since April … Things like this should not happen on the Upper West Side,” he added, calling the Upper West Side one of the most liberal parts of the country. “How can we protect those people who are going to be going to school in about six weeks?”
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Only one player had returned to practice as of Monday, July 14, according to Wilder. It was the team’s first time back in Riverside Park since the encounter.
“I don’t think they’re nervous for themselves,” Wilder said of his players. “I think they’re nervous for their fathers, their mothers, their grandparents — nervous for cousins. They’re nervous for their family.” He added that some players may be afraid that a relative could get caught up in a situation like the one they witnessed.
Wilder says he teaches his players how to succeed — on and off the field — and that this message carries through his broader community of athletes. Three of his former players have won World Series titles, while others now play internationally or at top colleges.
“They’re used to being around people who speak well, talk well. They don’t curse,” he said proudly. “Similarly, we teach them to hear and respect authority. I tell my kids: you’ll never win a battle with the cops in the street. You’ll win the battle in the courtroom.”
With his current players — all born in America and hailing from Washington Heights and Harlem — Wilder believes he’s setting them up to succeed in life, not just in baseball.
Wilder says he was nearly handcuffed after the alleged ICE agents accused him of obstruction of justice. Still, he doesn’t believe they were there to make any arrests. “I think they were there to show everybody, ‘I’m here,’” he said.
He also shared a video with us, posted to Threads four days ago, showing what he says is another alleged ICE incident — this time on Amsterdam Avenue, between West 87th and 88th Streets. “I was speaking to one of my kid’s moms, who actually works in the neighborhood,” Wilder said. In the video, a group of armed personnel can be seen; one appears to have a “Police” nameplate on their shirt.
View on Threads
“I hope you can write this,” Youman said toward the end of our 30-minute call. “I’m afraid for kids who are going to predominantly Latino schools. My thing now is — do they show up at these schools and do the same thing?”
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Having grown up in Brooklyn, Wilder said he doesn’t believe ICE should be targeting children at school. “My whole thing is education, and now they’re trying to take away the 14th Amendment.”
“I’ve been very fortunate in my life to get educated and know about the law. People like me will be fine,” Wilder said. “It’s the others I’m worried about.”
“There’s a way to do this, and this is not the way to do it,” he added, referring to someone who might be undocumented. “You never know what’s happening when people have authority — and unchecked authority.”
When Youman tried to file a police report about what happened at the field, he says the 30th Precinct told him he couldn’t file anything with them and that he should reach out to Homeland Security instead.
“I’m a Black man in America. I know how the laws have worked for people like me — forever,” he said. “We’ll be fine. I’ve given my life to service, helping people. I got lucky in life. I grew up in poverty, but education — and the ability to hit a baseball — opened doors for me.”
“And I tell people, I’m an unabashed, double liberal,” he added with a mix of sincerity and humor. “I’m not a progressive — I’m a liberal, 100%.”
“But I also tell people this: don’t blame people for your failure. Don’t blame it on being Black. Don’t blame it on being Latino. Don’t blame. Because when you open that door in this country, you can go and create your dream.”
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Why am I not surprised the NYPD wasn’t going to accept a report.
A report about what? No law was broken. If they didn’t come here legally they should go
home and come back legally & then they will have all the rights!
Fred,
You can’t just go around asking people for their papers if you’re a cop or ICE. Yes, I know there’s the constitutionally dubious “within a 100 miles of a border exemption”, but the ocean doesn’t count as a border — also the ocean “border” is now 200 miles off shore.
Everyone within the USA has constitutional rights, not just citizens or green card holders.
At a minimum, these ICE agents were illegally harassing the teens, and also their coach. But the NYPD has refused to acknowledge the problem. No one was expecting the NYPD to arrest these ICE agents, but the police, by refusing to let the coach file a formal report, have demonstrated that they don’t care about protecting residents of NYC, and the public in general. Typical.
Thank you for publicizing this cruel and shocking ICE gestapo right in our own neighborhood. We needa neighborhood watch to stop this, to chase them out. This must STOP and we are the ones to stop it.
Be very very careful about “interfering” with federal law enforcement actions,
This includes encouraging others to take unlawful actions
You have every right to protest but if you cross the line, you can be charged with federal crimes, As a good number already have. I refer you to
Consider these provisions of Title 8, U.S.C. 1324(a) Offenses:
Harboring — Subsection 1324(a)(1)(A)(iii) makes it an offense for any person who — knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, conceals harbors, or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such alien in any place, including any building or any means of transportation.
Encouraging/Inducing — Subsection 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv) makes it an offense for any person who — encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is or will be in violation of law.
Conspiracy/Aiding or Abetting — Subsection 1324(a)(1)(A)(v) expressly makes it an offense to engage in a conspiracy to commit or aid or abet the commission of the foregoing offenses.
You’re reaching. The coach isn’t a coyote.
ICE had no legitimate reason (say a warrant) for approaching any one of these teens, then ICE threatened to illegally arrest the coach.
A There was no ICE etc unit operating in the area, when this happened. I notice that the description of the equipment, dress etc is way of any ICE, CBP, HSI etc unit does not match with the equip used.
B Shocking, just shocking, after 4 years of ignoring federal law, see these provisions of Title 8, U.S.C. 1324(a) Offenses. They are/were making arrests of known illegal aliens, with final judge ordered deportation orders, or those that had committed crimes or were wanted in their home countries. Both of the later wide void any claims they had even under Biden.
C if they pick up am illegal alien that is on the deportable list and there is another illegal in the apt/house they will; of course take them as well
D Take a look at the DHS website were daily the folks arrested are posted with the crimes they have been convicted of
E ALL ICE/CBP operators that have oucred have their badges clearly displayed and
they do NOT need a judicial warant to take into custody someone with an immigration court order against them.
What on earth are you going on about?
Do you want ICE approaching you or your kids and asking for your papers sans warrant?
These ICE agents were illegally trolling for those who don’t carry citizenship papers, so nearly everyone.
These were FAKE ICE agents, if the incident did in fact happen. There are groups of scammers going around nyc claiming to be ICE and scamming people out of $$$ not to be detained. They are playing on the illegal communities belief that government agents can be paid off as easily as in their home county.
You find them with just a quick google, NYS/NYC have also posted about these scammers
Also no one claiming this happened called 911 to make a report at the time. If the coach had NYPD would have been there in minutes to check the situation out and ID the fakers. If they had left NYPD would have canvassed the area for ANYONE harassing kids and falsely claiming to be a federal law enforcement agent. According to the follow up article on this website, the coach did not call but claims to have tried to make a report at the 30th precinct which is miles away in upper Manhattan
Here is just one of the many fake claims about ICE grabbing pepole
Mexican Illegal Alien Charged for Orchestrating ‘Kidnapping’ Hoax
Liars like Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon are fueling an 830% increase in assaults against ICE
WASHINGTON – Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the following statement after the Department of Justice, in coordination with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles, arrested and filed charges against Mexican illegal alien Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon for fabricating a false story to smear federal law enforcement.
Earlier this month, legacy media ran with a false story that ICE agents and bounty hunters “kidnapped” Calderon at gunpoint and held her hostage in a warehouse. After her family held a press conference orchestrated by their attorney, ICE spent days investigating the kidnapping claims and searching for her — at times, literally detention cell to detention cell.
Statement Attributable to Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin:
“Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon was never arrested or kidnapped by ICE or bounty hunters—this criminal illegal alien scammed innocent Americans for money and diverted limited DHS resources from removing the worst of the worst from Los Angeles communities. Politicians and activist media peddled these smears that were designed to demonize law enforcement and evade accountability. Calderon will now face justice and the media and politicians who swallowed and pushed this garbage should be embarrassed.”
Calderon is charged with conspiracy and making false statements to federal officers and if convicted, faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for each.
Robert,
You have no proof that these were fake ICE agents.
Here’s proof that they were real federal agents of some sort, probably ICE: the open carrying of handguns.
God bless Coach Wilder! Talk about a great role model for young people. We all need to learn our rights and know how to act and what to say when the ICE brigades invade our living spaces, recreational areas, and workplaces. I weep for this country and the awfulness that this grotesque Administration revels in.
The part about wondering why passersby were not photographing the incident…. many, many years ago I was roaming around RSP taking pictures (bit of a photographer). One time a squad stopped me wanting to know what I was doing (d/oh I had a camera and was taking pictures, perfectly legally I might add)… I told them I had just been to Grants Tomb and showed them some of the shots. At the time they stopped me I was just generally shooting people who I thought would make a good subject matter for a image. On another day around the same time frame, I saw a soccer game going on for kids. Potentially some great photos can be made. I was way off on the sidelines to not interfere with the kids when I heard a group of older folks screaming and yelling at me that they were calling the police (I was NOT doing an ytning even vaguely criminal, but I bet any cop who showed up would grab my rather expensive camera.
Unfortunately the majority of people that voted in the last election voted for President Trump and it hurts me that most of them were White. We were fully aware of impending “Project 25”. Now let’s all face the consequences and hope that the future generations can turn this terrible situation around, because it looks like we all are going to suffer for a long time.
This man is a hero and a credit to our city. Especially considering how important male coaches can be as role models to boys, the neighborhood and the city should be lauding him for taking his role as protector, defender, and educator of kids so seriously. I feel humbled by his sense of responsibility — and proud of him as a fellow New Yorker.