A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent accused of shoving protesters during a heated anti-immigration demonstration was grilled in federal court over a series of racist and anti-transgender social media posts, including one mocking a female hunger striker’s weight.
Jeremy Burlingame, a supervisory officer with ICE since 2007, took the witness stand for a second time on Friday during a federal conspiracy trial stemming from June protests outside Spokane’s ICE facility. The trial took a turn after prosecutors confronted Burlingame, their own witness, over posts linked to a now-deleted X account tied to him.
Among the messages read aloud in court was a response to a woman announcing a hunger strike. ‘She could miss a few meals,’ the account allegedly replied, according to The Spokesman-Review. Assistant US Attorney Lisa Cartier-Giroux reportedly called the posts ‘horrendous’ before questioning Burlingame in front of the jury.
The account also allegedly targeted Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender member of Congress, calling her ‘a mentally ill man.’ Another post mocked former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as a ‘mentally ill soy boy.’ The account allegedly referred to black people as participating in ‘jungle behavior’ and ‘thug culture,’ while calling Texas Representative Jasmine Crockett ‘lying ghetto garbage,’ ‘racist’ and a ‘complete idiot.’
According to Range Media, the account reposted footage of ICE agents smashing the window of a pregnant woman’s vehicle during an arrest in Spokane Valley alongside the caption: ‘Nobody f***ing cares. Go have your baby in Guatemala.’ The woman was reportedly a US citizen married to one of the detained immigrants.
Other posts allegedly called Senator Chris Van Hollen ‘a treasonous traitor’ for visiting wrongfully deported migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador. The account also suggested former Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart should face federal incitement charges for urging demonstrators to block a van transporting asylum seekers to a Tacoma detention center.
Burlingame admitted in court the account belonged to him but insisted the comments were not his ‘true opinion,’ blaming them on ‘a hard time’ in his life. The courtroom gallery reportedly scoffed at the explanation as prosecutors revealed ICE had begun disciplinary proceedings.
Burlingame is testifying in the federal conspiracy trial of protesters Bajun Mavalwalla II, Justice Forral and Jac Archer, who are accused of conspiring to impede or injure ICE officers during June protests outside Spokane’s ICE office. Defense attorney Carl Oreskovich noted that Archer is black and uses they/them pronouns while questioning Burlingame about the social media posts.
