Dear Editor,
This letter responds to two recent letters written by William Monti ("Councilwoman Daniels must acknowledge the victims," Feb. 26, Page 16) and Patricia Hughes ("Councilwoman Daniels: Moral clarity cuts both ways," Feb. 26, Page 17).
The letters were sent in response to Councilwoman Katherine Daniels' previous letter ("Not welcome: North Salem Town Board member joins calls to remove federal agents," Feb. 5, Page 14).
There are several statements in Monti’s and Hughes’ letters with which I take issue. Monti says that Daniels' letter “contributes to an increasingly hostile climate” towards ICE. That’s nonsense. Daniels' letter was written immediately after the ICE agents killed two American citizens in Minneapolis and she expressed her heart break and outrage over what she saw. I don’t see how Daniels' letter, which urges support for a Senate review of ICE funding, turned awareness into “contributing to a hostile climate.” Daniels' letter set out the known abuses of the ICE program, which were mounting daily, and asked for an immediate legislative review. She showed admirable restraint in that her only call to action was urging readers to push for a political resolution of the matter on both the Senatorial and Congressional level.
Both Monti’s and Hughes' letters go on to characterize these same observations by Daniels as “ radical” and “divisive.” With all due respect to these two writers, I have rarely encountered such a giant leap to an incorrect criticism of another person’s letter.
Daniels' letter, written one week after the death of Alex Pretti, pointed out that members of ICE had exceeded their stated authority in several cities. She states “no immigration enforcement mandate can justify the abuse of power.” Her letter is referring to what we all saw with our own eyes on the news. Few dispute that there was a display of unjustified force by masked ICE agents on our screens. How exactly are her statements radical and/or divisive? I don’t see how you can fashion those criticisms based on what has happened in Minneapolis and the clear language and intent of Daniels’ letter. Maybe it is Monti and Hughes who should tone down that rhetoric!
I share Daniels' heartbreak and outrage over the ICE killings of two American citizens in Minneapolis. We saw each of them gunned down by ICE agents and then lied about consistently by former Secretary Kristi Noem and others. I respectfully ask that you say their names, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and add them to the list of those we have lost in our community, both local and national, in these troubled times.
-Christine Misurelli, North Salem
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