Pompano Beach, Florida: Broward Transitional Center Shutdown Reportback

Sunshine State Anarchy reports back on recent anti-ICE shutdown.

On Monday, July 16th, a group of activists shut down the Broward Transitional Facility in Pompano Beach Florida. This facility houses so called “low-risk” prisoners, refugees that have committed minor crimes, or no crimes at all, who are taken from their families and held for weeks before seeing a judge. Many prisoners have committed no crimes, except for being born in the wrong place and having the wrong color of skin. This for-profit prison is owned and operated by GEO group, a Florida based company that makes $20 million a year for operating the BTC.

With these injustices in mind, we decided to take direct action and shut the facility down, trapping the employees inside the facility, just like how they trap the refugees. Four activists blocked the main entrance, two of them holding the main gate with a disabled car and the other two chaining themselves to additional gates with bike locks. Three other activists locked down a side gate to the south, forming a triangle with their arms secured in lockboxes.

The lockdown started at 5:30 pm, police didn’t arrive until after 6 pm. They quickly taped off the area where protesters were locked down and told everyone they were trespassing and participating in an “unlawful assembly”. However, neither the locked down protesters nor their supporters left the premises. Soon, all of the northbound lanes of Powerline road were blocked off with police cars and the cut team was summoned.

While all of this was happening, supporters were feeding pizza and Gatorade to everyone locked down, providing powerful emotional and physical support. People were livestreaming, the ACLU was filming, media was interviewing, and it felt as if all of South Florida had its eyes turned to what was happening at the BTC. Then the cut team started getting to work.

The first protester cut free was the one closest to the road chained up with a bike lock. She was arrested and placed into the transport van, which had no AC. She was given no water and was trapped in there for over 2 hours, by the time she arrived in the prison, she had been trapped for four hours with no water and could not stand on her own. Even when she was taken into custody, she was given no water for several more hours. The next person to be cut was the other person tied to the gate with a bike lock, and faced the same conditions as the first.

Though the police had an easy time freeing the first two, the car lockdown would give them a real run for their money. First, they tried to cut out the windshield, but that didn’t work. Next, the cut off the entire roof of the car, in order to slide the lockboxes out. After that, they have to cut through the lockboxes, which were filled with tar, chicken wire, yarn, and even lentils. By the time they managed to get out the two folks attached to the car, night had fallen.

The last protesters to be taken were the three that had locked down the south gate. The area was cordoned off and dozens of cops and firemen surrounded the three. Just like the lockboxes used for the car, the cut team had to make their way through layers of tar and chicken wire. Chemicals were used, which ended up burning the protester’s hands, and no medical care was ever given to treat the burns. One activist had her face covered with a blanket that was smeared with tar, nearly suffocating them. That tar remained on her face through the entire time, as she was never allowed to clean herself.

Once all seven were removed from their lockboxes, they were transported to the Broward Main Jail in Fort Lauderdale. There they stayed for 12 hours, receiving one meal for that entire time and getting no medical care. One of the protesters was taken from the rest of the group and transported to a jail in Pompano Beach, while the other six remained in Fort Lauderdale.

At 11 am on Tuesday the 17th, exactly 12 hours since being jailed, the first prisoner was released on bail. The other five who were still in the main jail were released soon after. Friends and family waited outside for hours in the Florida sun to give all those jailed a heroes welcome, providing food and drinks to the hungry and tired activists. Media was also waiting outside, interviewing those arrested.

Each and every activist, those who were arrested and those who were not, agreed that the fight wasn’t over. That they would stay strong and keep fighting ICE, in every city on every day. Jail would not deter them, fines would not deter them, cops would not deter them. In the words of one protester, “This is not the end. This is the beginning.”

A legal fund is currently ongoing to help cover court fees and possible fines, so please donate here: Support the BTC 7!