U.S. Rep. John Larson and Sen. Richard Blumenthal both issued press releases on January 9, expressing the outrage most of us feel at the actions of ICE and President Donald Trump.
They called for an independent investigation of the shooting of American citizen Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis and also of how and why a demonstrator was struck by a federal vehicle at a peaceful demonstration I attended the next day at the Federal Building in Hartford.
In a democracy rooted in law, everyone’s actions must be lawful. When there is disagreement about what is lawful, there are channels to go through to determine it—courts, state and local governments, arrest warrants, etc.
Here I’m impressed with Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam’s response to the motor vehicle incident and the pepper-spraying of protestors last Thursday night: “We will be investigating what appears to be a hit-and-run incident by what appears to be a governmental employee as we would any other hit-and-run incident.”
Any of us can express outrage and call for investigations and resignations, but we expect more from our elected officials.
Larson’s co-sponsoring of the No Secret Police Act is a start, but just a start. His and Sen. Blumenthal’s presence at that rally would’ve been an enormous shot-in-the-arm for the protest and this movement.
They, not we, have the power to introduce bills and gather support from their colleagues in Congress. The FY 2026 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill is being used by some of their colleagues as leverage to demand ICE reforms. We need them to support such demands.
Our own Sen. Chris Murphy is planning to introduce legislation requiring ICE agents to have warrants, prevent them from wearing masks during arrests and limit their use of firearms.
Larson and Blumenthal need to lend their support or co-sponsor. They have the bully pulpit to rally us to action —in the streets, at work, at town council meetings —to maximize whatever power we individuals do have.
I’ve heard them both using it at gatherings at the Capitol. We need them to lead us at this time. At this point in their careers, we need them to be the leaders their constituents and our country need them to be.
John Cappadona, MD, of Bloomfield is a member of Indivisible, Farmington Valley.