Editor’s Note: This is an ongoing breaking news story. Updates will be provided as they become available.
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were confirmed to be on Colorado State University’s Fort Collins campus 8 a.m. Oct. 1 in Engineering Lot 310 north of the Lory Student Center according to an Instagram post from the Colorado Rapid Response Network, a statewide coalition and advocacy group that responds to ICE activity in Colorado and southern Wyoming. The post includes a photo of the vehicle used by officers, which is a black Chevy Tahoe with the license plate EAE-H05.
Someone close to the situation verified ICE confirmers were on campus. The Collegian was initially informed that ICE was looking for a construction worker on a job site on campus but after further investigation this was not confirmed. As of now, ICE is confirmed to no longer be on campus.
Nik Olsen, director for crisis communications, provided The Collegian with a statement regarding the sighting this morning.
“We are aware of reports that federal agents were on campus this morning,” the statement reads. “Neither CSU Police (Department) nor the Office of General Counsel received advance notice of any visit. We are not aware of any arrests. CSU’s guidance on federal law enforcement activity on campus, including ICE, is available (on CSU’s Federal Updates website).”
An official ICE confirmer with CORRN who spoke to The Collegian on the condition of anonymity confirmed the vehicle was initially spotted in Engineering Lot 310 at 7:56 a.m., and that a single officer wearing a face covering was seen with binoculars watching nearby students. Additionally, the source said the officer never left their vehicle despite multiple confirmers knocking on the window asking the officer to identify themselves.
“They were looking at students as they walked by,” the ICE confirmer said. “He had binoculars and a mask pulled up to the eyes. We knocked on the window multiple times (and) he would never talk with us, which was sort of typical. What was atypical is that we couldn’t find any other ones, and usually there’s always other ones.”
The ICE confirmer said they and other confirmers on scene witnessed the officer leave the Engineering Lot at approximately 10:45 a.m. and turn on Laurel Street before turning into the Oval, where they did a lap before driving to College Avenue. The vehicle then turned onto University Avenue and parked at Lot 440 near the Jack Christiansen Memorial Track before eventually leaving campus completely.
They said that multiple CSU officials were present on scene as well, and that this was one of the first sightings of ICE on campus in a while.
“They were all really supportive of us being there, which I appreciated and didn’t necessarily expect,” the ICE confirmer said. “We have never, as long as I’ve been involved, seen them on campus. It’s been a while.”
When asked what students, faculty and Fort Collins residents should look for when trying to identify an ICE vehicle, they said there are multiple indicators confirmers look for.
“American-made SUVs,” the ICE confirmer said. “(They are) occasionally trucks and the windows are generally very tinted, like if you see a car that you can’t even see through the tint at all, that’s usually a huge red flag for us. … They’re not always black. We’ve seen black, blue, red and gray. They’re usually in good shape, and you don’t see bumper stickers or other shit hanging from the rear-view mirror or anything.”
They also emphasized that anyone who thinks they have witnessed ICE activity can call the CORRN hotline at (844) 864-8341.
Reach Claire VanDeventer at news@collegian.com or on social media @RMCollegian.
