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There’s a dangerous thing happening in this country that has nothing to do with “politics” and everything to do with basic safety.

When federal agents show up in plain clothes, in unmarked cars, with no visible badge, no clear markings, and no immediate way to verify who they are, they create a vacuum. And in that vacuum, authority becomes a costume anyone can wear.

That’s not just bad optics. It’s how you get people hurt.

I spent years in law enforcement. Identification isn’t some optional courtesy. It’s the foundation of legitimate authority. It protects the public and it protects officers—because the second people can’t tell the difference between a real agent and a random guy grabbing them, everything becomes unpredictable. Fear spikes. Resistance spikes. Mistakes turn deadly.

And the public gets trained into the worst habit imaginable: accepting unidentified force as normal.

That brings us to what happened in San Diego.

A man walked into a McDonald’s wearing jeans and a t-shirt. No uniform. No badge. No credentials. He claimed he was ICE, went behind the counter, grabbed a worker by the neck, and put him in a chokehold while threatening him and invoking deportation.

Let that sink in: a civilian used the words “I’m ICE” like a weapon—and for a moment, it worked. Because if real ICE operates in ways that look unofficial, unclear, and unmarked, then an imposter doesn’t have to work hard. He just has to sound confident.

This isn’t a freak story. It’s a predictable consequence.

When an agency normalizes invisible enforcement, it trains everyone—immigrants, citizens, workers, parents—to obey first and verify never. That is exactly backwards. And it creates a perfect environment for criminals who want to intimidate, assault, extort, or abduct. All they need is two words and a hard tone.

The clip in this episode is hard to watch. Not because it’s shocking—because it’s obvious. You can see, in real time, why identification protocols exist and how quickly the situation could’ve escalated into something even worse.

The guy was arrested and charged. Good. But if we stop the story there, we miss the real point: the system made the scam believable. And that should terrify everyone, because the next imposter might not stop at a chokehold.

If you care about public safety, the fix is basic: clear markings, visible ID, verified authority, accountability on scene. Legitimacy depends on visibility. Without it, you don’t get “strong enforcement.” You get chaos.

If this is the kind of reporting you want more of—patterns, receipts, and what they mean in the real world—become a paid subscriber so we can keep doing it without a corporate leash. If you’re already paid, share this with one person who still gives a damn.

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