GRATIS — The local police chief and officer who allegedly entered Cincinnati schools, claiming to be with ICE, have been placed on leave.
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Gratis Village Council decided to place police chief Tonina Lamanna and officer Jeffrey Baylor on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation.
As previously reported, Lamanna and Baylor drove over an hour to get from their department to the Cincinnati schools on April 15.
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A spokesperson with the Cincinnati Public Schools said the officers visited three buildings, claiming that they were with ICE and needed to conduct welfare checks on students, according to a previous report.
The officers didn’t interact with any students.
Gratis Mayor Kevin Johnson said he wasn’t aware of their chief’s actions until other law enforcement agencies notified him.
“The village of Gratis does not condone these actions. It is not the practice or policy of the village to participate in law enforcement operations outside of our jurisdiction, particularly those occurring two counties away,” Johnson said.
On Saturday, News Center 7 spoke to Lamanna and Baylor.
>>RELATED: Officers accused of entering Cincinnati schools, claiming to be with ICE speak out
“I did not insinuate that I have a federal license or that I am there on behalf of any federal agency,” Baylor said.
Baylor said the chief asked him to pair up on Wednesday for backup in an officer safety role.
He said he didn’t know they would visit Cincinnati Public Schools or that he would be portrayed as immigration enforcement.
“She had all the talking, I stayed silent the whole day because again, that’s not my job,” Baylor said.
News Center 7 also got a hold of Lamanna for a brief conversation on this topic.
After being asked why she tried to check on children an hour and 15 minutes from Gratis, she said the information was “Provided by ICE and only had 7 days to complete once they provided names and addresses.”
Lamanna said she will provide more information once she is permitted to do so.
News Center 7 obtained documents that show the Gratis Police Department is an identified partner of the federal agency.
Earlier this week, this media obtained the following statement from ICE about the incident:
“ICE does not target schools for enforcement actions. Yesterday, a local law enforcement partner attempted to verify school enrollment and conduct welfare checks on children who arrived unaccompanied across the border. To be crystal clear, this was not an ICE officer or an enforcement action.”
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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