Democratic Rep. Trolled at Own Event for Voting to Keep Funding ICE
The blowback is not slowing down for Representative Tom Suozzi, in the wake of his vote to continue funding ICE.
Several strategically placed activists appeared at an event in Suozzi’s district Tuesday night, wielding a diaper, kneepads, and some harsh words for the Long Island Democrat.
“I wanted to get something for you: This is an adult diaper for when you pee yourself in front of Donald Trump,” said a man associated with the group Climate Defiance as he approached the dais. “You can wear this, it’s really nice. You’re the type of leader we need right now, someone who soils himself when the fascists are at our door.”
As the man was escorted away, another member popped up out of the audience.
“Sorry, I didn’t know we were doing gifts,” the second activist said. “I have some kneepads for you, you can use these while you blow Donald Trump. Alternatively you can get off your knees and you can stand up to him literally and figuratively. Abolish ICE, defund them. You do not show any moral courage. You are funding the gestapo.”
As that activist was shuffled away, yet another voice rose up, walking across the stage with a microphone before he was ultimately dragged out of the room by a small crowd.
“I just would like to say one thing,” the third man said. “As a Jewish man, I have never felt safer than when there is a mass gestapo in the street. So, thank you Congressman Tom Suozzi for funding ICE.
“I think the only way we can fight antisemitism is to align ourselves with white supremacists,” he snarked. “I know he apologized, but I just want to reiterate that nobody could have predicted that ICE would have been killing innocent people.”
NEW: Activists trolled LI Dem Rep Tom Suozzi last night at an event in his district, bringing him a diaper and knee pads as a criticism of Suozzi's vote to increased funding for ICE last week.
— Jacqueline Sweet (@JSweetLI) January 28, 2026
Suozzi, one of seven House Dems to vote for the DHS spending bill, said after federal… pic.twitter.com/XnFMssXHEU
Suozzi was one of seven liberal lawmakers who voted in support of the Department of Homeland Security’s $64.4 billion funding bill last week. At the time, Suozzi argued that the bill—and by extension, his vote—was not intended to expand Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Not even 48 hours later, ICE agents killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, renewing a public fury that ultimately forced Suozzi to publicly defend his decision.
In an email to his campaign list Monday, Suozzi said that he had underestimated the significance of his vote, claiming he did not realize that the funding vote would be interpreted as a “referendum on the illegal and immoral conduct of ICE in Minneapolis.”
“I hear the anger from many of my constituents, and I take responsibility for that,” Suozzi wrote. “I have long been critical of ICE’s unlawful behavior and I must do a better job demonstrating that.”