LAS VEGAS — Social media posts wrongly labeled a Las Vegas ice cream truck with a law enforcement theme as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicle, causing the owner to worry for his safety.
“Billy Settlemyers, the owner of Las Vegas Ice Cream Patrol, said on Monday that ICE and Border Patrol don’t use trucks from 1985.”
Last week, someone shared a video of Settlemyers’ black-and-white truck moving into a neighborhood. The caption said, “Watch out for ‘ice cream’ trucks… they play music to lure people outside… this is disturbing.” Others watched the original video and created their own, attacking Settlemyer’s business because they thought the federal government was involved.
“I’m an ice cream man, that’s all,” he said from the window of his truck, waiting for guests.
The Las Vegas Ice Cream Patrol has a badge displayed on their truck, but if you look carefully, you’ll see they have more chocolate bars than badges.
“I wanted to create something nice, clean, and welcoming for my community,” Settlemyers said. “Child-friendly.” That’s all.
There were reports that his business was ICE, which wasn’t very good.
“Be careful, Las Vegas is using ice cream trucks to catch illegal immigrants,” Settlemyers said about the posts.
“Have you faced this problem before?” David Charns from 8 News Now asked Settlemyers.
“No, not at all,” he said. “People often ask me if I have a background in law enforcement or if I used to work in it.” I’m a repair technician for vehicles. I made the truck.
Settlemyers said the truck’s appearance makes drivers think it might be a Metro police car from a distance, which can make them slow down. It has the words: “Not connected to any police agencies.”
“How many people do you think have watched those videos?” Charns inquired.
“The last I heard, it was 15 million,” Settlemyers said.
Before Settlemyers could respond, the harm was already caused. Even without watching the video of his truck, people mentioned on social media that immigration raids were happening.
“ICE is located in Las Vegas.” “Please be safe,” said one message. “They had a checkpoint, and one was even hidden as an ice cream truck.”
“I feel like I’m being aimed at,” Settlemyers said. “People need to think about how many people will see their video on social media and how it could lead to serious consequences.”
The woman who made the most popular TikTok video deleted it and said sorry.
“I’m grateful for all the great customers in this neighborhood who stood up for me,” Settlemyers said. “I appreciate it very much.”
You cannot take a screenshot of someone else’s video, even if it’s on social media, and use it in your material because it’s illegal under copyright law.
Last week, ICE arrested around 1,200 people in big places like Chicago and Los Angeles. On Monday, there were no signs that ICE was setting up checkpoints or making big arrests in the Las Vegas area.
Last week, LVMPD Sheriff Kevin McMahill told the 8 News Now Investigators his department will not participate in mass deportation “roundups.”
“I believe it will be a good conversation, but gathering information from the community isn’t my responsibility.” “I have a lot on my plate,” McMahill said. “I don’t think that with the volume and magnitude of the problem that they’re going to make as much progress on it as they would like to unless they first focus in on stopping people from coming across the borders.”
Trump’s new self-described border czar earlier said he would use U.S. Immigration and Customers Enforcement to “run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.”
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