“There is so much about ICE operations that create a sense of fear,” Mayor Erin Mendenhall said in a statement after video of a woman being arrested by ICE agents at the Salt Lake City airport Wednesday circulated on social media.

Mayor Erin Mendenhall specifically questioned the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents’ tactics in a statement Thursday.

“Why were the agents in plain clothes without visible identification?” she asked. “Why did they choose the lobby of the airport — the gateway to our state — where some 28,000 people enter every day? What I do know is that nothing about this incident, like so many ICE operations, makes me feel safer as an American.”

ICE initially denied involvement in the arrest, telling The Salt Lake Tribune in a 9:48 a.m. email Thursday that the agency was “not involved.”

But after Salt Lake City police and an airport spokesperson separately said the arresting authorities were ICE agents, a spokesperson for the federal immigration agency in a 3:16 p.m. email ultimately confirmed “this was ICE.”

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The Salt Lake City police officer at the scene didn’t physically detain the woman, but the video captured one of the agents showing the officer his badge, and the two appeared to have a brief conversation.

Salt Lake City police have a dedicated airport bureau and oversee some aspects of airport security.

“Our officer noticed the commotion and went over, and the individuals identified themselves as federal law enforcement and showed their badge,” Salt Lake City Police Department spokesperson Glen Mills said. “We did not participate in any other way, other than going to check out to see what the commotion was.”

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