2,044 events on record Subscribe September 10, 2026
Standing Record home The Standing Record A non-partisan record of US democratic norms —
and the events that erode them.

ICE officers invoked Kansas's new Halo Act to block a bystander from recording their Olathe detention operation

On July 11, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers surrounded Lenexa, Kansas resident Shana Leacox as she recorded ICE activity from her car in Olathe, blocking her vehicle in while an officer repeatedly shouted "25 feet, 25 feet" and ordered her to move back under Kansas's new Halo Act. Leacox was not arrested, but the video-recorded encounter shows the facially neutral proximity law -- passed to shield officers from disorderly crowds -- being invoked against a bystander documenting ICE conduct rather than the unrest its sponsors described.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Olathe, Kansas

Abuses documented

Actors

On July 11, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers surrounded Lenexa, Kansas resident Shana Leacox as she recorded their activity from her car in Olathe, an officer repeatedly shouting "25 feet, 25 feet" and ordering her to move back even though officers had blocked her vehicle in and she could not move. Leacox was not arrested; the encounter was captured on video and later published by the Kansas Reflector.

The officer invoked Kansas's Halo Act, House Bill 2372, which took effect July 1, 2026 and makes it a misdemeanor -- punishable by up to a $1,000 fine and six months in jail -- to come within 25 feet of a law enforcement or first-responder officer who has ordered bystanders to stay back. Kansas Republicans passed the law over Gov. Laura Kelly's veto; Senate President Ty Masterson said it was meant to protect officers and bystanders from "radical protesters," while the Kansas Press Association and other critics warned during debate that its vague standard would be used to obstruct filming of police and ICE activity.

Leacox is part of a network of Kansas City-area residents who track and record ICE activity in encrypted group channels, training on constitutional rights and maintaining distance from officers where possible. Immigration attorney Michael Sharma-Crawford said such video has proven decisive in separate litigation over warrantless ICE arrests, which is part of why bystander documentation of enforcement activity draws scrutiny from the agents being recorded.

Why we recorded this

The First Amendment protects the right to observe and record law enforcement, including federal immigration agents, acting in public -- a check on official conduct that grows more important as documentation itself becomes harder to obtain. Kansas's Halo Act criminalizes standing within 25 feet of an officer who has ordered bystanders back; here, ICE officers blocked Shana Leacox's car in place and repeatedly invoked that 25-foot rule to order her away while she recorded their activity, even though she could not have complied without their cooperation. This archive records when a facially neutral proximity law is used against a bystander's documentation of government conduct rather than the disorderly conduct its sponsors cited to justify it.

Sources

  1. New Kansas law limits efforts to document ICE activity. Video shows how officers utilize the law. — Kansas Reflector primary accessed August 14, 2026

See also