The paunchy, bespectacled linguist had sought asylum in the U.S. and challenged the deportation ruling against him for nearly a decade.

In it the force’s members – some paunchy and gray, some teenage and waifish – stood in poses, holding up three-fingers like a misplaced street gang.

I was tight-lipped and grim, and, after the events of the last several days, not terribly intimidated by the authority of two paunchy old men.