Homeland Safety says the federal immigration agent who shattered a automobile’s window to detain a Guatemalan asylum seeker in New Bedford has labored with ICE Boston “for years” and isn’t a militia chief from Arizona.
“The rumors circulating on social media that ICE Boston employed a militia leader from Arizona to make arrests in New England are not only false,” the division posted on social media Thursday, “however they’re additionally inflammatory and place the protection of federal officers in jeopardy.
“Our ICE officers are facing 300% increase in assaults while carrying out enforcement operations,” the division added.
The publish got here after rumors began to unfold on social media that the agent seen in a video of the New Bedford altercation was Michael Meyer, the founding father of a motion referred to as “Veterans on Patrol,” which has reportedly been linked to militia actions in Arizona and different states alongside the southern border.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement has mentioned that the agent seen within the viral video is somewhat a “federal law enforcement officer who has worked with ICE to help keep New England communities safe for years.”
ICE didn’t launch the officer’s identify nor present particulars on brokers being assaulted.
One nameless account, titled “Alexander Hamilton,” posted on X: “Oh look! One of (Tom Homan’s) Brown Shirts forgot to cover his face. Who knows him?!?”
Homan is main President Trump’s mass deportation efforts because the administration’s border czar. ICE has confronted criticism for the dealing with of the case of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts College PhD pupil who brokers, in plainclothes and masks, detained on a Somerville sidewalk final month.
The Arizona Mirror, an impartial information outlet, discovered Thursday that the topic of the rumors, Michael Meyer, was in Oklahoma, “spreading conspiracy theories there,” and never in Massachusetts.
“Meyer has been making videos of himself at the Oklahoma state Capitol telling staff of lawmakers that he intends to “destroy” what he claims is ‘military weather manipulation’ know-how,” the Mirror reported.
A lawyer for the household of the person detained in New Bedford claims brokers weren’t on the lookout for Juan Francisco Mendez once they grabbed him Monday.
Legal professional Ondine Galvez-Sniffin has mentioned that the brokers had been on the lookout for one other man with a distinct identify earlier than they grabbed Mendez and his spouse, Marilu Domingo Ortiz, out of the automobile.
The incident, recorded on video by Mendez’s spouse, exhibits ICE brokers utilizing a hammer-like software to smash the automobile window after which seize Ortiz.
Mendez stays incarcerated at Strafford County Correctional Facility in Dover, N.H., the New Bedford Normal-Occasions reported on Friday.
Massachusetts Congressman Invoice Keating despatched a letter to Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel on Thursday, demanding solutions on Mendez’s arrest.
An ICE spokesperson has mentioned Mendez “refused to comply with officers’ instructions and resisted apprehension.”
“ICE concurs with the actions deemed appropriate by the officers on the scene who are trained to use the minimum amount of force necessary to resolve the situation in a manner that ensures the success of the operation and prioritizes the safety of our officers,” the spokesperson mentioned in an announcement.
The Related Press contributed to this report
