The state of Oregon is investigating the shooting of two people by a Customs and Border Patrol agent in Portland on Thursday.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, a Border Patrol officer opened fire on the pair, sitting in a vehicle, after one of them tried to “weaponize” the vehicle during a traffic stop. The agency says one of the two is associated with Tren de Aragua, a violent criminal gang with roots in Venezuela, and the other is a suspected member of the gang.
The agency identified one of the suspects as Luis David Nico Moncada, a “criminal illegal alien from Venezuela and suspected Tren de Aragua gang member,” and Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, a “criminal illegal alien from Venezuela and is associated with Tren de Aragua.”
CNN and some other outlets reported the pair as a “married couple.” However, the homeland security department said that they were “a gang member and his prostitute” and not an “innocent 'married couple.’”
DHS further said that Moncada “illegally entered the United States in 2022 but had been released into the country by the Biden administration.”
“Since then, he was arrested for DUI and unauthorized use of a vehicle. He has a final order of removal,” DHS stated on X.
The agency said that the woman, Zambrano-Contreras, “illegally entered the U.S. in 2023 near El Paso, Texas, and was RELEASED into this country by the Biden administration.”
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield announced that his department would be investigating the shooting.
“We have been clear about our concerns with excessive use of force by federal agents in Portland and nationally,” Rayfield said in a statement according to Fox 12 Oregon. “We have also been clear about our intent to investigate circumstances involving federal agents to ensure they are accountable to acting within the scope of their official duties.”
According to audio obtained by Fox 12 Oregon, “a Portland police dispatcher” reported to officers that “a caller told them ICE agents shot him and his wife.”
At a news conference on Thursday, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson demanded that Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which was reportedly not involved in the incident, “halt all operations” in the city.
The Portland shooting occurred just a day after an ICE agent shot and killed a woman in Minnesota, whom the agency claimed was driving her car toward the agent. A video of the incident published online by Alpha News on Friday revealed a new vantage point from the agent’s perspective.
Vice President JD Vance responded on X that the video showed the agent’s “life was endangered and he fired in self defense.”
Jarrett Stepman is a columnist for The Daily Signal. He is also the author of "The War on History: The Conspiracy to Rewrite America's Past." Send an email to Jarrett
Reprinted with permission from The Daily Signal by Jarrett Stepman.
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
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