A Venezuelan illegal immigrant with ties to Tren de Aragua tried to choke an ICE agent to death, federal prosecutors said, calling it the latest in a growing trend of migrants violently resisting arrest.
Gabriel Hurtado-Cariaco, 30, put a female agent in a chokehold — which authorities described as deadly force — and kept it there long enough that agents thought he was trying to kill her.
An FBI agent who was on scene had to apply his own chokehold on Mr. Hurtado Cariaco to get him to release the HSI agent, according to court documents.
“Deadly violence against law enforcement officers will not be tolerated by this Department of Justice,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi on Friday. “We have charged this illegal alien with attempted murder.”
Homeland Security says U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has experienced a 500% increase in assaults on its law enforcement personnel as agents and officers try to fulfill President Trump’s mass deportation plans.
Craig Allrich, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations, said in a court affidavit that the agents went looking for Mr. Hurtado-Cariaco and had an immigration warrant for his arrest. He at first seemed ready to give up, but Agent Allrich said it was just a ruse.
He immediately began “twisting, fighting and pushing” the female HSI agent, at one point body-checking her hard enough to send her sprawling to the ground, where she smacked her head. She and the FBI agent struggled to get handcuffs on Mr. Hurtado-Cariaco, who kept resisting.
The female HSI agent fell to the ground with Mr. Hurtado-Cariaco, and that’s when he placed her in the chokehold, Agent Allrich said. He ignored the FBI agent’s demands to release the woman, so the FBI agent applied his own “deadly force” chokehold.
Mr. Hurtado-Cariaco finally released the HSI agent and then fled, but was later arrested at his apartment.
The HSI agent was taken to a hospital for a possible concussion and broken elbow.
Agents had previously connected Mr. Hurtado-Cariaco to TdA and said a tattoo he had at his arrest, as well as statements he made connecting himself to “friends in Colorado,” reinforced that judgment.
