Earlier today, I lamented the erosion of performative-politics skills among Capitol Hill Democrats. Turns out, it’s worse than anyone imagined.
Last week, Democrats tried the usual special-guest strategy at the State of the Union speech to highlight their opposition to Donald Trump and his administration. Immigration got the most attention, and Rep. Seth Moulton decided to shine a spotlight on it by sheltering an illegal alien, Marcelo Gomes da Silva, after his detention by DHS last May after a traffic stop revealed his student visa had expired. Moulton brought him to the SOTU and then hid Gomes da Silva in his office after DHS began tweeting about his presence.
Later, Moulton appeared on M-SNOW to proclaim Gomes da Silva as a “great American” and a “patriot”:
“We all know Marcelo because of his tragic immigration story where he was thrown in a detention facility for days on end, sleeping on a concrete floor and not even given a Bible … and yet throughout that time he insisted on helping others, [was] more focused on translating for other detainees and helping them contact their families than even his own safety,” Moulton said.
“He wanted to come here and confront not just Donald Trump at the State of the Union, but his MAGA Republican enablers, who are my colleagues here in the House of Representatives, and he did that. He put a human face on this immigration tragedy and what I think so many colleagues saw is not just an immigrant, but a great American, a great young American, an amazing patriot, someone whose courage we should all emulate in these challenging times,” he said.
The “great American” doesn’t match his immigration status, and “patriot” sounds a little hyperbolic. However, even if one accepted those as accurate, it turns out that Gomes da Silva is allegedly something else, too:
NEW: The Boston Herald reports that Rep. Seth Moulton’s (D-MA) illegal immigrant SOTU guest is referenced in police reports involving sexual assault and juveniles. Moulton hid him in his office during the speech and called him a “great American”. https://t.co/k4kMLtcoe9
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) March 5, 2026
The Boston Herald has more:
The Herald submitted a public records request to the Secretary of State’s Office and the Milford Police Department regarding two reports, one from June and the other from September of 2021, where Marcelo Gomes da Silva was apparently named as the person of interest.
The Herald sought the police report numbered 21-23101 dated 9/15/2021 featuring Marcelo Gomes da Silva and 21-16254 dated 6/30/21 also featuring the 19-year-old.
Milford Deputy Chief John Sanchioni denied both of those requests, indicating that the police report from June 2021 “involves a sexual assault and juveniles,” and that the report from September 2021 “involves juveniles.” He did not elaborate.
Did Moulton’s office simply skip over the vetting process when inviting this “special guest” to the SOTU, and then sheltering him from DHS? It’s possible they did a cursory search that may have missed juvenile criminal cases; the rough math would indicate that Gomes da Silva would have been 14 or 15 at the time of these two cases. Normally, such juvenile cases are sealed, but the records are nonetheless available for those who search diligently or have specific knowledge of the cases. Herald reporter Tim Dunn likely got tipped by law enforcement or maybe by one or more of the victims involved in these assaults.
Gomes da Silva issued a statement insisting on his innocence and claimed never to have been contacted by police in either case. Moulton’s office told the Herald that their review never showed that Gomes da Silva had been charged with a crime. However, the Herald isn’t standing pat on those responses:
The Herald is appealing both the Milford Juvenile Court and the Milford Police’s denial of releasing Gomes da Silva’s background on the ground Moulton has turned the teen’s story into a public debate on ICE enforcement.
A court may consider this argument for unsealing the records. Gomes da Silva made himself into a public figure, specifically in the context of law enforcement and immigration policy. It seems highly unlikely that he made that choice without knowing he’d been at least a “person of interest” in two sexual assault cases in 2021. Moulton presented him specifically as a case against current immigration policy and enforcement, a matter of great public interest, which means that the media has the right and duty to fully explore Moulton’s argument.
It seems that both Moulton and Gomes da Silva have chosen … well, you know.
Editor’s Note: Democrat politicians and their radical supporters will do everything they can to interfere with and threaten ICE agents enforcing our immigration laws.
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