Federal immigration officers and agents are facing an 830% increase in assaults since August 2024, federal officials said Monday.
News of the marked increase in assaults on federal officers came as officials on Monday announced the arrest of a Dominican national who is accused of driving his vehicle into a Homeland Security vehicle and assaulting ICE agents in Puerto Rico.
Bean Gomez-Cepeda was arrested July 2 in San Juan, Puerto Rico after a U.S. Magistrate Judge issued a warrant against him for assaulting federal agents, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said in a statement Monday.
Gomez-Cepeda is charged with resisting, opposing or impeding federal agents with a dangerous weapon and hitting a government vehicle with his own vehicle.
“Now more than ever, we need to protect the lives of the brave men and women of ICE and our partner agencies while they are doing their job to keep our nation safe,” Homeland Security Investigations San Juan Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Gonzalez-Ramos said in a statement.
The charges against Gomez-Cepeda stem from June 30, when an ICE team stopped a vehicle he was driving.
In a failed attempt to avoid being arrested, Gomez-Cepeda drove his vehicle into one of ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations vehicles, officials said.
Officers arrested Gomez-Cepeda and five other occupants of his vehicle, all of whom are in the United States territory illegally, officials said.
“Our agency and the Department of Justice are taking these crimes very seriously as we stand by our agents to ensure their safety,” Gonzalez-Ramos said. “Those who interfere with the execution of our job or dare to assault our agents will be prosecuted with the fullest extent of the law.”
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and U.S. Attorney Leah Foley have decried local attempts to obstruct ICE operations.
While in Boston in June, Lyons said federal officers have been “doxed” on social media, and often wear masks while on duty and making immigration arrests after officers, and their families, have received death threats.
“We ran an operation with the Secret Service where we arrested someone that was going online, taking their photos, posting their families’, their kids’ Instagram, their kids’ Facebooks and targeting them,” Lyons said on June 2.
Last month, Worcester City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj was arraigned on charges of assault and battery on a police officer and interfering with police.
The charges against Haxhiaj, 45, stem from a May 8 incident on Eureka Terrace in Worcester, after chaos erupted and police officers were assaulted when federal agents detained a Brazilian woman.
Body camera footage later released by the city of Worcester captured Haxhiaj and others confronting and shouting angrily at the officers and grabbing and pushing the officers.
A link to the full body camera video can be found here.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection encountered and processed Gomez-Cepeda for expedited removal in El Paso, Texas in 2023.
If convicted of the first count, Gomez-Cepeda faces up to a year in jail, up to five years of probation, and a fine up to $100,000.
If convicted of the second count, he faces 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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