Reporter’s Notebook: I Stopped for Gas and Witnessed an ICE Arrest. Then, I Spent Days Looking for the Man Who Was Detained

Media Falsely Claims ICE Arrested “an Innocent Man”, In Reality, He’s a Serial Offender

Composite image created by Antonio Graceffo using screenshots from videos originally posted on Facebook and TikTok. Sources: user-generated content shared publicly on those platforms. The MS-13 gang member under a U.S. deportation order, Kilmar Ábrego García, was headlined across mainstream media as a “Maryland man,” misleadingly suggesting he was a U.S. citizen rather than a citizen of El Salvador, where he was deported. Ábrego García faces two…

Reporter’s Notebook: I stopped for gas and witnessed an ICE arrest. Then, I spent days looking for the man who was detained.

A black KIA peeled into the gas station and pulled next to the man at pump 1. Instantly, the passenger door opened and someone in khakis, a full-face balaclava and a tactical vest jumped out. It took my brain a few beats to process what I was seeing: This was an ICE apprehension.