Southwest
Illegal migrant involved in Times Square police attack was ordered to be deported 1 year prior: report
At least four of the illegal migrants who swarmed and beat up two NYPD officers in a shocking Times Square attack in January were apprehended by federal law enforcement as far back as July 2022 but were released without being deported, according to an interim congressional report into the incident.
The report also goes on to blast the Biden-Harris administration’s record on immigration.
One of the migrants, a suspected Tren de Aragua gang member, had already been ordered to be deported — and then left the country and returned again — before the brutal attack took place.
Another one of the migrants was caught trying to enter Canada illegally after running from U.S. authorities, having crossed the southern border but was still released. A third migrant suspect was also arrested for shoplifting two separate stores and assaulting two store workers months before the Times Square attack and was not ordered to be deported.
MIGRANTS IN NYPD TIMES SQUARE ATTACK OFFERED PLEA DEALS, INCLUDING 1 JUST RE-ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY STEALING
New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg has been investigating former President Donald Trump for alleged hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. (Shane Bevel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images/Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The shocking revelations are detailed in a report released on Wednesday by the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, which is tasked with investigating the Jan. 27 caught-on-camera attack on a police lieutenant and officer. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio and Subcommittee Chairman Tom McClintock, R-Calif, subpoenaed the files on the migrants from Homeland as part of the report.
The incident sparked widespread condemnation and was followed by one of the suspects flipping two middle fingers at reporters’ cameras after he was released from police custody. It also drew sharp attention to the migrant crime surge, particularly in New York City, which has catered to housing tens of thousands of migrants at taxpayers’ expense. The attack took place in a busy tourist spot close to a migrant shelter.
Darwin Gomez-Izquiel, 19, in a Manhattan criminal court. Gomez-Izquiel accepted a plea deal for his role in the assault on two NYPD officers in Times Square. (Fox News)
The report also revealed an apparent inadequate vetting process of migrants, which has led to around 617,000 criminal migrants roaming U.S. streets, and criticized Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for agreeing to plea deals with the Times Square attackers while at the same time prosecting former President Donald Trump over hush money payments.
The committee, citing data from several agencies, says that more than 5.6 million illegal migrants have entered the country under the Biden-Harris administration, with another 1.9 million illegal alien “gotaways” escaping into the country during the same time.
“The results are all too predictable: cities overwhelmed, public services crushed, and communities shattered by the criminality of some illegal aliens,” the report states.
Wilson Juarez-Aguilarte, Kelvin Servita Arocha, Darwin Gomez Izquiel and Yorman Yoel Riveron-Rivero all entered the country illegally during the Biden-Harris administration, per the report, and have been charged with assault on a police officer and obstructing a governmental investigation.
Two have since agreed to lenient plea deals with Bragg’s office and none have been deported, according to the New York Post.
NEW YORK’S ‘CATCH AND RELEASE’ POLICIES FAIL TO HOLD CRIMINALS ACCOUNTABLE: POLICE REP
Wilson Juarez-Aguilarte appears in court at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse in New York City on Friday, Feb. 16 2024. He was charged for his alleged involvement in the assault of two NYPD officers. (Matthew McDermott for Fox News Digital)
Juarez-Aguilarte, a Venezuelan national and suspected Tren de Aragua gang member, was ordered to be deported from the U.S. in February 2023, nearly a year before the Times Square attack. The report found that he crossed the southern border into Brownsville, Texas, in July 2022, refused to tell border agents why he left Venezuela and told border agents he was heading to Houston.
At some point, he left the U.S. and then re-entered the country in June 2023, near Champlain, New York, with a group of 14 other migrants — yet border agents released him again.
A Manhattan judge set his bail at $1 following the Times Square because the charges against him involved evidence tampering and not participating in the attack.
Servita-Arocha, an alleged Tren de Aragua gang member from Venezuela with tattoos that are “highly associated” with the gang, was apprehended about 10 miles from the northern border in January 2023 while walking with a group of eight other Venezuelan migrants in upstate New York. The group told border agents they “wanted to go to Canada” and had “illegally entered the United States from Mexico through Texas” a week earlier.
Border agents released him with a list of pro bono legal service providers.
A year later, he was one of four suspects arrested and released without bail over the attack. Bragg offered him a plea deal to serve six months in prison for pleading guilty to obstructing a government administration.
Gomez Izquiel, also a Venezuelan national, entered the U.S. illegally near Brownsville, Texas, in August 2023 by way of a raft across the Rio Grande River from Mexico, according to the report. He was picked up by Border Patrol and claimed that he entered the U.S. to seek asylum to find work to help his family financially and to obtain an education. He was processed and released after the National Crime Information Center query returned no criminal history for him.
Days later, and still not detained by ICE, he was said to be part of a group that robbed a Macy’s store in Queens Center Mall and assaulted an employee. Gomez Izquiel was accused of acting as a lookout for a group of three others who stole merchandise from the store. In late July 2024, Gomez Izquiel accepted a plea deal for the Times Square assault.
Meanwhile, the report also details how Riveron-Rivero crossed illegally into Brownsville, Texas, in May 2023 and was apprehended by border agents, who released him with instructions to report to ICE within 60 days, which he did in New York City in September 2023.
Officers issued a warrant for his arrest shortly before again releasing him on his own recognizance as long as he did not “violate any local, state, or federal laws or ordinances” or associate with known gang members or be associated with any such activity.
It is not clear why ICE officers issued the arrest warrant.
Suspects (L to R:) Yohenry Brito, Yorman Reveron and Kelvin Servita Arocha appear in Manhattan Supreme Court on April 2, 2024. The migrants who attacked NYPD officers in Times Square in February. (Steven Hirsch)
Two months later, Riveron-Rivero was accused of stealing pants at a New York City Nordstrom store and then punching and biting a worker in the face. He then tried to swipe a coat from Macy’s and also punched a store worker there. The report states he was released without bail after both arrests.
Riveron-Rivero is accused of grabbing, pulling and dragging the two cops to the ground in the Times Square attack. He’s been offered a deal for two years in prison in exchange for pleading guilty to second degree assault.
“New York City police officers were attacked because the Biden-Harris Administration allowed these illegal aliens to enter the country,” the report states.
“The disastrous immigration policies of the Biden-Harris Administration have had real world consequences for American citizens. The effects of those policies will be felt for years to come, with criminal aliens in American neighborhoods harming families and hurting public safety across the country.”
The report revealed that the country’s vetting process of migrants is almost non-existent since DHS has no way to determine if an alien has a criminal history in his or her own country unless that country reports the information to the U.S. government or the migrant self-reports.
The interim report also took aim at Bragg for accepting a plea deal Gomez Izquiel while at the same time engaging in “lawfare against the Biden-Harris Administration’s main political opponent: President Donald J. Trump,” referring to the hush money case he was prosecuting against Trump.
“As the Committee has highlighted, Bragg has abused his office to target President Trump for political prosecution, using a novel and convoluted legal theory to turn an otherwise misdemeanor record-keeping infraction into dozens of felony counts.”
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Los Angeles, Ca
‘Moana’ is a triumph for Pacific Islander representation on the big screen
“Moana” has been called a box office flop, an unnecessary money grab by Walt Disney Studios, but what it hasn’t been called yet is a triumphant win for cultural representation on the big screen.
The live-action adaptation of the beloved 2016 animated movie “Moana” effectively bombed at the box office, making much less money than industry insiders anticipated.
While it failed to live up to the expectations of the box office and critics alike, the film did exceed the expectations of moviegoers of Pacific Island descent, and they’ve taken to social media to express just how much the movie means to them.
Moana is more than the main character’s name. It means ocean across several Pacific Islander languages.
One user explained how this kind of representation is more than entertainment.
“When I watched ‘Moana,’ I couldn’t hold back my tears. I heard the language of my parents, the language of my people. I saw our traditional Samoan clothing, our weaving, our siva, our culture, our values. I saw my people. I saw me.”
Another user said seeing Pacific Islanders on the silver screen influenced her own artistry.
“Representation matters. As a sometimes-Female-Polynesian-filmmaker (depending on the day and my imposter syndrome), seeing our stories on a screen this big makes me dream a little bigger too.”
Even the film’s star, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, spoke to the film’s representation in a recent Instagram post.
“I feel that our movie ‘Moana’ will always serve a bigger purpose than just a film – it’s representation. Our Polynesian culture showcased to the world, and embraced by the world – with love, humility, warrior spirit and MANA.”
That representation was taken as a serious responsibility by the actors and creative team behind the scenes of Disney’s latest live-action remake.
“We got chosen for a reason,” Rena Owen, who plays Gramma Tala in the film, explains.
“Every single one of us, whether that’s an actor, whether that’s a creative, whether that’s a crew person. We’re raised that way, we’re raised in villages and we’re raised… on our earth, with our sky father and our moana, that’s what we all have in common. So, we just had to be ourselves.”
Disney once again leaned on members of its Oceanic Cultural Trust, a group formed over a decade ago to ensure cultural accuracy for the first “Moana” movie.
The trust’s lead consultant, Dr. Grant Muāgututiʻa, spoke about the work that went into bringing Moana to life on screen.
“We have a big responsibility to our folks who are gonna be watching the film. We’re elated that the film crew and the filmmakers were really receptive to all of the input that we had and we’re really happy with the way it turned out.”
Dr. Muāgututiʻa is a linguist by trade, serving as Assistant Professor of Linguistics at California State University San Marcos. He told KTLA he was thrilled that people of Samoan descent can hear their language spoken in a major Disney film.
“The mountaintop scene where you can hear both Jon Tui, who plays Chief Tui, and Catherine Laga’aia, who plays Moana speaking Samoan. And then the Siva Tau scene, where Seiuli Dwayne Johnson also speaks Samoan. I think those are special moments that are new, especially for our people to see. They’re able to experience real islanders that are proud of their culture.”
“Moana” Choreographer and Cultural Trust member Tiana Nonosina Liufau agreed.
“Seeing an all-Pasifika cast, and hearing them, there’s a lot of Mana in that, hearing these words come out of their mouth, something audiences can trace back to their genealogy, that’s priceless. All worth it.”
Los Angeles, Ca
LADWP begins long-term repairs after West Hollywood water main rupture
Crews worked overnight on what is expected to be a long-term effort to clean up and repair a broken water main that caused extensive damage in West Hollywood on Thursday.
Yellow tape remained in place Friday morning, blocking streets around Sunset Boulevard and Holloway Drive as crews continued pumping water out of the century-old trunk line.
Asphalt and soil were also being removed so crews could get a better look at the damaged 36-inch trunk line, a major feeder pipe serving the area.
“First and foremost is our crews’ safety,” a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power spokesperson said Thursday. “When we excavate, we are going to have to make sure the area is safe before we send crews in to proceed and start the actual repairs on the pipe.”
The water main ruptured around 3 a.m. Thursday, sending thousands of gallons of water rushing through West Hollywood streets, flooding dozens of garages and pushing parked cars into one another.
A Metro bus yard was also flooded, leaving several buses partially submerged.
The force of the water washed away dirt and gravel supporting the roadway, creating a massive sinkhole on Sunset Boulevard and a smaller one near Palm Avenue, where two people fell in.
“I’m astounded by the massive sinkhole that has just opened up before our eyes,” KTLA’s Annie Rose Ramos reported Thursday from Palm Avenue.
The two men appeared to be uninjured.
As for the larger trunk line that burst beneath Sunset Boulevard, KTLA’s Carlos Herrera reported it was scheduled for replacement in 2031.
LADWP officials now hope to establish a repair timeline after getting a closer look at the damage Friday. For now, the intersection is expected to remain closed for anywhere from several days to several weeks.
The cause of the rupture remains under investigation.
Los Angeles, Ca
Arrest made in deadly shooting at 4th of July gathering in Compton; search for 2nd suspect continues
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna gave an update Thursday on several shootings over the Fourth of July weekend that left three people dead and several others injured.
Police arrested Antoine Jones, a 50-year-old man from the Los Angeles area, who they believe is responsible for the murder of a 19-year-old woman and the attempted murder of two additional surviving female victims who were attending a large community block party in Compton.
On July 4 at approximately 11:40 p.m., deputies from the Compton station responded to an apartment complex on the 700 block of West Laurel Street following reports of multiple people being shot.
Meah Bordenave-Jenkins, a 19-year-old nursing student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, was killed when gunfire broke out at the party.
Deputies located Bordenave-Jenkins and the two other women suffering from gunshot wounds outside of the apartment complex.
“While today’s announcement represents an important step towards justice for Meah and her family, our work is very far from being over,” said LASD Sheriff Robert Luna.
The LASD is also seeking the public’s help in identifying those responsible for the murder of Eric Washington, 37, a beloved community activist and former government staffer, and the attempted murder of another surviving man injured that same night at the same party.
Washington was reportedly killed while trying to deescalate a conflict at the party, his family said. Deputies found victim Washington suffering from a gunshot wound inside the complex.
Investigators later learned that another man had also been shot at some point during the incident.
Bordenave-Jenkins and Washington both died from their injuries. The remaining victims, two women and a man, sustained non-life-threatening injuries and have been released from the hospital. They have not been identified by police.
Detectives determined the two shootings happened moments apart at the party but appear to be separate and unrelated.
Detectives identified Jones as the suspect responsible for Bordenave-Jenkins’ death and the attempted murder of the two surviving women. Authorities located Jones on July 14 in Los Angeles and took him into custody.
The LASD is still searching for the suspect or suspects responsible for the murder of Washington and the attempted murder of the surviving male victim.
“Although today’s arrest is significant, this investigation remains extremely active,” Luna said.
“There were hundreds of people at this gathering,” Luna said. “Somebody knows, somebody saw or somebody heard what happened.”
The LASD also announced they’re searching for a suspect in a separate shooting at a different Fourth of July gathering that occurred in the early morning of July 5.
At approximately 12:10 a.m., Compton deputies responded to the 2100 block of North Grandee Avenue, where they located a 30-year-old victim, Thaddeus Clark, and a second victim suffering from gunshot wounds at the gathering.
Clark, a father of three, did not survive his injuries, Luna said.
The LASD is urging anyone with information about Clark’s murder and the attempted murder of the surviving victim to contact the LASD Homicide Bureau.
Although these shooting incidents occurred at gatherings less than an hour apart, investigators found no evidence that the two were connected, Luna said.
Luna also announced three suspects have been arrested in connection with a shooting in East L.A. on July 5. It happened as crowds crossed the intersection near Whittier Boulevard and Leonard Avenue during a World Cup match.
Four people were hit by gunfire, including two men, one woman and a boy. None of the injuries were life-threatening.
The sheriff said the alleged shooter, a 15-year-old known gang member, was arrested. Two female suspects, ages 21 and 38, have been arrested in the Lancaster and Palmdale areas for their alleged roles in luring the primary victim to the location and assisting the shooting suspect in evading arrest.
They’re all facing four counts of attempted murder.
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