Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a terrorist who was a member of the MS-13 gang, Tricia McLaughlin, Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary for public affairs told Newsmax on Thursday.
McLaughlin criticized Democrats for continuing to paint Abrego Garcia as a family man who is completely innocent.
"It is shocking to me that the Democrats and legacy media continue to burn to the ground any last shred of credibility that they have left," McLaughlin told "Wake Up America." "When this individual was first arrested in 2019, he was arrested among other members of MS-13 as well. He had drugs and rolls of money on him. He was decked out in MS-13 symbols."
In 2022, Abrego Garcia was pulled over by the Tennessee Highway Patrol, driving eight people on a three-day journey from Texas to Maryland, McLaughlin said.
"Yet there was not a single piece of luggage," McLaughlin said. "A Homeland Security investigation revealed yesterday that the car that Garcia was driving during that trip was owned by a convicted human trafficker. So anyone trying to paint this individual, this illegal alien, this terrorist and this gang member as an innocent man is just lying straight to your face."
McLaughlin said any Democrat who travels to El Salvador to advocate Abrego Garcia is doing so at their own political peril.
"This is an issue we want to keep talking about," McLaughlin said. "Americans should know … there are terrorists in this country that were unleashed under [former President] Joe Biden in the previous administration, and we are working every day to get them out and off of U.S. soil. And if we have activist judges and Democrats who want them back, that tells you exactly who they are."
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Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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