Reading news reports about the Mexican illegal immigrant who attempted to flee federal authorities near Nashville this week, you’d think the most important detail about the episode is that the immigrant was injured after an ICE agent shot at him.
But here’s something you might find more interesting: The suspect, who is free as of this writing, had previously been deported four times and has a history of criminal convictions in Tennessee, including for aggravated child abuse and domestic violence, dating back to 2009, according to federal officials.
Neither the Associated Press nor CNN reported those minor details.
The 39-year-old illegal immigrant had reportedly been stopped by agents Thursday. As authorities approached his vehicle in a grocery store parking lot, he then apparently hit the gas, heading in the direction of one agent, who fired his weapon at the driver. One bullet hit the windshield but the illegal immigrant reportedly continued to drive away, evading authorities until he eventually abandoned his vehicle off of a highway and went to a hospital, where he subsequently surrendered to the FBI.
ICE spokesman Bryan Cox told me Friday that because the FBI is actively investigating whether there was a potential assault on a federal officer, his agency cannot release the name of the suspect, though he remains subject to deportation, once the investigation is over. A spokesperson for the FBI said that because there hasn’t been an arrest and no charges have been brought, they won’t release his name, either.
Regardless, isn’t it a tiny bit important that the illegal immigrant with a history of violent behavior and who might have run over an ICE agent nearly got away? Isn’t it a little interesting that at this very moment, he’s not in anyone’s custody? Not to CNN. Not to the Associated Press.
No, for them and the rest of the national media, the victim is always the illegal immigrant.
