A reporter who formerly worked for the Democratic National Committee is under fire for allegedly leaking news about a looming raid by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement just hours before it was set to take place.
Pablo Manriquez, who previously served as a director of Latino and Hispanic outreach for the national party, revealed over the weekend that ICE was suiting up for a raid in northern Virginia, according to “Fox & Friends” hosts who called for the activist to face consequences for his actions.
“ICE RAIDS are planned for Monday & Tuesday in Northern Virginia, per multiple sources who tell us ICE has obtained between 75 and 100 judicial warrants,” Manriquez wrote on X Sunday afternoon. He replied to his original post with more helpful tips on how to evade capture by immigration authorities.
“Judicial warrants mean ICE can go into your homes, so plan accordingly,” read another post. A third stated, “Remember that state police have been deputized to help ICE, so highways, etc, are unsafe.” None had been deleted, but Manriquez has limited who can comment on his posts.
By Monday morning his original post had garnered over 660,000 views
Thanks to Manriquez, “the migrant community is well aware of what ICE has got planned today,” said Fox News’ Steve Doocy.
Co-host Lawrence Jones noted that the judicial warrants cited by Manriquez indicate that a judge had ordered the capture of the illegal immigrants being targeted. Despite that, Manriquez “was still okay with tipping them off.”
“It’s dangerous for our guys,” Doocy replied. The group questioned whether Manriquez committed a crime by posting about the upcoming raid, but Doocy reminded his colleagues that the leaker was the real criminal culprit.
“It’s whoever leaked it to him. It could be someone from the courts, it could be somebody from the federal government,” he said. Others maintained Manriquez has still opened himself up for investigation. “Just because you’re a reporter doesn’t matter,” Jones responded.
WATCH:
Pervasive leaks about ICE activities have been a thorn in the side of top Trump officials carrying out his mass deportation initiative. White House border czar Tom Homan and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last month stated that they had found the source of some leaks about earlier raids in Colorado and Los Angeles but declined to say where the guilty individuals were situated.
Homan had previously theorized that the leaks were coming from within the FBI, which had advance knowledge of the raids.
“Remember, when they leak information to the press in order to blow an op, they are putting law enforcement lives in jeopardy. They are risking their lives and putting their families in the position where they’ll have to live without those individuals any further,” Noem told Fox News last week.
“It’s amazing how these bureaucrats who have an agenda to stop the work that we’re doing to bring safety to America, how they will sell each other down the river if it’s just to protect themselves,” she added.
