(José Niño, Headline USA) Authorities say a routine meal at a Virginia Beach restaurant set off a federal investigation into two brothers who allegedly discussed killing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
A Virginia assistant principal and his brother were taken into custody late last month after authorities said the pair had discussed plans to carry out attacks on Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The account first appeared in a report from The College Fix.
The statement from the Department of Homeland Security said DHS investigators and the Virginia Beach Police Department worked together on the case. DHS officials claimed John and Mark Bennett spoke about plans to “kill police officers and ICE agents” and intended “to meet with likeminded individuals in Las Vegas […] to purchase firearms with explosive rounds” to carry out their attack.
According to Fox News, an off duty Norfolk police officer overheard the brothers while they ate at a Virginia Beach restaurant. John Bennett serves as an assistant principal at Kempsville High School in the Virginia Beach City Public Schools system. Attorneys for both men strongly reject the accusations and say the case relies entirely on the claims of a single officer.
The officer, identified as B. Thorpe, told investigators that the Bennetts complained that ICE agents were “kidnapping individuals” and that the brothers said they “needed to do something about it.” The Virginian Pilot obtained that account.
Tricia McLaughlin, the DHS Assistant Secretary, said she found it “chilling that a human being, much less a child educator, would plot to ambush and kill ICE law enforcement officers” and noted the mention of a “high caliber rifle that would pierce the law enforcements bullet proof vests.”
The brothers now face a count of conspiracy to commit malicious wounding, which is classified as a felony under Virginia law. Both were released on twenty five thousand dollars bond and are currently on house arrest.
John Bennett, who has worked at Kempsville High School for sixteen years, is on leave but his name remains on the school website. He had previously served as a Virginia Beach police officer from 2012 to 2013.
U S News and World Report notes that the student population at Kempsville High School is forty five percent white, twenty six percent black, and almost fifteen percent Hispanic, with forty two percent listed as economically disadvantaged. The school reports strong testing results, with ninety one percent proficiency in reading and eighty nine percent in math.
Mark Bennett’s attorney, Happy O Brien, said his client traveled to Nevada “for a F1 motorsports event with his child.” O Brien and John Bennett’s attorney, Kristin Paulding, insisted that the only evidence the government presented is the testimony of one Norfolk officer.
O Brien said he found it troubling that investigators relied on “a hearsay statement in a restaurant a few booths away.” He compared the case to the television show “Seinfeld,” arguing that the charges come from “a few lines taken out of context of an hour long conversation about nothing.”
The Bennetts are scheduled to return to court in late January.
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
