(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Liberal media outlets and Democrat activists have rallied around “Maryland man” Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an El Salvador national who was deported last month on the grounds that he’s a suspected MS-13 gang member.
Abrego Garcia has denied the MS-13 allegation, and the U.S. Supreme Court has ordered the Trump administration to facilitate his return to the U.S. from a notorious Salvadoran prison, rejecting the White House’s claim that it couldn’t retrieve him. Trump administration officials have pushed back against the idea of bringing him back, arguing it was up to El Salvador.
While the Justice Departments litigates the matter in court, the Trump administration released police records suggesting that Abrego Garcia was indeed an MS-13 gang member—despite his denials and most mainstream media reports painting him in a positive light.
Kilmar Abrego-Garcia was a member of MS-13 https://t.co/W7t2dZnrkG pic.twitter.com/6vmccNo1Y7
— Dr. Ben Braddock (@GraduatedBen) April 16, 2025
According to a March 2019 Maryland police report, Abrego Garcia was spotted loitering at a Home Depot parking lot around 2:30 p.m. with three other men. Two of the other men were confirmed to be MS-13 members, while police said they couldn’t determine the affiliation of a third man. Abrego Garcia was also strongly suspected of being with MS-13, according to the report.
“Officers observed [Abrego Garcia] wearing a Chicago Bulls hat and a hoodie with rolls of money covering the eyes, ears and mouth of the presidents on the separate denominations. Officers know such clothing to be indicative of the Hispanic gang culture. The meaning of the clothing is to represent ‘ver, oir y callar’ or ‘see no evil, hear- no evil and say no evil.’ Wearing the Chicago Bulls hat represents that they are a member in good standing with the MS-13,” the report stated.
“Officers contacted a past proven and reliable source of information, who advised Kilmar Armando ABREGO-GARCIA is an active member of MS-13 with the Westerns clique. The confidential source further advised that he is the rank of ‘Chequeo’ with the moniker of ‘Chele.’”
Later in 2019, a U.S. immigration judge shielded Abrego Garcia from deportation to El Salvador because he likely faced persecution there by local gangs that had terrorized his family. The Trump administration deported him there anyway.
On top of the newly released police report, the Tennessee Star published a bombshell article on Wednesday about the fact that Abrego Garcia was suspected by Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) of human trafficking in 2022. However, the FBI ordered him to be released, according to the Star.
“Abrego Garcia was stopped for an unknown reason on December 6, 2022, and that the THP officer responsible for the stop immediately discovered Abrego Garcia was transporting seven passengers, with eight individuals inside the vehicle,” the Star reported, citing anonymous sources.
“THP ultimately discovered Abrego Garcia was on a terrorist watch list, but could not locate Abrego Garcia on a deportation list. THP subsequently called the FBI, which was then led by former Director Christopher Wray under the Biden administration. The FBI instructed the THP officers at the scene to capture photographs of all eight people in the vehicle and document its contents,” the Star added.
BREAKING: Biden's FBI ordered TN Highway Patrol to release "Maryland Man" recently deported to El Salvador after a 2022 traffic stop on suspicion of human trafficking. https://t.co/vSAZgqyC92
— MichaelPatrick Leahy (@michaelpleahy) April 16, 2025
“Once the photographs were captured, this source told The Star that the FBI requested THP release all eight individuals and that the THP officers complied with this request.”
Along with Abrego Garcia’s potential gang activities, it was revealed that Abrego Garcia’s wife filed a restraining order against him in 2021 over domestic violence allegations.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is facing possible contempt of court over the matter. The judge in Abrego Garcia’s case has said she is determining whether to undertake contempt proceedings, saying officials “appear to have done nothing to aid in Abrego Garcia’s release from custody and return to the United States” despite a Supreme Court ruling that the administration must “facilitate” his release.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
