(Ken Silva, Headline USA) On Wednesday, the Tennessee Star published a bombshell article about how “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—was suspected by Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) of human trafficking in 2022, and that the FBI ordered him to be released.
Wednesday’s article was based on anonymous sources. But on Friday, Fox News published a Homeland Security document about the 2022 incident, confirming the Tennessee Star report. Additionally, the DHS released an image from police body cam footage that shows Abrego Garcia. Trump, too, released an image showing that the “Maryland man” has an MS-13 tattoo.
This is the hand of the man that the Democrats feel should be brought back to the United States, because he is such “a fine and innocent person.” They said he is not a member of MS-13, even though he’s got MS-13 tattooed onto his knuckles, and two Highly Respected Courts found… pic.twitter.com/31sNr2k1SK
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2025
According to the 2022 DHS report, Abrego Garcia told THP officers that he had spent the last three days driving from Houston, Texas to Temple Hills, Maryland, “to bring in people to perform construction work.”
“There was no luggage in the vehicle, leading the encountering officer to suspect this was a human trafficking incident,” the report said. “All the passengers gave the same home address as the subject’s home address. During the interview, subject pretended to speak less English than he was capable of and attempted to put encountering officer off-track by responding to questions with questions.”
The report doesn’t mention that the FBI told Tennessee police to release the man. However, the Tennessee Star independently confirmed that aspsect of the story with state police.
“THP confirmed the 2022 stop to The Star on Thursday night, including The Star’s reporting that the ‘Biden-era FBI’ instructed officers at the scene to release Abrego Garcia and his passengers after photographing them and their vehicle, but THP did not confirm the date of the incident,” the Star reported Friday.
NEW: DHS has provided @FoxNews a bodycam image & HSI report from when Kilmar Abrego Garcia was pulled over by Tennessee Highway Patrol & was suspected of human trafficking in 2022. Per report, he had 8 people w/ no luggage in the car w/ him, & claimed to be driving them from TX… pic.twitter.com/d2uU6YuVKx
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) April 18, 2025
“Sources have additionally told The Star that Abrego Garcia was driving without a valid license, and that the circumstances of the stop made THP suspect he was engaged in human trafficking.”
Along with Abrego Garcia’s potential gang activities, it has been 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.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
