Venezuelan illegal immigrant tackled by federal agents at New Hampshire courthouse after attempt to flee
Arnuel Marquez Colmenarez, 33, was taken into custody while he was heading to a court arraignment on charges for drunken driving, driving without a license and failing to provide information after an accident, according to The Associated Press via the Nashua Police Department.
Video from Feb. 20 that was released by the Nashua Circuit Court on Monday showed Colmenarez going through security at the courthouse and getting into an elevator with the federal agents and a few other people.
As others left the elevator, an agent can be seen touching Colmenarez lightly on the shoulder, then talking to him. The video does not include audio, but Colmenarez can be seen running out of the elevator after a few seconds.
Florida's Largest Venezuelan Stronghold Poised To Join Forces With Ice: Report
Two agents chased him out of the elevator and threw him to the ground a few feet away, knocking down an older man who was walking with a cane in the process.
Read On The Fox News App
Court liaison officer for the Hudson Police Department, Jared Neff, said he was in the prosecutor's office when he heard something going on near the elevators and decided to go check it out.
"There were voices yelling 'Stop!' and then a loud 'bang' which sounded like people had fallen on the ground and were actively fighting and struggling," he wrote in an incident report, according to The AP.
Neff helped the agents restrain Colmenarez, who could be seen in the video resisting attempts to be handcuffed.
The older man who was knocked down remained lying on his back during the apprehension, and it took a minute or so for him to receive help, the video showed. It's unclear if he was injured.
The agents allegedly told Neff they had been ordered to detain illegal immigrants, and had tried to do so quietly in the elevator.
More Than 900 Illegal Aliens Charged With Immigration-related Crimes During First Week Of April: Doj
A bench warrant was issued for Colmenarez since he failed to show up for arraignment and the prosecutor over the case was not contacted by federal agents beforehand nor was aware of his arrest, according to The AP.
Colmenarez is being held at an ICE facility in Texas as of Monday, The AP reported after viewing an online database.
His arrest at the courthouse comes after President Donald Trump repealed a 2011 policy that had federal agents typically avoid making arrests at courthouses, schools, places of worship and hospitals.
Current policy allows for immigration arrests "in or near courthouses when they have credible information that leads them to believe the targeted alien(s) is or will be present," as long as state and local law doesn't prohibit it.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.Original article source: Venezuelan illegal immigrant tackled by federal agents at New Hampshire courthouse after attempt to flee
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
14 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Syrian forces withdraw from Sweida after cease-fire goes into effect
Druze leaders and Syrian government officials reached a ceasefire deal mediated by the United States, Turkey and Arab countries. Convoys of government forces started withdrawing from the city of Sweida overnight as Syrian state media said the withdrawal was in line with the ceasefire agreement and the military operation against the Druze factions had ended. It remained unclear if the ceasefire would hold after the agreement was announced by Syria's Interior Ministry and in a video message by a Druze religious leader. A previous agreement Tuesday quickly broke down after being dismissed by prominent Druze cleric Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri. Advertisement The escalation in Syria began with tit-for-tat kidnappings and attacks between local Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze armed factions in the southern province of Sweida. Government forces that intervened to restore order clashed with the Druze militias, but also in some cases attacked civilians. The Syrian government has not issued a casualty count from the clashes, but some rights groups and monitors say dozens of combatants on both sides have been killed, as well as dozens of largely Druze civilians killed in sectarian attacks. Advertisement Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, says at least 374 combatants and civilians were killed in the clashes and Israeli strikes, among them dozens of civilians killed in the crossfire or in targeted attacks against the minority group. Videos circulated on social media showed government forces and allies humiliating Druze clerics and residents, looting homes and killing civilians hiding inside their houses. Syrian Druze from Sweida told The Associated Press that several family members who were unarmed had been attacked or killed. Al-Sharaa appealed to them in his address and vowed to hold perpetrators to account. 'We are committed to holding accountable those who wronged our Druze brethren,' he said, calling the Druze an 'integral part of this nation's fabric" who are under the protection of state law and justice, which safeguards the rights of everyone without exception. The Druze community had been divided over how to approach al-Sharaa's de facto Islamist rule over Syria after largely celebrating the downfall of Bashar Assad and his family's decades-long dictatorial rule. They feared persecution after several attacks from the Islamic State militant group and al-Qaeda-affiliates the Nusra Front during Syria's 14-year civil war. While it first appeared many Druze hoped to resolve matters diplomatically, with al-Sharaa promising an inclusive Syria for all its different communities, over time they became more skeptical, especially after a counterinsurgency in the coastal province in February turned into targeted attacks against the Alawite religious minority. The Druze religious sect began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. More than half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981. Advertisement
11 hours ago
Authorities take custody of 21 kids in California while surrogate moms claim couple misled them
More than 20 children are in the custody of a California child-welfare agency while authorities investigate a Los Angeles-area couple and whether they misled surrogate mothers around the country. Fifteen children were removed from the couple's opulent home in Arcadia after an abuse allegation in May, and another six living elsewhere were also located, Arcadia police Lt. Kollin Cieadlo said. They range in age from 2 months to 13 years, with most between 1 and 3. 'We believe one or two were born biologically to the mother,' he said. 'There are some surrogates who have come forward and said they were surrogates for the children.' Silvia Zhang, 38, and Guojun Xuan, 65, are believed to be the legal parents of all the children, Cieadlo said. They were arrested in May after a hospital reported that their 2-month-old infant had a traumatic head injury, the result of a nanny at the home violently shaking the baby, Arcadia police said. The child was not taken to the hospital for another two days. Cieadlo said neglect charges were not formally pursued in order for an investigation to continue. The couple told police that they 'wanted a large family,' the lieutenant said. Zhang produced what appeared to be legitimate birth certificates, including some from outside California, that list her as the mother of the children, Cieadlo said. He said the FBI is also part of the investigation. A spokesperson declined to comment when reached Wednesday by The Associated Press. 'I'm not familiar with how the surrogacy laws work,' Cieadlo said. 'We need to do a much deeper dive.' TV stations in Los Angeles quoted women who said they were surrogate mothers for the couple but that they didn't realize other surrogates were also involved. It wasn't immediately clear if Zhang and Xuan had a lawyer who could speak on their behalf. Zhang did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Business records with the California Secretary of State show a company called Mark Surrogacy Investment LLC was previously registered at the couple's address. The most recent filing shows the business license was terminated in June. The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, which removed the children, said it could not talk about its actions in a specific case.
USA Today
14 hours ago
- USA Today
900 DOJ alumni warn Senate against putting ex-Trump lawyer Emil Bove on appellate court
Officials from as far back as the Kennedy administration through the current Trump administration signed a letter warning senators about Emil Bove's nomination. WASHINGTON − More than 900 former Justice Department employees warned the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee against confirming President Donald Trump's nominee Emil Bove to serve as an appellate court judge, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The letter comes one day before the panel will vote on whether to advance Bove's nomination to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to the full Senate. "We are all alarmed by DOJ leadership's recent deviations from constitutional principles and institutional guardrails," the former department employees wrote July 16, adding that he had "disgraced" the department. "Emil Bove has been a leader in this assault," they wrote. The letter was signed by officials who served from as far back as the Kennedy administration through the current Trump administration, and it was organized by Justice Connection, a new group launched to advocate on behalf of Justice Department workers. Gates McGavick, a DOJ spokesperson, defended Bove in a statement, saying he is "a highly qualified judicial nominee who has done incredible work at the Department of Justice to help protect civil rights, dismantle Foreign Terrorist Organizations, and Make America Safe Again." Bove at the center of the Eric Adams case, Jan. 6 prosecutor firings Bove, a senior DOJ official, has come under fire for using aggressive tactics. He was involved in decisions to fire probationary prosecutors who handled cases against people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Bove also pressured prosecutors in Manhattan and Washington, D.C. to drop the criminal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, prompting 11 lawyers to resign in protest. Most recently, a former Justice Department attorney who was fired after admitting that the government erred by deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador filed a whistleblower complaint alleging Bove, using profane language, told DOJ attorneys they could consider defying court orders on a case involving the deportation of Venezuelan migrants. Bove has denied suggesting that department attorneys could consider defying the courts. Earlier this week, 76 former federal and state judges also sent a letter to the committee in opposition to Bove's nomination. Bove represented Trump at his 2024 criminal trial, where he was convicted in a New York state court of falsifying business records to hide payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels. He also represented Trump in a since-dismissed indictment that accused him of hoarding classified documents.
