Federal prosecutors have charged a New Hampshire man with attempted murder after authorities say he opened fire on a U.S. Border Patrol agent near the Canadian border.
Blu Zeke Daly, also known as Cullan Zeke Daly, 26, of Manchester, faces one count of attempted murder of a federal officer and one count of assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon, according to a press release from the Department of Justice (DOJ). Daly remains hospitalized in New Hampshire and is under guard.
The criminal complaint alleges that on the evening of Feb. 21, a Border Patrol agent encountered Daly driving alone in Stewartstown, N.H., near the Canadian border. When the agent asked whether Daly had used any other names, Daly drove away. The agent followed at a distance.
Shortly after midnight on Feb. 22, Daly arrived at the Pittsburg Port of Entry along the U.S.-Canada border. The crossing was closed and the gate locked. The agent activated his emergency lights and exited his vehicle. At that point, Daly turned and fired a handgun at the agent, the complaint alleges. The agent returned fire with his service weapon and struck Daly.
The agent was not injured in the exchange. Newsweek reported that shots were fired around 1 a.m. ET in the small northern town. Daly was wounded while the officer escaped harm. Newsweek said Daly was still in the hospital Tuesday evening.
If convicted, Daly faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on the attempted murder charge, as well as up to 20 years and a $250,000 fine on the assault charge, according to the DOJ press release. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and applicable statutes.
There has been an unprecedented surge in threats against federal immigration agents, with Department of Homeland Security data showing an 8,000% spike in death threats targeting ICE personnel. Officials said the threats included doxxing, online harassment and direct threats against officers and their families.
Federal officials reported that assaults against ICE agents have risen by more than 1,300%, reflecting what agency leaders describe as a sharp escalation in violence toward immigration enforcement officers. DHS leadership warned that frontline agents are facing an increasingly hostile environment as enforcement operations expand.
(Featured Image Media Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Public/Tony Webster, CC BY-SA 4.0)
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