Retired Army Lt. Col. Warren Douglas Quets said he was never outwardly political.
That all changed Thursday when he joined former President Donald Trump on stage during a rally in Henderson, Nevada.
Quets’ talked about his son, Nicholas Douglas Quets, who was killed by an alleged drug cartel along the Caborca-Altar Highway on Oct. 19 — 30 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, per Fox News.
“I really wasn’t planning on being here,” Warren Douglas Quets said. “Two weeks ago, I was a completely apolitical actor. Anybody outside my own home wouldn’t have known who I would have voted for. Today. The situation changed for me two weeks ago.”
After his son was killed, he was able to see the difference in presidential candidates first-hand.
He met with Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), three days after the younger Quets was killed.
“So when you wonder about where America really is and what the stories are, you don’t have to wonder anymore. The man next to me and his vice presidential nominee, a current seated senator, both met with me within 36 hours of asking, and both took up the cause,” Quets said.
“It is the policy that contributed to my son being killed. It is the policy that’s contributing to the death of other Americans,” he said. “It is the policy that’s contributing to fentanyl coming into the United States. Those are political failures, and we need to end them.”
According to Mexican officials, Nicholas Quets, 31, didn’t stop at a cartel checkpoint. At that point, a group of armed men followed his pick-up truck and started shooting in a “direct attack.”
Mexican authorities have reportedly made arrests in the killing but the elder Quets wants his son’s killers extradited to the U.S.
“What I want is sponsorship of a couple things,” Quets said. “One is change to U.S. code so that if people committed crimes against U.S. persons, especially murder, they are brought back here to face our justice. Number two is legislation that is enacted that takes us someplace closer to a plan in Mexico that’ll institute not only military capability, but also institution building.”
Quets said Trump had a “tear in his eye” as the two spoke. He added he believes Trump will “keep” his promise to seek justice if elected.
On the other hand, when the family reached out to attend a rally with Harris’ running mate Gov. Tim Walz, they were told there was no room nor could they meet with Walz.
The Harris campaign has not commented on the matter.
“That’s incredible and frankly, to do that, to be able to do that literally just a few days after this horrible event happened is pretty amazing,” Trump said at the rally.
“I’ll tell you. We’ll take care of it. We’re going to take care of it. We’re going to get that guy. We’re going to get him. We’re going to get him. They know who he is. Can you believe it? They know who he is. Nothing’s done. Mexico is going to give them to us. Mexico is going to give them to us. They have to. They have to. It’s going to be real easy. When I’m president, we’re going to put the drug smugglers and human traffickers. We’re going to put them right out of business. They’re killing hundreds of thousands of people in our country.”
The reaction was swift on X, formerly Twitter.
Family members of Nicholas Quets, a USMC veteran gunned down by drug cartels let in by Kamala Harris:
— Proud Elephant
“Nobody's reached out. And there is clearly one side that cares about the American people, and that is President Trump and Senator Vance.” pic.twitter.com/3h30U0PtuQ🦅 (@ProudElephantUS) October 31, 2024
Justice for our fellow Marine Nicholas Quets. Rest easy brother
— Michael (@Mikesuavee_) November 1, 2024
Shameful but can’t say I’m surprised.
— Liberal Crisis Hotline 🌴🐊
