A federal jury found an alleged gangbanger not guilty of placing a high-priced bounty on one of the biggest faces of the Trump administration’s illegal immigration crackdown.
Juan Espinoza Martinez, a Mexican national living unlawfully in the United States, was found not guilty on Thursday of placing a $10,000 hit on Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino. The illegal migrant’s defense team argued during the two-day trial that he was not actually a member of the notorious Latin Kings gang and that his statements about the Bovino bounty were just him “re-sharing neighborhood gossip.”
“Leftist judges and juries are empowering violent insurrection against the government in an effort to stop ICE from removing criminal alien invaders,” White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller, an architect of the Trump administration’s immigration agenda, said in a public reaction to the verdict.
Federal immigration authorities took Martinez into custody on Oct. 6 in Burr Ridge, a suburb of Chicago, after a confidential source handed over Snapchat messages appearing to show Espinoza Martinez offering $2,000 for information on Bovino’s whereabouts and a $10,000 prize for his killing.
Juan Espinoza-Martinez. Image courtesy of the DHS.
Homeland Security Investigations, a division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), captured a screenshot of a Snapchat conversation in which Espinoza Martinez allegedly offers an undercover informant a bounty for information “cuando lo agarren,” Spanish for “when they catch him,” and the larger reward “if you take him down.” A third response of “LK….on him” suggested involvement of the Latin Kings, one of the largest Hispanic gangs in the country, with a heavy presence in the Chicago area.
Snapchat image. Image courtesy of DHS.
The case was the first of its kind since the Trump administration in September launched Operation Midway Blitz, a large-scale immigration enforcement surge across Chicago, a major sanctuary city that refuses to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Chicago and Illinois officials have since waged a lawsuit to boot ICE out of the state.
Following the not guilty verdict, the Trump administration maintained that Espinoza Martinez sought to harm federal immigration authorities.
“This verdict does not change the facts: Espinoza targeted federal law enforcement with violence via Snapchat,” Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The media and sanctuary politicians must stop demonizing our brave law enforcement who are facing an 8000% increase in death against them and having terrorists shoot at them, cars being used as weapons against them, online doxing of their families, and more.”
Bovino, a career Border Patrol employee, has quickly become one of the biggest faces of the Trump administration’s nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration. Beyond Chicago, he has worked on the ground leading enforcement surges in Los Angeles and elsewhere, and is currently deployed in Minneapolis.
The Border Patrol leader’s efforts have been met with resistance from those opposed to immigration enforcement. Bovino and other federal agents were allegedly refused service from a local Minneapolis store on Wednesday, with an employee reportedly telling them that they would not be served because staff members “don’t support ICE.”
Amid ongoing demonstrations in Minneapolis, video footage has captured violent mobs destroying an ICE vehicle and rioters looting other federal automobiles, stealing equipment and other items inside. Earlier in January, President Donald Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act if local Democrats didn’t do enough to quell the violence.
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