Authorities reported that a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent was dragged for almost a block in Oklahoma by an undocumented immigrant from Honduras attempting to flee federal custody.
The individual, identified as Jose Melgar-Rivas, 34, from Honduras, faces charges of assaulting, resisting, or impeding a federal officer leading to bodily injury, as announced by U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester of the Western District of Oklahoma on Wednesday.
According to court documents, ICE agents stopped a vehicle in Oklahoma City on Tuesday, where Melgar-Rivas, a Honduran national and ICE fugitive, defied the officer’s orders to leave the vehicle.
A struggle ensued as officers attempted to remove him, and Melgar-Rivas shifted the vehicle into drive and fled, according to a complaint. An ICE officer became trapped in a door of the vehicle as it accelerated.
“Assaults on federal agents will not be tolerated by the FBI,” FBI Oklahoma City acting Special Agent in Charge Joe Ogden said. “We will continue to aggressively support and defend our fellow public servants so they can safely carry out their sworn duties.”
The Department of Homeland Security has reported a 700% increase in assaults against ICE agents and other immigration enforcement officers in the first six months since President Donald Trump returned to office.
The Trump administration has pledged to hold perpetrators accountable to the fullest extent of the law. The Justice Department brought charges against more than a dozen defendants in the July 4 attack against an ICE detention center in Alvarado, Texas, where a police officer was shot in the neck defending the center holding prospective deportees.
The FBI on Wednesday captured a Marine Corps reservist believed to have opened fire at the officer and correctional officers that night.
Los Angeles has seen a rash of anti-ICE demonstrations since June, but the Pentagon this week removed about half of the 4,000 National Guard troops federalized to protect the city, arguing most “lawlessness” had subsided.
An ICE agent was injured after being dragged by the vehicle of an illegal alien from Honduras. (ICE)
Melgar-Rivas appeared Thursday in U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City and was ordered to be detained in federal custody pending further proceedings.
Prosecutors say Melgar-Rivas faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if convicted.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the case is part of Operation Take Back America, “a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.”
