The Trump administration is urging sanctuary Democrats to "stop siding with illegal aliens" after a Los Angeles immigrant activist and social media personality rammed ICE agents in attempts to escape arrest, prompting agents to open fire.
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital that during a targeted enforcement stop on Tuesday, 44-year-old Mexican illegal immigrant Carlitos Ricardo Parias "weaponized his vehicle and began ramming the law enforcement vehicle in an attempt to flee."
"Fearing for the safety of the public and law enforcement," McLaughlin said, "Our officers followed their training and fired defensive shots."
Parias was shot in the elbow, and a U.S. Marshals Service officer was hit in the hand by a ricochet bullet. She said that both were stable and were transported to the nearest hospital to undergo non-life-threatening surgery.
Los Angeles local outlet ABC 7 reported that Parias is a well-known TikTok influencer who regularly follows ICE agents and goes by the moniker "Richard LA." The outlet also reported that crowds gathered outside the hospital to protest the arrest as well as ICE.
According to McLaughlin, officers had previously encountered Parias, but he had escaped arrest. She said that he entered the country illegally at an unknown date and location and that he has a history of driving without a license, failing to prove financial responsibility, vehicle code violations, and resisting arrest.
Now, DHS is pursuing criminal charges against Parias for assaulting, resisting, or impeding federal law enforcement.
McLaughlin said that "these are the consequences of conduct and rhetoric by sanctuary politicians and activists who urge illegal aliens to resist arrest."
"We are once again calling on sanctuary politicians, agitators, and the media to turn the temperature down and stop calling for violence and resistance against ICE law enforcement," said McLaughlin.
She called out several Democrats who she said have held webinars to provide "resources and tips for how to openly defy ICE." McLaughlin said that Democrats who have emboldened illegals to attempt to evade ICE include Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Governor Gavin Newsom.
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In response, a spokesperson for Newsom told Fox News Digital that "President Trump and [White House Homeland Security Advisor] Stephen Miller are trying to orchestrate the largest deportation effort in history, disregarding due process and even the safety of U.S. citizens and law enforcement."
"These aggressive arrests are a PR campaign, using fear and force. They want to manufacture chaos, then blame others," the spokesperson said, adding, "Trump is forcing the federal government to indiscriminately arrest U.S. citizens through racial profiling, vehicle ramming, and forced entry, then broadcasting these interactions online."
The spokesperson flipped the script on the Trump administration, saying, "The federal government is unnecessarily endangering our law enforcement officers, who, even in this chaos, are trying to do their jobs lawfully and serve their communities. They are creating fear among hardworking families – our neighbors, colleagues, and friends – who now have a target on their backs because of this administration."
"Immigration law can be enforced without a message of terror," the Newsom spokesperson said.
Fox News Digital also reached out to the offices of Ocasio-Cortez and Bass but did not immediately receive a response.
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White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson also weighed in, telling Fox News Digital that "ICE Officers are facing a 1000% increase in assaults because of unhinged rhetoric from activists and Democrat politicians smearing heroic ICE officers."
"Anyone who assaults or otherwise harms law enforcement officers will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law," said Jackson, adding, "Democrats must stop siding with illegal aliens over American law enforcement."
