Rep. Green calls on THP to release more details on Kilmar Abrego Garcia's 2022 traffic stop
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – U.S. House Homeland Security chairman Rep. Mark Green (R-Tennessee) is calling on authorities to be more transparent about a 2022 Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) traffic stop of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March.
On May 2, the THP released a redacted video of a traffic stop dated Nov. 30, 2022, involving Abrego Garcia in Cookeville. The 29-year-old was pulled over for speeding in a vehicle with eight passengers and told state troopers they'd been working in Missouri.
Body cam footage released from 2022 THP traffic stop of Maryland man deported to El Salvador
In the video, THP troopers could be heard discussing among themselves their suspicions of human trafficking since nine people were traveling without luggage.
'He's hauling these people for money,' one responding THP trooper said.
Abrego Garcia was not charged with a crime that day. The THP troopers allowed him to drive off with only a warning about an expired driver's license.
According to the Associated Press, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, an attorney for Abrego Garcia, said in a statement that he saw no evidence of a crime in the released footage.
In a letter to THP Col. Matt Perry, Green wrote that the Committee on Homeland Security is concerned that inadequate or ineffective information sharing between federal agents and the THP during the Biden administration may have led to the release of an active gang member and potential human trafficker.
Trump says he 'could' return Abrego Garcia to US, but won't
Because of that, he's calling on Perry to release the following as soon as possible, but no later than 5 p.m. on May 23:
An unredacted copy of all body camera and dash camera footage of the November 30, 2022 traffic stop of Mr. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia from any employee or contractor of the Tennessee Highway Patrol;
Unredacted copies of all notes taken by any employee or contractor of the Tennessee Highway Patrol referring or relating to the November 30, 2022 traffic stop of Mr. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia;
Unredacted copies of all reports referring or relating to the November 30, 2022 traffic stop of Mr. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, including but not limited to, computerized dispatch reports, incident reports, or probable cause reports;
A document sufficient to list all names of all Federal Bureau of Investigation employees or contractors and Tennessee Highway Patrol employees or contractors engaged in communications on November 30, 2022, to discuss the arrest, detention, or release of Mr. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia; and
A document sufficient to show the result of any query conducted by any employee or contractor of the Tennessee Highway Patrol in the National Crime Information Center database, of any person related to the November 20, 2022, traffic stop of Mr. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, from November 30, 2022 to December 1, 2022.
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'Despite Democrats' best efforts to paint Kilmar Abrego Garcia otherwise, we can't ignore reports that he is a transnational gang member, domestic abuser, and likely human smuggler,' Green said in a statement to News 2. 'As Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, it's my responsibility to shed light on, and ensure the end of, the reckless, open-borders policies of the Biden-Harris administration. We will get to the bottom of why Abrego Garcia was released by the Biden-Harris administration despite the Tennessee Highway Patrol's suspicions of human trafficking.'
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