The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Homeland Security confirmed this week that four illegal immigrants were arrested after one of the illegal immigrants was accused of pointing a laser at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter during an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protest in Portland, Oregon, on Saturday.
In a Monday statement on X, formerly Twitter, the FBI’s Portland field office announced, “FBI Portland & our federal partners @FPSDHS @HSISeattle searched a residence associated with a subject who is alleged to have aimed a laser at a @CBP helicopter conducting law enforcement activity in the skies over Portland, as well as another aircraft in the area on 9/27.” FBI Portland also shared pictures from the operation.
In a Tuesday press release, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that four illegal immigrants were arrested in Portland in relation to the “laser strikes” that were executed against a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter in an effort to “temporarily blind the pilot’s ability to see.” The Department of Homeland Security described the “laser strikes” as “incredibly dangerous” both for the personnel flying the helicopter and for the safety of the public.
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The Department of Homeland Security noted that pointing a laser at an aircraft is a federal crime in the United States. The press release confirmed that the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations executed a search warrant and discovered four “criminal illegal aliens” at the residence that was determined by law enforcement officials to be the place where the laser strikes were conducted from.
A video of Saturday’s laser-pointing incident was shared on social media by Katie Daviscourt, a reporter for The Post Millennial.
“These four illegal aliens endangered the lives of our CBP personnel, the safety of every other aircraft in flight during the time AND put everyone on the ground in immediate danger. DHS law enforcement is facing a 1,000% increase in attacks against them,” Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated.
“This strike happened just days after the terrorist attack on an ICE facility in Dallas and as rioters were arrested with guns outside a Broadview, Illinois, ICE facility with weapons,” McLaughlin added. “Secretary Noem has been clear: if you lay a hand on law enforcement you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The four illegal immigrants arrested by federal law enforcement officials were identified by Homeland Security as Diogenes Albores-Suchiapa, Andres Brian Lopez-Labra, Benito Zamora-Alvarez, and Hector Miranda Mendoza. Pictures of the four illegal immigrants were shared by Bill Melugin, a Fox News correspondent.
