“We are confident in our law enforcement’s intelligence, and we aren’t going to share intelligence reports and undermine national security every time a gang member denies he is one,” said one DHS representative.
Last month, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers had a near-deadly run-in with an illegal alien—also a suspected gang member and murderer—from El Salvador in Patterson, California. While being stopped and inspected, Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, 36, refused to exit the vehicle, then quickly reversed his car in an attempt to flee and slammed into an ICE truck. Mendoza Hernandez then accelerated forward, struck an officer, jumped the median, drove onto the wrong side of the freeway and was apprehended about 500 feet from where the stop occurred.
Immigration officers discharged their firearms into the car and succeeded in stopping Mendoza Hernandez without fatally shooting him. Agents immediately rendered medical aid at the scene before he was taken to a hospital and treated for multiple bullet wounds. For about three weeks, this is roughly where the story ended.
However, last Friday, news broke that a federal grand jury had indicted Mendoza Hernandez on three charges—two counts of assault on a federal officer with a deadly weapon and one count of destruction of government property. If convicted on all counts, he will face up to 30 years and $750,000 in fines.
Many social media users have chimed in to ask why he cannot instead be deported back to El Salvador.
In either case, Mendoza Hernandez recently pleaded not guilty to the charges. The attorneys representing him said that he simply “panicked” and did not intend to run over the officer that was hit by Mendoza Hernandez’s vehicle.
Additionally, his attorneys initially suggested that this could be a case of mistaken identity.
“It is their belief that the incident is a horrible case of mistaken identity stemming from a name (and maybe a date of birth) match, as he has never been arrested or had his fingerprints taken,” said attorney Patrick Kolasinski.
Reactions to that notion have been overwhelmingly negative.
“Funny how the guy decided to try and run over an ICE agent instead of just complying,” said one social media user on X referencing Kolasinski’s statement.
“Normal legal immigrants do not behave this way,” said another. “They do their best to blend into society and stay out of trouble.”
Court documents reveal that Mendoza Hernandez has dual citizenship in both El Salvador and Mexico—but not the U.S., where he has been living for roughly seven years.
While his reasons for leaving both countries where he enjoys citizenship remains unknown, authorities report that Mendoza Hernandez is wanted for questioning in El Salvador for connection to a murder. Kolasinski rejects the claim, insisting that his client was acquitted in 2019. An attorney has been retained in El Salvador to look into the matter.
Similarly, ICE Director Todd Lyons felt confident in publicly reporting that Mendoza Hernandez is or a member of the 18th Street Gang member, one of the largest and most violent street gangs in the Western Hemisphere and which engages in drug trafficking, murder, extortion, and human smuggling. Kolasinski denies the assertion: “Mr. Mendoza is not, and never has been, a gang member.”
CNN reported that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stands by the allegations: “We are confident in our law enforcement’s intelligence, and we aren’t going to share intelligence reports and undermine national security every time a gang member denies he is one.”
Mendoza Hernandez’s next hearing is scheduled for July 27 at the defenses’ request—though it appears U.S. District Judge Dale Drozd questioned the timing and indicated he could hold the trial sooner.
“I can try this case whenever the defense wants a trial,” Drozd said.
“And the defense wants enough time to prepare, Your Honor,” said Federal Public Defender Heather Williams.
Separately, Williams also stated that Mendoza Hernandez’s “recovery from the multiple bullet wounds is challenged as he is far from the original doctors who treated him after the ICE shootings and limited by what medical care the US Marshals approve and pay for.”
From the onset, Mendoza Hernandez was deemed by attorneys to be a flight risk. As such, he was denied bail and was placed—and remains—in the custody of the US Marshals Service at a private prison.
