NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The 2022 traffic stop at the center of a newly unsealed federal indictment has raised more questions than answers, partly because more than one-third of the body camera footage provided was redacted.
That means the sound we need to verify many of the claims made in the indictment was removed, and that’s important considering the indictment alleges that Kilmar Abrego Garcia lied about where he was before the stop.
The two-count indictment released last Friday accuses Garcia of being part of a conspiracy, “to bring undocumented aliens to the United States from countries such as Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Ecuador and elsewhere, ultimately passing through Mexico before they cross into Texas.”
The indictment also alleges that Abrego Garcia misled troopers by not telling them that his trip began in Houston, Texas, where they believe he picked up migrants who just crossed the border.
A report from the Department of Homeland Security, meanwhile, seems to contradict the indictment by saying “the subject stated he was driving ‘three days ago’ from Houston, Texas, to Maryland.”
Troopers for the Tennessee Highway Patrol asked Abrego Garcia multiple times where he and his passengers were headed.
“So, where do you all live?” troopers asked.
“I live in Maryland,” Abrego Garcia responded.
“Whose car is it?” troopers asked.
“This is through my boss. My boss right now, he stays in Maryland, but he lives in Houston, Texas,” Abrego Garcia responded.
This was the only time we heard Abrego Garcia mention Houston during the nearly 90-minute traffic stop.
Abrego Garcia told troopers they were traveling from St. Louis, Missouri, after their construction project had finished. Troopers separated Abrego Garcia from his passengers and once again asked the same questions to both.
“Where did you say you were coming from?” troopers asked.
“I’m coming from St. Louis, Missouri. The project is over there. So, right now it’s done. Two weeks over there. Right now, I’m going back home,” Abrego Garcia responded.
Troopers asked passengers in Spanish, and the responses were either Missouri or in one case, Texas.
“One said they were coming from Texas, and the other one said they were coming from St. Louis,” one trooper is heard saying.
“They stopped in St. Louis, but they were definitely in Houston, Texas,” another trooper responded.
The timeline is important because the indictment says the SUV Abrego Garcia was driving, wasn’t picked up on license plate readers near St. Louis at any point in the past 12 months.
Instead, it claims the SUV was in the Houston area the week before this traffic stop.
We know there were multiple times when troopers were seen speaking with Abrego Garcia and his passengers off-camera, so we don’t know what was said.
By this point, troopers seemed certain that Abrego Garcia was transporting undocumented migrants across state lines.
“He’s an ass-hauler. He’s hauling those people. He’s picking them up down there in Texas and taking them up to Washington D.C.,” one trooper said.
The indictment and motion for detention seem to spell out much of what troopers suspected, but go even a step further by calling Abrego Garcia “one of the most prolific smugglers.”
US Attorney General Pam Bondi said they heard from several unnamed co-conspirators who established that not only was Abrego Garcia a member of the MS-13 gang, but that he also helped to transport other members and thousands of migrants across the country.
“It is highly organized. It is very dangerous, and they are living throughout our country, but no more,” Bondi said.
Prosecutors are asking to detain Abrego Garcia without bond, saying he “poses a significant danger to the community.”
The motion claims that Abrego Garcia transported approximately 50 undocumented aliens throughout the United States per month for several years.”
Defense attorneys for Abrego Garcia have since filed a motion of their own requesting their client be released as part of the due process they believe has been ignored from the beginning.
“Mr. Abrego Garcia asks the Court for what he has been denied the past several months — due process,” the motion reads.
The 20-page motion claims there's no need for a detention hearing since prosecutors have not done enough to prove that Abrego Garcia’s charges warrant being detained until trial.
“Abrego Garcia must be released,” defense attorneys said.
Abrego Garcia first crossed the border into the US back in 2012, before seeking asylum in 2019.
There, he claimed his life would be in jeopardy if he were ever sent back to El Salvador where he would be targeted by a local gang.
We know troopers contacted federal officials during his traffic stop and were told that there was no need to detain Abrego Garcia, who held a “withholding of removal” status preventing his deportation.
He was later sent back to an El Salvador prison as part of President Donald Trump’s massive deportation efforts and remained there for months.
Abrego Garcia is now back in the US but faces 10 years for every undocumented person the government can prove he illegally transported across the country.
This could mean spending the rest of his life behind bars, but again, much of what happens in court could rely on people we don’t know and video we can’t hear.
Protests in favor of releasing Abrego Garcia are planned for early Friday morning outside the federal courthouse by local groups who’ve called this a political trial on fabricated charges.
