Texas charged 70 additional illegal migrants Friday for allegedly storming the National Guard at the southern border, an official said, the New York Post first reported.
Seventy illegal migrants who allegedly participated in pushing through the National Guard in an attempt to cross the border in El Paso face state charges of misdemeanor rioting, the official told the outlet.
This is the moment when TX National Guard became overrun by migrants rioting to get across the border here in El Paso today
We were there and saw it all happen. Absolute chaos here. pic.twitter.com/VN6Kf663ie
— Jennie Taer (@JennieSTaer) March 21, 2024
Texas intends to charge more than 200 illegal migrants currently held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the official told the New York Post. However, federal authorities are reportedly “not being as cooperative as Border Patrol,” the source added.
Nine illegal migrants, all part of the mob filmed by the New York Post in viral video from March 21, face federal charges of inciting a riot, damage of property over $2,500 and assault on members of the National Guard, among other charges, a state government source told the outlet March 28. (RELATED: Fugitive Migrant Influencer Flashes Wads Of Cash, Says He Wants To ‘Mark’ His ‘Territory,’ Not ‘Work Like A Slave’)
Honduran national Junior Evaristo-Benitez, one of the nine illegal migrants arrested and charged, allegedly stomped on a National Guardsman’s knee “purposefully and with malice,” Border Report reported, according to the New York Post. Evaristo-Benitez was reportedly the first arrested by Texas authorities, Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Elliot Torres said. He will face one felony count of assaulting an official, Torres continued, the outlet reported.
“These people were willing to assault military,” a National Guard source told the outlet. “They were willing to assault law enforcement. They have complete disregard for our laws.”
Multiple illegal migrants involved in the incident allegedly carried knives and shanks while storming Gate 36, the source told the New York Post. At least one illegal migrant allegedly tried to steal a National Guardsman’s firearm, the outlet reported.