A woman who tried to run over US Border Patrol agents assisting in the arrest of two illegal immigrants in Maine was arrested this week, authorities said.
Olivia Wilkins, 24, was charged with aggravated reckless conduct, criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, driving to endanger, hindering apprehension, obstructing government administration and failure to stop for an officer, the Department of Homeland Security said.
The Border Patrol agents were assisting the Maine State Police (MSP) and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) with a commercial vehicle rollover accident Monday involving Jhoan Andres Ortiz-Calderon and Victor Hugo Cardona-Calderon.
Ortiz-Calderon had a final order of removal from an immigration judge, and Cardona-Calderon overstayed his visa and had not obtained a work permit, authorities said.
While walking the two men to a USBP vehicle, Wilkins, a bystander, began verbally abusing authorities, DHS said.
“She then used her vehicle to drive at the group of law enforcement, squealing the tires and swerving, nearly hitting them,” a news release states.
Sheriff’s deputies chased Wilkins, who crashed her vehicle along the side of a road, where she was arrested.
“This incident comes just two weeks after a threatening letter with a white powdery substance was sent to an ICE office in New York City. Less than a week ago, a violent rioter was charged with assault in San Francisco after he threatened to stab an ICE officer and harm his family. Earlier in the week, there was a bomb threat at a Dallas ICE facility,” a DHS spokesperson said.
“These incidents come after months of smears and rhetoric by activists, politicians and the media comparing ICE law enforcement to the Nazi Gestapo, kidnappers and the Secret Police,” the spokesperson added.
“This shameful rhetoric has fueled a culture of hate against law enforcement, resulting in a 1,000% increase in assaults against them. All sanctuary politicians, activists and the media need to turn down their temperature.”
Across the country, immigration authorities have been attacked, harassed, doxxed and injured, the Trump administration has said.
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