Before Attack On ICE, NBC Ran ICE-Holds-Child-Hostage Hoax
Teh article discusses a false report by NBC News that accused Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents of holding a 5-year-old autistic girl hostage to pressure her father to surrender. This story, published just 24 hours before a shooting attack on an ICE vehicle in Dallas that killed two officers and injured another, fueled widespread outrage and anti-ICE sentiment. However, video evidence later revealed that the child was not taken hostage but had been abandoned by her father during his attempt to evade arrest. NBC News issued a correction admitting the initial report was inaccurate.The article argues that such false narratives contribute to risky anti-ICE hostility, exemplified by the Dallas shooting, where the assailant left behind rounds inscribed with anti-ICE messages. The incident highlights the risks of reckless media smears against law enforcement agencies.
Just 24 hours before a shooter opened fire on an ICE vehicle in Dallas, killing two and wounding a third, NBC News ran a hoax accusing ICE agents of holding hostage a 5-year-old girl in order to “pressure” her criminal suspect father to surrender.
NBC News’ Matt Lavietes wrote that “Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents held a 5-year-old autistic girl outside her Massachusetts home to pressure her father to surrender to authorities last week, according to the girl’s family.”
The story quoted the 5-year-old’s mother as saying: “They took my daughter, she’s 5-years-old. She has autism spectrum. … Give me my daughter back.”
The woman, who asked not to be identified, told an NBC affiliate that her husband “managed to run back into the parking lot of my house, but they grabbed” the 5-year-old.
The story quickly fueled outrage, with figures like Rep. Ilhan Omar smearing ICE as “vile and beyond cruel.”
But the narrative peddled by NBC News collapsed under scrutiny. Lavietes was forced to update his piece and issue a correction for blatantly lying.
“Video shows ICE with 5-year-old girl while agents attempt to arrest her father,” an updated post on X reads. “Correction: An earlier version of this article mischaracterized the activities of ICE agents in the video. The article has been updated.”
The updated version explains that the illegal alien refused to comply with law enforcement officials and, in fleeing, abandoned his own daughter in the presence of law enforcement officials.
In other words, the original hostage story was false — but wasn’t corrected before it helped amplify anti-ICE sentiment.
But it’s that same anti-ICE sentiment that fueled Wednesday’s shooting.
As The Federalist previously reported, two individuals were killed on Wednesday with a third injured after a gunman opened fire on an ICE transportation vehicle in Dallas. Investigators announced that rounds found near the shooter — who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound — were inscribed with anti-ICE messaging. Notably, there was a bomb threat at the same facility last month, according to DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin.
The Dallas attack underscores the danger of reckless smears.
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