Federal immigration officials this week announced the arrest of an alleged Latin Kings gang member who they say placed a bounty on the Commander at Large of the U.S. Border Patrol.
In an Oct. 6 news release, authorities with the Department of Homeland Security said a confidential informant came forward with “information regarding a ‘hit’ on Chief [Gregory] Bovino by a member of the Latin Kings Street Gang.”
Federal investigators say they obtained a screenshot of a Snapchat conversation from a user named “Juan” that appeared to place a $2,000 bounty for information on when Bovino was caught and a $10,000 payday “if you take him down.”
A third response on the screenshot that read “LK…on him,” according to Homeland Security Investigations, implied the involvement of the Latin Kings.
HSI, along with agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, identified Juan Espinoza Martinez as the person who put out the alleged bounty and arrested him in Burr Ridge, Illinois, a city around 20 miles outside of Chicago, where ICE has recently been conducting enforcement operations.
Martin, who the government says came into the U.S. from Mexico illegally at an unknown time, is expected to be prosecuted by the Department of Justice for soliciting the murder of a senior law enforcement official, the release noted.
“Depraved individuals like Juan Espinoza Martinez – who do not value human life and threaten law enforcement– do NOT belong in this country. We will not allow criminal gangs to put hits on U.S. government officials and our law enforcement officers,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson have criticized President Trump and his administration for the deployment of ICE and the Texas National Guard to the nation’s third-largest city.
Trump on Wednesday suggested the mayor and governor should be arrested for their opposition to federal troops and agents in the city, writing on his social media platform Truth Social that they “should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers!”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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