Police reveal why they thought Kilmar Abrego Garcia was MS-13

Police gang experts pegged Kilmar Abrego Garcia as a member of MS-13 based on his clothing, tattoos and information from a confidential source, the Prince George’s County Police Department said Thursday, shedding some light on a key issue in the fight over his deportation.

The department said Mr. Abrego Garcia was flagged by Hyattsville City Police, who found him as part of a group of four men, one of whom the officers recognized as an MS-13 member.

The county police gang unit then interviewed the four and found “reasonable suspicion” that three, including Mr. Abrego Garcia, “displayed traits associated with MS-13 gang culture.”

Police documented the interaction, but neither made arrests nor brought any charges.

One of the gang detectives was later booted from the department after pleading guilty to misconduct in an “unrelated matter,” the police department said.

The new details seem to back up at least some of the Trump administration’s claims about Mr. Abrego Garcia, whom it deported last month as a member of MS-13. The government has declared the gang to be a foreign terrorist organization.

Mr. Abrego Garcia entered the country illegally sometime around 2011 and was ordered deported in 2019, though the immigration judge ruled that the one place he couldn’t be sent was his home country of El Salvador because he faced the possibility of torture.

Another Immigration judge, ruling on his request for bond, found it likely he was an MS-13 member based largely on the Prince George’s police findings.

Judge Elizabeth Kessler said those conclusions appeared to be “trustworthy.” She said the confidential source who identified Mr. Abrego Garcia as MS-13 had proven reliable in the past, and named Mr. Abrego Garcia by his “rank and gang name.”

The judge said Mr. Abrego Garcia “failed to present evidence to rebut that assertion.”

Her ruling was affirmed in late 2019 by the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Democrats have questioned the claim of MS-13 membership, adopting Mr. Abrego Garcia’s denials.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis has also discounted them in her courtroom as she’s ordered the government to un-deport him. She said there’s been no evidence of his gang membership presented to her while she’s been hearing the case over the last several weeks.

An appeals court on Thursday was equivocal on the matter.