A woman was arrested this week in Maine after allegedly attempting to run over U.S. Border Patrol agents who were assisting in the apprehension of two illegal immigrants, authorities said.
Olivia Wilkins, 24, faces multiple charges, including aggravated reckless conduct, criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, driving to endanger, hindering apprehension, obstructing government administration, and failure to stop for an officer, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
The Border Patrol agents were helping the Maine State Police (MSP) and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) with a commercial vehicle rollover involving Jhoan Andres Ortiz-Calderon and Victor Hugo Cardona-Calderon.
Ortiz-Calderon had a final order of removal from an immigration judge, while Cardona-Calderon overstayed his visa and lacked a work permit, officials said.
While escorting the two men to a USBP vehicle, Wilkins, who was present at the scene, began verbally confronting authorities.
“She then used her vehicle to drive at the group of law enforcement, squealing the tires and swerving, nearly hitting them,” the DHS statement said.
Sheriff’s deputies pursued Wilkins, who eventually crashed her vehicle along the roadside and was taken into custody.
“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 faced attacks, harassment, doxxing, and injuries, the Trump administration has stated.
