Politics
JUST IN: Dem Senator Sips Martinis With Suspected MS-13 Gang Member After Latest Media Hoax
Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) met with suspected MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador on Thursday as the Salvadoran national’s deportation battle continues to capture headlines. Van Hollen was seen “sipping margaritas” with the suspected gang member after left-wing social media influencers falsely claimed he was extrajudicially killed by the Salvadoran government.
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele posted three pictures of the Maryland Democrat meeting with the alleged MS-13 member, who has become a hero in left-wing and mainstream media circles. The meeting comes after Van Hollen traveled to the Central American nation in order to meet with the Salvadoran national who has falsely been dubbed a “Maryland man” by the mainstream press.
The senator had attempted to meet with Abrego Garcia at the nation’s supermax prison in recent days, though he was unable to do so, perhaps because the suspected gang member was never there.
As a result, unverified rumors spread that Abrego Garcia was extrajudicially executed by the Salvadoran government. Posts spreading the thoroughly debunked rumor gained millions of views on X, TikTok, Instagram and other social media platforms before the meeting.
One post from a group claiming to be the long defunct hacker collective Anonymous posted a grainy satellite image purporting to show a pile of corpses on the perimeter of El Salvador’s CECOT supermax prison. The image clearly appears to be a pile of dirt, though they did not stop it from being viewed 86 million times on X.
The rumor was put to rest on Thursday, however, when Abrego Garcia was san having a cordial meeting with Van Hollen in the Salvadoran capital of San Salvador.
“Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the “death camps” & “torture”, now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!” Bukele posted on X. The post was accompanied with three photos of an overjoyed Van Hollen casually sipping drinks with the suspected gang member.
The meeting comes just a day after the Trump-led Department of Justice released a number of documents detailing Abrego Garcia’s ties to MS-13 and criminal record.
One report, based on the Prince George’s County Police Department’s Gang Field Interview Sheet, explicitly identifies Abrego Garcia by name, stating he was “validated as a member of the Mara Salvatrucha MS-13,” and held the rank of “Chequeo” within the gang’s Westerns clique.
The information was corroborated by a “past, proven, and reliable source,” according to the documents. Bondi shared the files Wednesday afternoon, writing: “We are releasing additional information on Kilmar Abrego Garcia,” alongside a link to the official DOJ site.
