Newly released body camera footage shows Tennessee state troopers stopping Kilmar Abrego Garcia in 2022 and immediately expressing suspicions of human smuggling. Despite their concerns, Abrego Garcia was only issued a warning for driving with an expired license. No charges were filed.
Troopers question the number of passengers
Fox News was first to obtain the Tennessee Highway Patrol body camera footage through a public records request. The footage shows officers pulling over Abrego Garcia for speeding and discovering eight individuals inside his vehicle.
During the traffic stop at around 8 p.m. on Nov. 30, 2022, Abrego Garcia told troopers he was returning from St. Louis, Missouri. When asked for his license, registration and insurance, he explained that the SUV belonged to his boss. He said the men riding with him were fellow construction workers he was driving back to Maryland.
“How many rows have you got in here? Four rows of seats?” one trooper asked. “I’ve never seen one with that many seats in it.”
The body camera footage shows a trooper saying, “He’s hauling these people for money, is what he’s doing… he’s getting paid to haul these people probably to Maryland, I would say, if I had my guess.”
Federal authorities involvement
Abrego Garcia told the law enforcement officers the vehicle belonged to his boss. He said his boss currently stayed in Maryland but lived in Houston, Texas. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the car was later linked to a known human smuggler.
According to the Tennessee Highway Patrol, troopers contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but agents did not respond to the scene. Once troopers ran Abrego Garcia’s name, they were instructed to alert federal authorities, which they reportedly did.
A source who spoke with Fox News Digital said when troopers entered his name into the National Crime Information Center, a warning flagged him as a suspected gang member.
Troopers were directed to release Abrego Garcia and the passengers. He was given a warning for a suspended Maryland driver’s license. In Maryland, noncitizens are allowed to obtain that form of identification.
Abrego Garcia’s wife reacts to traffic stop
Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, defended Abrego Garcia in a media statement addressing the 2022 traffic stop. Vasquez Sura said her husband “worked in construction and sometimes transported groups of workers between job sites, so it’s entirely plausible he would have been pulled over while driving with others in the vehicle.”
She added, “He was not charged with any crime or cited for any wrongdoing. Unfortunately, Kilmar is currently imprisoned without contact with the outside world, which means he cannot respond to the claims or defend himself.”
Ongoing legal and political controversy
Straight Arrow News previously reported on this incident in an episode of Bias Breakdown before the body camera footage was released. The case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia has become a focal point in broader debates about immigration enforcement and media coverage, with left- and right-leaning news outlets framing the story in starkly different ways.
We break down Abrego Garcia’s deportation, explain the court decisions surrounding his immigration status, and highlight how his legal team and the Trump administration interpret a Supreme Court ruling about his removal to El Salvador differently. You can find the full episode here.
