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Reporter Deletes Post After Follow Up With Officials

Reporter Deletes Post After Follow Up With Officials

The rush to frame every immigration enforcement as a moral outrage has once again collided headlong with the facts — and, as usual, the facts weren’t on the media’s side.

On Wednesday, NBC Washington reporter Aimee Cho posted a video that quickly spread across social media. In it, an illegal immigrant is seen being tackled by federal agents on the National Mall. The man cries out, “Please, I’m not a criminal. I work here. I want to be with my family,” in Spanish — a line tailor-made for headlines and retweets. But Cho didn’t wait for confirmation on who the man was. She didn’t ask what his record showed. She posted the video anyway, fueling the narrative that immigration enforcement is cruel, callous, and arbitrary.


Predictably, the emotional footage triggered the usual responses. Left-leaning commentators like Fox News’ Jessica Tarlov seized on the moment, casting ICE as the villain. Sympathy poured in for the man who, at first glance, seemed like another hardworking immigrant being separated from his family for no good reason. But then the truth caught up.

According to Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Director at DHS overseeing ICE operations, the man’s name is David Perez-Teofani — not exactly a harmless bystander. Perez-Teofani is a Mexican national who has illegally entered the United States not once, not twice, but three times. He was arrested in 2024 for aggravated sexual battery against a minor in Fairfax County — an extremely serious charge.


So why wasn’t he in prison? That’s where politics steps in. Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano dropped the charges. That’s not a one-off move either — Descano has a track record of letting serious charges against illegal immigrants fall by the wayside, prioritizing progressive politics over public safety.

The result? A man with a record of illegal reentry and an arrest for a heinous crime was walking free on the National Mall, until ICE finally intervened.

This wasn’t a case of ICE targeting an innocent worker. It was a clear-cut instance of law enforcement doing what they are mandated to do: detain and deport individuals who pose a danger and who are in the country illegally. The media had the opportunity to get the facts right, but they didn’t wait. They didn’t want to. The story had to be emotional, urgent, and damning — not accurate.


And therein lies the real problem. Journalists eager to weaponize stories for political gain often end up being the loudest voices in the room — at least until the facts force a correction. But by then, the damage is done. Screenshots remain. Narratives spread. Trust erodes.

The Trump administration, for its part, seems determined not to let these things slide. They’re moving to enforce immigration law more aggressively, and cases like Perez-Teofani’s will only accelerate that push.

Written by Mark Stevens - August 21, 2025