Earlier this month, three Metro D.C. police officers were shot in the line of duty, as they were serving a warrant on charges of animal cruelty. All three networks reported on the shooting at the time. However, none of them reported on the arrest of the shooter, perhaps due to a very inconvenient and uncomfortable reason: the shooter is in the country illegally.
Per the Department of Justice's press release:
WASHINGTON – Stephen Claude Rattigan, also known as Julius James, 48, of Washington, D.C., has been charged with assault with intent to kill while armed, assault on a police officer while armed, and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence following the shooting of three Metropolitan Police Department officers and an hours-long standoff in Southeast DC. He is also being charged with misdemeanor cruelty to animals.
…
According to court documents, on February 14, 2024, officers from the Metropolitan Police Department responded to Rattigan’s residence in the 5000 block of Hanna Place Southeast to execute an arrest warrant because of a complaint of animal cruelty. That warrant stemmed from an incident in April 2023 in which Rattigan was captured by a security camera beating one of his dogs several times in the face.
The DoJ makes no mention of the defendant’s immigration status but our friend Julio Rosas does, upon conferring with his law enforcement sources:
🚨: A law enforcement source has confirmed to me the man who recently shot three DC police officers, Stephen Claude Rattigan, also known as James Claude Julius, is in the US illegally.
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) February 26, 2024
He has an active ICE deportation order. I reached out to ICE for comment. pic.twitter.com/hN7ij1qa95
As we saw in the case of the illegal alien from Venezuela now charged in the murder of UGA nursing student Laken Riley, there was a concerted effort to conceal the suspect’s immigration status for as long as was feasibly possible. Only after pressure, shaming, and the AP’s sensationally ridiculous piece on fears of whether women’s running is at risk, did the networks fall in line and report on the suspect’s status.
As the reporting continues to bear out, will we see the inconvenient fact on the D.C. cop shooter be reported, or will the national networks continue to suppress a fact that is embarrassing to President Biden? Time will tell.
