Dem narrative challenged after DHS exposes identity of ‘married couple’ in CBP-related shooting

As new protests erupt and Democrats express outrage over another shooting involving an immigration agent in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is setting the record straight on the two victims’ suspected gang affiliation.

In a Friday X post, DHS said that the two shooting victims, Luis David Nico Moncada and Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, are Venezuelan criminal illegal aliens and suspected members of the foreign terrorist organization Tren de Aragua (TdA).

According to the agency, Moncada and Zambrano-Contreras were shot by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent after the two attempted to run him and others over with their vehicle.

The incident occurred at approximately 2:19 p.m. local time, when Border Patrol agents stopped a vehicle and identified themselves as law enforcement, DHS said.

“[Thursday], two suspected Tren de Aragua gang associates—let loose on American streets by Joe Biden—weaponized their vehicle against Border Patrol in Portland,” DHS wrote, explaining that “the agent took immediate action to defend himself and others, shooting them.”

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Both individuals fled the scene and were later found by Portland Police Bureau (PPB) officers and administered first aid and taken to a hospital.

According to DHS, Moncada, who was driving the vehicle, entered the U.S. illegally in 2022, and was released into the country by the Biden administration. In addition to his suspected TdA affiliation, Moncada has been previously arrested for driving under the influence and unauthorized use of a vehicle, per DHS. He has a final order of removal.

Zambrano-Contreras, the passenger, also entered the U.S. illegally in the El Paso, Texas, area in 2023. DHS said she was released into the country by the Biden administration. 

The agency said that Zambrano-Contreras has “played an active role in a Tren de Aragua prostitution ring” and was previously involved in a shooting in Portland.

DHS called reporting that the two injured were a married couple “REVOLTING LIES,” writing in a separate X post that “the two criminal illegal aliens who attacked Border Patrol in Portland are a gang member and his prostitute, NOT an innocent ‘married couple.’”

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PPB Chief Bob Day confirmed during a news conference Friday that both individuals had ties to TdA.

“What I can say is there is an association with the two folks [Thursday] and TdA,” he said. “I hesitated to even share this information initially, because I’m very aware of the historic, injustice of victim blaming oftentimes portrayed by law enforcement.”

Day emphasized that “this in no way draws a through line to the actions or the behaviors that occurred [Thursday].”

Leading Democrats were quick to condemn federal law enforcement after the shooting on Thursday.

Following the incident, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson called on ICE to “halt all operations” in the city until a full and independent investigation can take place.

“We know what the federal government says happened here,” Wilson said Thursday. “There was a time when we could take them at their word. That time has long passed.”

Wilson added that ICE agents and DHS leadership “must fully be investigated and held responsible for the violence inflicted on the American people in Minnesota, in Portland, and in all the communities across America.”

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek reacted to the shooting, claiming it was “instigated by the reckless agenda of the Trump administration.”

“While the details of the incident remain limited, one thing is very clear: when a president endorses tearing families apart and attempts to govern through fear and hate rather than shared values, you foster an environment of lawlessness and recklessness,” she said.

Kotek said Oregon’s attorney general and other leaders have raised concerns about the excessive use of force by federal agents in Portland, adding that “today’s incident only heightens the need for transparency and accountability.”

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Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., reacted to the shooting on X, blaming the Trump administration for “inflaming violence.”

“I’m monitoring the first awful reports of two people shot in Portland by federal law enforcement,” Wyden wrote in the post. “I’ll keep you updated, but Trump’s deployment of federal agents in my hometown is clearly inflaming violence–and must end.”

This comes on the heels of anti-ICE protester Renee Nicole Good being fatally shot in Minneapolis in similar circumstances. 

The Trump administration has said that while obstructing immigration enforcement operations, Good attempted to run over an ICE agent who fired in self-defense, resulting in Good later being pronounced dead.

Both shootings have led to mass anti-ICE protests across the country and strong condemnations by many leading Democrats.