El Paso border riot ringleader arrested in Iowa 7 months after incident: report

The suspected ringleader of the border riot where hundreds of illegal immigrants rushed the border wall and authorities in March has been reportedly arrested after being on the run for seven months.

According to a report from the New York Post, Gabriel Enrique Angarita Carrasquero, 22, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, was arrested after being wanted for his alleged role in the riot and assaulting a soldier during the scuffle in El Paso between National Guard soldiers and the illegal immigrants.



The 22-year-old was initially arrested immediately following the bout of violence, but he was released by federal authorities before state authorities could take him into custody after "border agents failed to review footage of the riot to identify Carrasquero’s involvement," the outlet reported. 

Carrasquero was allegedly responsible for organizing the riot, leading to 211 illegal immigrants breaking through a wired fence. He also is accused of taking down a National Guard soldier who attempted to control the situation. One soldier had his knee allegedly stomped on by an illegal immigrant who busted through the fence, the outlet reported. Federal agents were confused as to why Carrasquero was released in the first place as he did not have an asylum claim or “fear of persecution or harm if he is returned to Venezuela."

The alleged ringleader was initially believed to be heading to Arizona after he was released by Border Patrol after he told them as such. Instead, he was later found and arrested in Des Moines, Iowa.

He was taken into custody by police in October during a traffic stop, where Carrasquero was discovered to have a warrant out for his arrest in Texas. He had been identified as an "instigator" in the group of illegal immigrants who violently stormed the fence, attacking the National Guard group in the process. A "cooperating migrant" had told Border Patrol of his alleged actions in the riot and told authorities that he saw “Carrasquero use [a] rope to pull the gate down which subsequently led to the migrant rush into the United States bypassing National Guard."

There was another alleged instigator in the group of illegal immigrants, but the other suspect, Juan Jose Colorado Gutierrez, was able to be taken into custody more quickly due to his wearing of an ankle monitor after the incident. 124 of the 211 illegal immigrants have been set loose into the interior of the US, the outlet reported. In September, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott revealed that of those involved in the riot, over 100 were suspected of being in the bloodthirsty Tren de Aragua gang.