A police chief has revealed that no gun was found on a 13-year-old boy who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement despite a top Department of Homeland Security official’s claims.
Reports that a seventh-grader had been arrested by federal agents and taken to a juvenile detention center more than 500 miles away from his family sparked widespread outrage.
Amid the social media furor, Tricia McLaughlin, who as assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security is Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s top communications official, went to bat for ICE on her official social media account.
She posted on X: “Here are the facts: he posed a public safety threat with an extensive rap sheet including violent assault with a dangerous weapon, battery, breaking and entering, destruction of property. He was in possession of a firearm and 5-7 inch knife when arrested.”
DHS then followed suit, posting: “Not only was this individual in possession of a firearm and a 5-7 inch knife when arrested, he also had an EXTENSIVE rap sheet.”
However, according to officials, McLaughlin’s “facts” around the ICE detention weren’t entirely true.
At a City Hall news conference on Tuesday in Everett, Massachusetts, city Mayor Carlo DeMaria said officers had recovered a 6–7 inch double-edged knife from the boy during the arrest last Thursday at Albert N. Parlin School but “no firearm,” a detail confirmed by Everett Police Chief Paul Strong and reported by The Boston Globe.
The boy was booked at the station and then taken into ICE custody. He is now being held at the 32-bed Northwestern Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Winchester, Virginia.
During the presser, DeMaria also said the cops did not contact ICE about the juvenile: “Everett police does not make arrests based on immigration status,” the Globe reported.
While McLaughlin claimed that the child had an “extensive rap sheet,” journalist Marisa Kabas reported that neither the mayor nor the police chief made any mention of him having a criminal history.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Everett Police Department to confirm whether the boy has a criminal history, as alleged by McLaughlin and DHS.
On Tuesday evening, Kabas posted on Bluesky that she had asked ICE if they stood by McLaughlin’s post. She said a spokesperson said DHS “was working on a response. Five hours later, still nothing.”
McLaughlin is a regular mouthpiece for DHS on network television news channels, and her X account features a clip of her arguing with an ABC News host in which she boasts, “I can do this all day.”
As the Daily Beast reported on Tuesday, McLaughlin made a false claim about the violent arrest of an American teen girl in a clip that went viral.
With community anger swelling on Tuesday night, and with classmates and immigrant-rights groups packing Everett’s council chamber and demanding the child’s return to Massachusetts, there was also anger directed toward the DHS and McLaughlin.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, said on X: “Yet another sign @DHSgov and [McLaughlin]’s ‘fact checks’ are not trustworthy."
Last month, the Beast reported that a “fact check” McLaughlin had posted on the DHS website about a mom who miscarried a baby in ICE custody had falsely accused her of being a wanted killer.
Despite these posts having been proven to contain false information, all three remain online at the time of publication.
The Daily Beast contacted DHS, McLaughlin, and the Everett Police Department for comment. McLaughlin told the Beast: “We stand by our statements and the facts.”
