Federal authorities have arrested a purported Latin Kings gang member with a “known violent criminal history” for allegedly stealing property from a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) vehicle vandalized during unrest in Minneapolis earlier this week.
A joint operation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on Thursday arrested a man identified by Fox News as 33-year-old Raul Gutierrez for allegedly stealing body armor and weaponry from a federal vehicle.
The trashing of government vehicles and property, captured in footage that went viral this week, came during rioting after agents had responded to an attack on a federal officer who was trying to make an immigration arrest in a Minneapolis neighborhood on Wednesday.
The suspect apparently was caught on video.
Citizen journalist Nick Sortor in a post on X he put up the same night of the riot said that he’d “captured the thief’s face and license plate on the getaway vehicle” in his video, adding that he was forwarding the footage to the “top levels of the FBI.”
“PLEASE SHARE and HELP IDENTIFY this POS,” Sortor wrote.
The video appears to show the suspect Gutierrez — identified in a close up by the unique tattoo on his left check — involved in the ransacking of the vehicle. Authorities have not said whether Sortor’s video played a role in the identification and arrest.
FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X Thursday evening, “One individual who allegedly stole federal government property out of an FBI vehicle in Minneapolis last night has been arrested. FBI personnel are continuing to pursue other subjects involved. There will be more arrests.”
The director’s post was accompanied by a poster offering a reward up to $100,000 for more information.
Patel added, “Again: Any individual who attacks law enforcement or vandalizes federal property paid for by hardworking taxpayers will be found and arrested.”
The FBI said multiple government vehicles were vandalized and broken into that night, with federal property stolen from inside the vehicles.
Activists and troublemakers showed up in the Minneapolis neighborhood after word went out that a federal agent was involved in a shooting during an immigration operation.
According to federal authorities, the agent shot a Venezuelan man in the leg after the man and two other Venezuelan nationals began beating him with a snow shovel and a broom stick. All three are in the country illegally, have since been arrested, and are in custody, according to reports.
In also announcing the arrest of the suspect later named as Gutierrez on X, Attorney General Pam Bondi was critical of recent comments by local leaders such as Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) portraying Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations as an invasion “creating chaos” that targets “neighbors of color.”
“This criminal is a perfect example of what our brave federal law enforcement agents are up against every day as Minnesota leadership ENCOURAGES lawbreaking,” Bondi wrote.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times true crime best seller House of Secrets and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
