A man involved in a four-hour standoff with police last week in North Carolina has been revealed to be an illegal immigrant on a terror watch list.
Awet Hagos, 32, who was arrested on March 11, has been in the North Carolina area for the past six months illegally, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Fox News reported.
Hagos is a citizen of the African nation of Eritrea who entered America illegally after a stay in Haiti.
After running Hagos’ fingerprints, authorities reportedly found that he was on the terrorist watch list.
🚨BREAKING: An illegal alien on a TERRORIST WATCH LIST was arrested in North Carolina.
Awet Hagos (32) from Africa, an area near Yemen, was arrested after a four-hour standoff with sheriff’s deputies in Gates County about a week ago, after allegedly firing shots outside the… pic.twitter.com/DBSxxhX92z
— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) March 19, 2024
A representative of ICE said Hagos “entered the United States as a nonimmigrant in 2016 and violated terms of admission,” according to the News & Observer.
Gates County Sheriff Ray Campbell said that at about 6:40 p.m. on March 11, deputies were sent to a convenience store to investigate a report of a part-time employee firing a gun outside the store, according to the Roanoke-Chowan News Herald.
“Upon arrival, the deputies and a Trooper with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol attempted to take the suspect into custody,” Campbell said.
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“However, the suspect became extremely combative and at one point attempted to disarm a deputy of their firearm. The suspect then fled into a small camper located adjacent to the business,” he said.
“At first we believed he was still inside the camper, but thanks to the Ahoskie Police, their drone, that has an infrared camera, spotted him attempting to crawl out from underneath a home next door,” Campbell said. “That allowed us to focus our attention there and we were able to get him to come out.”
The standoff lasted about four hours.
Hagos was charged with three counts of assault on a government official, three counts of resisting a public officer and carrying a concealed weapon. He was jailed on a $100,000 bond.
Raleigh, NC here! An illegal alien on the terror watch list has been arrested in Eure, NC! Awet Hagos came from Haiti to California then on to North Carolina! #FJB #BidenBorderBloodbath #SayTheirNames #VoteRed #Trump2024 https://t.co/rProj9F9Wz pic.twitter.com/8Je7ya4Y4d
— Claire Balan (@ClaireBalan) March 19, 2024
North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a Republican candidate for governor, said local police should not have had to deal with a “violent illegal immigrant,” according to the Carolina Journal.
He has sent a letter to President Joe Biden demanding answers.
“This incident raises a number of serious questions that deserve to be addressed urgently,” the letter, reproduced by Fox News, said.
“I called on President Biden to give immediate answers,” Robinson said “How did Hagos enter the United States? How did Hagos get to North Carolina? Did he travel by air, interstate, or rail? Are there other places that he’s been in our state that he’s traveled to or through, and should those areas be on alert?
“The silence from the Biden administration on this situation is not an isolated incident,” he said. “Not even our elected officials in Congress or the Senate have been able to get any answers from him.”
