Man who smashed New Bedford car window isn’t militia leader

Local News

The man was recorded shattering a car window to detain a Guatemalan man in New Bedford Monday.

Federal immigration officials denied claims that an agent who broke a car window to detain a Guatemalan man in New Bedford is the founder of an anti-government militia movement.

In a video obtained by Boston.com Tuesday, the man can be seen using a large hammer to shatter a Guatemalan couple’s car window to detain Juan Francisco Méndez.

Reports on social media have claimed that the man with the hammer is not an ICE officer but someone named Michael Meyer, also known as Lewis Arthur, the founder of Veterans on Patrol, a far-right anti-government militia organization based in Arizona. The militia has engaged with conspiracy theories like QAnon and pushed anti-immigrant ideas, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Apparently the guy who kidnapped a Guatemalan man in Boston by smashing his car window is Michael Meyer, aka Lewis Arthur. He is a member of a Christian white supremacist nationalist group called Veterans on Patrol (VOP), & is associated w/ the Oath Keepers. https://t.co/NvpQvWagoD

— Jean Jacques Dessalines 🇭🇹🇵🇸🇳🇪🇲🇱🇧🇫🇨🇺 (@JeanJacquesDes7) April 17, 2025

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) denied that the agent seen in the video is Meyer in a statement Thursday.

“The rumors circulating on social media that ICE Boston employed a militia leader from Arizona to make arrests in New England are not only false, but they are also inflammatory and place the safety of federal officers in jeopardy,” an ICE spokesperson told Boston.com. “Our ICE officers are facing a 300% increase in assaults while carrying out enforcement operations.”

ICE said it will not publicly release the name of the officer seen in the video but said he is a federal agent who has worked to “help keep New England communities safe for years.”

ICE did not respond to questions about the reported increase in assaults on ICE officers or confirm whether the two other men seen outside the car in the video were federal agents.

ICE agent smashed car window to detain man with no criminal record, attorney says

Francisco Méndez, 29, and his wife were on their way to the dentist Monday when they were pulled over by federal agents, their attorney, Ondine Galvez Sniffin, told Boston.com.

As the couple sat in their locked car and waited for their lawyer to arrive, one of the officers used a sledgehammer to break a backseat window and gain entry to the vehicle, video of the incident taken by Francisco Méndez’s wife shows. The agents then pulled the couple out of the car, arrested Francisco Méndez, and put him in their vehicle.

The Guatemalan man entered the country in 2021 without legal authorization but began proceedings after his wife and 9-year-old son were granted political asylum last year, according to Galvez Sniffin. However, Galvez Sniffin said that “by virtue of being married, he’s also an asylee.”

Francisco Méndez has no criminal record, according to Galvez Sniffin. Though ICE’s inmate tracker hasn’t been updated with his location yet, Galvez Sniffin said he is being held at Strafford County Corrections in Dover, N.H., with a hearing scheduled for next month.

“The anger, the violence that the agents exerted and my clients, their quiet humility, their respectfulness, and in the face of a very scary situation, they did not lose control. They were asserting their rights, and they were completely disregarded,” Galvez Sniffin said Tuesday. “They were very, very respectful and very humble, and it was for naught because the agents didn’t care.”