Arrest at the National Mall Has Progressives Upset

Earlier this afternoon a local news reporter from NBC 4 in Washington, DC happened to witness a traffic stop that resulted in an arrest not far from the Washington Monument.

News4 was on the Mall to cover another story when we saw law enforcement pull the man over. Officers and agents appeared to make a traffic stop of a man in a blue SUV with an Uber decal. He got out of the car and spoke with law enforcement. After about 12 seconds out the car, he appears to try to escape. Two members of law enforcement quickly take him to the ground and are joined by four others.

“I don’t owe anything! I don’t owe anything!” he repeatedly yells in Spanish. “Please! I’m not a criminal! I work here! I want to be with my family!”…

About 3 minutes after the man stepped out of the SUV, masked agents put him into an unmarked vehicle.

“My family has papers! My family and my children! Please! Please!” he screams as he is loaded into an SUV, with the museum behind him.

Why he tried to run, I can’t imagine. He was surrounded by armed officers and he’s not a small guy. But he gets taken down and then it’s really the panicky tone of his screaming that seems to have upset people. Here’s the video. 

BREAKING: Just saw DC Police + federal agents detain a man on the National Mall. He appeared to try to escape, then was quickly tackled to the ground by several agents + was screaming in Spanish “please, I’m not a criminal, I work here, I want to be with my family” @nbcwashington pic.twitter.com/56IlXEvYbN

— Aimee Cho (@AimeeCho4) August 20, 2025

In just over four hours X says this has nearly a million views. Reporter Aimee Cho also posted the clip on Instagram where it has been liked 13,000 times. Here are some of the comments responding to the video:

• “Yo no debo nada”, “I don’t owe anything.” – A brown man pleading, for his humanity, for his dignity, stating he is not a criminal, is law abiding, works, is a family man. Just wants to be safe with his family. In his home.
• We are literally watching kidnappings.
• This is REALLY sad! The President said that he would deport criminals ONLY! Instead, he’s deporting hard-working people. I get it that they may be in the country illegally, but come on! There should be some sort of compassion for every day people, just trying to make a living.
• If you can watch this and not feel your heart being ripped out of your chest, you’re dead inside.
• He is saying “he doesn’t owe anything he just wants to be with his family. That he just works” incredibly heartbreaking
• all these people wanna do is be productive members of society..
• that guy contributes more to society than all of those cops combined
• Smh I can’t believe you all let MAGA make this what our country is.
• How do these men sleep at night
• I hate this. All of it. When will deliverance from this administration come
• He just wants to go home to his wife and Kids after a hard day of work. Imagine having that snatched from you.

It goes on and on like this. And the responses on X are similar.

People who get off on seeing this kind of thing are evil psychopaths. It’s one thing to be for an orderly immigration system and to support law enforcement. It’s another thing to take pleasure in watching another human being suffer. Sad.

— BapoRothstein (@BapoRothstein) August 20, 2025

These masked thugs make me sick as they terrorize whole communities. This is not what America is supposed to be is it?

— Ṛëṿöḷüẗïöṅäṛÿ Ṁïṅḋ (@DLN7527) August 20, 2025

The cruelty is the point

— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) August 20, 2025

It was turning into the next BLM-style outrage video in real time. And then people got word from ICE who this guy was and why he was wanted.

UPDATE: ICE has sent a statement on this man’s detention, saying his name is David Perez-Teofani and that he was arrested in Fairfax County in 2024 and charged with aggravated sexual battery against a minor under 13 @nbcwashington pic.twitter.com/KOhxoBnXDD

— Aimee Cho (@AimeeCho4) August 20, 2025

Let’s walk through this. He has a final order of removal. That means he’s already had his day in court before an immigration judge and the judge sent him home. But of course, he didn’t leave. He’s crossed the border at least 3 times illegally. He’s been arrested and charged with aggravated sexual battery against a child. That’s horrifying. Others are hearing the same thing from DHS:

NEW: DHS says the man in this video who tried to flee from federal agents in DC before being tackled & screaming that he’s not a criminal is an illegal alien from Mexico who was arrested in January 2024 for aggravated sexual assault of a child under the age of 13. https://t.co/2AU4hTVBD2

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) August 20, 2025

Suddenly he doesn’t seem so sympathetic anymore. Some people quickly deleted their tweets about him.

BREAKING: In a MANIC fit, Jessica Tarlov just DELETED the post where she was defending an illegal alien CHILD ABUSER!

We can’t let her memory hole this!

SHARE THIS FAR AND WIDE, let @JessicaTarlov know that we NEVER FORGET! https://t.co/1vHE9wSMAJ pic.twitter.com/qwAskfvnYn

— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) August 20, 2025

Honestly, this is such a dramatic reversal that it’s almost hard to believe. This guy was absolutely going to be chief victim #1 of the Trump administration and a symbol to resistance Democrats everywhere by tomorrow morning. His name was going to be mentioned in every newspaper. He was going to be Mahmoud Khalil minus the support for Hamas, just an innocent working man hoping to get home to his family.

And now I suspect most Democrats will decide to say nothing more about this. In fact, if the allegations about his arrest are accurate, this guy is making the case for Trump’s DC crackdown and for deporting more illegal aliens all at once. Maybe we’ll hear more about his alleged crimes tomorrow. But I think one way or another he’s going to be a symbol.