Cross posted to the MRC's NewsBusters blog
On Tuesday's Fox & Friends, the show gave coverage to the story of how anti-ICE agitators blocked ICE agents from arresting a sexual predator in Boston, leading it to take a month to finally catch him.
Co-host Ainsley Earhardt set up the segment by recalling that Fox reporter Bill Melugin was informed by an ICE agent about the incident that happened in Boston. Reading from Melugin's post on X, co-host Brian Kilmeade filled in viewers:
"Four weeks ago, a frustrated ICE agent in the sanctuary city of Boston contacted me, telling me a group of anti-ICE agitators had just blown their operation to arrest a Salvadorean fugitive who's wanted in his own country on an arrest warrant for," get this, "child rape and had been living near a Boston elementary school."
Kilmeade continued:
"He told me while he and his team were in their vehicles surveilling the target's residence in East Boston, waiting for him to come out, the ICE team was quickly surrounded by activists who blew whistles, cursed at them, and said they were traumatizing children at the nearby school down the street. Their cover was blown. The whole neighborhood was alerted, and the child rapist was not arrested."
Co-host Lawrence Jones then recounted that sometimes illegal aliens are fugitives who are wanted for crimes committed in their home countries:
You got these agents who have these warrants or they're monitoring these people so they can arrest them. They've already been convicted -- many of them in their own home country -- murderers, rapists, you know, sodomizers -- to people all across the world. And so they sit on these targets, but you have all these activists that impede.
He then added: "And, Ainsley, I think they should be charged with obstruction of justice because that's what they're clearly doing."
Earhardt then related that Melugin had been asked to delay publicizing video of the incident until after the fugitive -- Walter Roberto Vides-Ortiz -- was arrested.
After she further noted that he lived near an elementary school, Kilmeade jumped in to recall some of the media bias on the issue:
I'm thinking about the New York Times story with Thomas Friedman -- one of their lead columnists -- talked about the inspiration of Minneapolis -- how it gave him such a sense of civil unrest for a greater cause. That's what Minneapolis got you -- that's what it got you. It got you rapists and killers out and about amongst, and when the people come to get them, you have now weaponized the American citizen -- the Minneapolis citizen to get in their way.
Transcript follows:
Fox & Friends
March 17, 2026
6:12 a.m. Eastern
AINSLEY EARHARDT: So Bill Melugin who -- you know Bill -- he works with us, and he covered the border for all those years. He's now in touch with a lot -- he has a lot of contacts that work at ICE, and he talked about this story out of Boston. This is what he put on X, Brian.
BRIAN KILMEADE: "Four weeks ago, a frustrated ICE agent in the sanctuary city of Boston contacted me, telling me a group of anti-ICE agitators had just blown their operation to arrest a Salvadorean fugitive who's wanted in his own country on an arrest warrant for," get this, "child rape and had been living near a Boston elementary school. He told me while he and his team were in their vehicles surveilling the target's residence in East Boston, waiting for him to come out, the ICE team was quickly surrounded by activists who blew whistles, cursed at them, and said they were traumatizing children at the nearby school down the street. Their cover was blown. The whole neighborhood was alerted, and the child rapist was not arrested."
LAWRENCE JONES: So the guy's name was Walter Roberto Vides-Ortiz. By the way, this is one situation, but this is happening all across the country. You got these agents who have these warrants or they're monitoring these people so they can arrest them. They've already been convicted -- many of them in their own home country -- murderers, rapists, you know, sodomizers -- to people all across the world. And so they sit on these targets, but you have all these activists that impede. And, Ainsley, I think they should be charged with obstruction of justice because that's what they're clearly doing.
EARHARDT: Yeah, so Bill Melugin was notified by an ICE agent on February 12. This was weeks ago. And they said, "Hold the video -- please, Bill, don't tell the public about this story yet because we weren't able to go in and get this guy."
JONES: Yeah, "We still want to catch him."
EARHARDT: "We still need to catch him."
KILMEADE: We got him now.
EARHARDT: And now we have him, and they arrested him, but he did have to sit on the video for four weeks. They finally arrested him. ... They said they got him. He came to our country through Texas in 2016, and wanted for child rape in his home country, and he lives near an elementary school.
KILMEADE: I'm thinking about the New York Times story with Thomas Friedman -- one of their lead columnists -- talked about the inspiration of Minneapolis -- how it gave him such a sense of civil unrest for a greater cause. That's what Minneapolis got you -- that's what it got you. It got you rapists and killers out and about amongst, and when the people come to get them, you have now weaponized the American citizen -- the Minneapolis citizen to get in their way. I didn't see one illegal immigrant or one minority -- very few minorities out and about in Minneapolis. But that's what they learned in Boston -- that's what they learn in New York -- "We're going to stop ICE from doing their jobs."
