An illegal migrant from Ecuador, who in August allegedly stabbed her coworker with scissors and then threw a trash can at her victim, has been arrested, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
DHS is setting the record straight on the couple captured in the misleading video that was recorded during a recent traffic stop, which led to the arrest of Juliana Milena Ojeda-Montoya by federal immigration agents in Fitchburg, Mass. DHS also reported an angry mob of onlookers helped spread false claims and threatened to kill federal agents.
Officers informed Ojeda-Montoya they had a warrant for her arrest. They requested she hand over her child to her husband, Carlos Zapata Rivera, who then reportedly had some medical episode.
“Imagine FAKING a seizure to help a criminal escape justice,” DHS shared on social media. “The target of this operation, Juliana Milena Ojeda-Montoya, is the WORST OF THE WORST.”
Imagine FAKING a seizure to help a criminal escape justice.
The target of this operation, Juliana Milena Ojeda-Montoya, is the WORST OF THE WORST.
In August 2025, local police arrested Ojeda-Montoya, a criminal illegal alien from Ecuador, for assault and battery with a… https://t.co/828OUAfan4
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) November 7, 2025
On Nov. 6, U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement conducted a targeted operation to arrest Ojeda-Montoya, after she allegedly assaulted a coworker over the summer. She is a criminal illegal alien who entered the country under the Biden administration, DHS said in a news release.
“Once again, the media ran with a FALSE narrative about our brave ICE law enforcement officers. As usual, here’s the REAL story: ICE targeted a known criminal who repeatedly stabbed her coworker,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.
An angry crowd started filming and footage is circulating online with false and misleading claims that federal agents struggled with the woman’s husband. Headlines claim he was having a seizure while also holding their toddler.
During the traffic stop, Ojeda-Montoya’s child and husband were in the car. Ojeda-Montoya refused to hand over her child until the moment her husband appears to have a medical issue.
“The child was seated in the lap of the mother in the front seat of the car—recklessly endangering the child,” DHS said. “The child was not in the safety of a car seat.”
ICE called 911 but Zapata Rivera, also an illegal alien from Ecuador, refused any medical care. Emergency medical personnel responded to the scene and found no legitimate medical emergency, DHS said, adding he displayed “absolutely no signs of medical concerns just moments later.”
“He was even caught on video on his feet and coherent moments later,” McLaughlin said.
According to DHS, ICE law enforcement officers made several attempts to diffuse the situation. They asked the father to take custody of the 18-month-old child, but both parents said they were willing to put the child into state custody.
“Once Zapata Rivera realized he would be arrested for immigration violations if he did not agree to take custody of the child, he suddenly decided to be a good father and left with the child,” DHS said.
Per DHS, Ojeda-Montoya illegally entered the United States near Lukeville, Arizona, on Feb, 22, 2023, and was arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol. She was released under the Biden administration in March of the same year.
Ojeda-Montoya was transported to Cumberland County Jail in Scarborough, Maine, and will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.
Zapata Rivera entered the United States illegally on February 22, 2023, and was released by the Biden administration.
Ojeda-Montoya resisted arrest and put the child in the center of the chaos. ICE officers were on the scene for nearly two hours and called Fitchburg police twice for assistance, WCVB Channel 5 Boston reported.
Another video, shared by CNN, ran with the headline: “Video shows man apparently having a seizure during ICE arrest.”
An onlooker can be heard saying, “Oh my god, Oh my god. Is he seizing? I think he’s — is he seizing?”
The Boston Globe also spun the headline: “‘I wasn’t letting go of my wife’: Video shows ICE agents in Fitchburg struggling with man having an apparent seizure, holding toddler in car.”
Zapata Rivera told The Globe and WCVB that he “lost conscious” while clinging to his wife and alleged ICE agents used a stun glove that caused him to have a seizure.
Zapata Rivera told the news outlets they have pending asylum cases and valid work authorizations. He admitted they crossed unlawfully into the United States a few years ago.
Fitchburg’s mayor, Sam Squailia, released a statement criticizing ICE for putting both Fitchburg officers and witnesses in a tough spot. Supporters even held a rally on Saturday in Fitchburg in support of the family, WCVB reported in another article.
An angry crowd of agitators formed with some yelling, “The cruelty, there is a baby in there,” while others shouted obscenities, death threats and antisemitic remarks at officers including:
- “You probably support Israel too…you look like a Jew… I bet you are a f***ing Jew.”
- “I’m going to remember those eyes…I’m going to find you… I’m going to come for you… I know you probably have kids… We’re going to kill you and your kids… I am going to shoot all of you.”
Criminal illegal aliens continue to find more brazen ways to evade ICE, sadly putting the public and children in harm’s way. Two recent reports out of Chicago involved illegal migrants running into a school and a daycare to avoid arrest and create a scene captured on video by bystanders.
In response, DHS is making a weekly video and sharing it to social media to debunk the false headlines and viral videos that omit key facts.
The nonstop lies and smears from the FAKE NEWS are meant to tear down our brave men and women who protect our homeland every day.
Watch as DHS exposes their falsehoods and sets the record straight: pic.twitter.com/hKS6ODMtOe
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) November 10, 2025
“The nonstop lies and smears from the FAKE NEWS are meant to tear down our brave men and women who protect our homeland every day,” DHS posted on X. “Watch as DHS exposes their falsehoods and sets the record straight.”
DHS’ McLaughlin also regularly shares the “other side of the story” on social media, highlighting an incident in California where both Gov. Gavin Newsom and new outlets claim federal agents arrested a U.S. Citizen and drove off with his toddler for no valid reason.
“Leave it to @MSNBC to glorify a man who abandoned his own child in a vehicle to go and attack federal law enforcement, wielding a hammer and throwing rocks at law enforcement,” McLaughlin wrote on X. “When he was arrested for assault they found a pistol in his car that was reported stolen out of the state of New York. He has an active warrant for property damage.”
Leave it to @MSNBC to glorify a man who abandoned his own child in a vehicle to go and attack federal law enforcement, wielding a hammer and throwing rocks at law enforcement.
When he was arrested for assault they found a pistol in his car that was reported stolen out of the… https://t.co/rOK1CmBTVm
— Tricia McLaughlin (@TriciaOhio) November 8, 2025
