According to the brief press release, Mexican criminal networks have directed collaborators in the United States to monitor, harass, and even assassinate deployed federal agents. They detail a structured reward system to incentivize violence against federal personnel, with payments increasing based on rank and the action taken: $2,000 for gathering information or disclosing personal data about agents, including photos and family details;
Ben Bergquam, the rightwing internet personality, was with agents, filming and making content as well as getting into altercations with local residents along the way, according to a video the Guardian viewed on X. In the video, he appears to be in the car with Ice agents and nearby as they arrest people; later on he yells at a group of Chicagoans who are gathered to prevent Ice operations that they are the enemy within.