Homeland Security officials confirmed to Fox News that a Virginia principal and his brother are under federal investigation for plotting to attack ICE agents.
Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Wednesday that Kempsville High School assistant principal John Wilson Bennett and his older brother, Mark Booth Bennett, were overheard at a Vietnamese restaurant in Virginia Beach allegedly discussing plans to travel to Nevada and carry out attacks on ICE agents. The brothers reportedly claimed the attacks would be in retaliation for what they described as recent ICE “kidnapping[s]” of civilians during immigration enforcement operations.
“It’s chilling that a human being, much less a child educator, would plot to ambush and kill ICE law enforcement officers—offering such specifics as to getting a high-caliber rifle that would pierce the law enforcements’ bullet proof vests,” McLaughlin said. Fox News Digital first reported the brothers’ arrests several days earlier. “Thanks to Homeland Security Investigations and our partners, these men are behind bars.”
John Bennett has been a faculty member at Kempsville High School, located in inland Virginia Beach, since 2009. School officials told local media he is currently on leave.
According to McLaughlin, the investigation began after an off-duty Norfolk police officer overheard the brothers on Nov. 17 discussing plans to “kill police officers and ICE agents.” Mark Bennett allegedly stated that he planned to meet with like-minded individuals in Las Vegas and intended to purchase firearms with explosive rounds.
Two days later, Mark Bennett was arrested at Norfolk International Airport before boarding a flight to Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, where he was scheduled to connect to Las Vegas. John Bennett was arrested the same day.
McLaughlin said the case reflects what she described as a more than 1,150% increase in assaults against ICE agents and an 8,000-fold rise in death threats as officers carry out immigration enforcement.
“They risk their lives every single day to remove the worst of the worst, including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, terrorists, and gang members. From bounties placed on their heads for their murders, threats to their families, stalking, and doxxing online, our officers are experiencing an unprecedented level of violence and threats against them and their families,” she said.
Mark Bennett’s attorney, Happy O’Brien, disputed the government’s account, telling The Virginian-Pilot that his client had been traveling to Nevada for a Formula One motorsports event with his child.
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These two men are absolutely DESPICABLE!!!! Hoping they will receive the fullest extent of punishment of the charges being brought against them!!!