Background checker for ICE arrested in prostitution sting, police say

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A background checker for Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been arrested in a prostitution sting, according to authorities.

Police in Bloomington, Minnesota, announced 30 arrests in “Operation Lookin' for Love...In All the Wrong Places.”

Of the 30 suspects, 28 will be charged with gross misdemeanors and two will be charged with felonies because of prior convictions, Bloomington Police Chief Booker T. Hodges said in a press conference Tuesday.

Hodges said the number of arrests is a “record for us in one of these operations.”

During the operation, local authorities talked to more than 330 people trying to buy sex in Bloomington, Hodges said. Among those arrested was 36-year-old Brashad Johnson of Maple Grove.

open image in gallery Police say ICE background checker Brashad Johnson, a 36-year-old from Maple Grove, Minnesota, was arrested in a prostitution sting ( Bloomington Police Department )

“This is the most disturbing arrest that we’ve had here. He is a backgrounder for ICE. Homeland Security and federal agencies,” Hodges said of Johnson. “So when you’re getting your security clearance, this is one of the guys that does your backgrounds, which is kinda scary. We locked him up.”

“For all the ICE agents, Homeland Security agents and people getting security clearance, this is one of the people that does the backgrounds. And you come here trying to purchase sex,” Hodges said of Johnson with a disappointed look on his face.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security denied that Johnson works for ICE.

“This individual is NOT an ICE employee or contractor. He has no affiliation with ICE,” the spokesperson told The Independent. “This is just another smear peddled by sanctuary politicians and the media leading to a 1,300% increase in assaults against our brave ICE law enforcement.”

open image in gallery The Department of Homeland Security, which has carried out a massive immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota, denied that Johnson works for ICE ( Octavio Jones/AFP via Getty Images )

The Department of Homeland Security’s figure on assaults against ICE agents was not verified by The Independent.

Information about Johnson’s legal representation was not immediately clear.

Hodges said his department would’ve arrested more people, but “obviously, with the ‘Operation Metro Surge’ going on, citizens thought that we were potentially ICE and that kinda interfered with our operation.”

“Operation Metro Surge” is the name of the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration enforcement efforts in Minnesota. The White House announced last week that more than 4,000 “dangerous criminal illegal aliens” have been arrested in the state.

The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota has sparked intense backlash, which has, in part, been fueled by the deadly shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis last month.