Animal cruelty suspect who allegedly shot 3 DC cops is a foreign national in US illegally: Report

A suspect who allegedly shot and wounded three police officers in Washington, D.C., earlier this month is a foreign national who is in the U.S. illegally, a new report claims.

At 7:30 a.m. on Valentine's Day, several cops with the Criminal Apprehension Unit of the Metropolitan Police Department joined members of the Humane Rescue Alliance to execute an arrest warrant for suspected animal cruelty at a residence in a southeastern neighborhood of our nation's capital. When they arrived, the suspect initially refused to comply with their orders and instead almost immediately fired several bullets in their direction before barricading himself inside his residence, as Blaze News previously reported.

Three cops sustained non-life-threatening gunshot injuries, and a fourth cop suffered an injury that was unrelated to the gunfire. All four have been released from the hospital.

One officer on the scene also fired a service weapon but did not strike the suspect, a statement from Metro Police said. The standoff with police lasted nearly 13 hours before a surrender was successfully negotiated.

The 48-year-old suspect in the case identified himself as Julius James, but investigators later learned that his real name is Stephen Claude Rattigan. He has been charged with assault with intent to kill while armed, assault on a police officer while armed, and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence in connection with the police standoff, as well as misdemeanor cruelty to animals, a press release from the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Now, a new report from Julio Rosas, a field reporter with the Manhattan Institute, indicates that Rattigan is actually a citizen of an unidentified foreign nation and that he exploited D.C. sanctuary laws to remain in the country illegally.

"A law enforcement source has confirmed to me the man who recently shot three DC police officers, Stephen Claude Rattigan, also known as James Claude Julius, is in the US illegally," Rosas tweeted on Monday evening. "He has an active ICE deportation order."

The press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office suggests instead that Rattigan is a capital resident, describing him as "Stephen Claude Rattigan, also known as Julius James, 48, of Washington, D.C." (emphasis added). Neither the attorney's office press release nor the statement from Metro PD makes mention of the suspect's legal status.

However, the press release does allege that authorities "removed 31 dogs" from Rattigan's home, that the "living conditions" in the home were "inhumane," and that Rattigan had been captured on camera striking one animal in the face multiple times. He was denied bond and remains in custody, awaiting a preliminary hearing on February 29.

Rosas reached out to ICE for comment.

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