Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said the underwhelming crowd of support for Kilmar Abrego Garcia that gathered in Nashville while the citizen of El Salvador appeared in court to face federal human smuggling charges signals that the support among the political left for the falsely-branded “Maryland man” has significantly diminished.
Last Friday, Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty in a federal court in Nashville after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) charged him with participating in a criminal conspiracy to smuggle illegal aliens throughout the country for nearly a decade.
While Abrego Garcia appeared at the court appearance remotely from the Putnam County Jail, dozens of protesters gathered outside the Fred D. Thompson Courthouse to show their support for the citizen of El Salvador who was deported earlier this year by the Trump administration.
Noting that the crowd did not exceed 100 participants, despite being advertised by multiple advocacy organizations days prior, Pappert suggested that enthusiasm for Abrego Garcia, once hailed as a “Maryland man” and father by the Left, is waning.
“I think that they’ve realized that this is a losing battle for them,” Pappert said on Monday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
Pappert pointed out how Abrego Garcia continues to be represented by public defenders rather than high-profile attorneys, implying that no major progressive groups have stepped in to support him financially or legally.
“When we first started talking about Abrego Garcia post-arrest, we were thinking he would likely get some very high-end blue chip lawyers that would be financed either from a fundraiser or some dark Democrat group who would be paying the bills. Neither has happened. He instead has public defenders,” Pappert said.
“I think that they’re cutting and running,” he added.
Concerning Abrego Garcia’s court appearance, Pappert noted how the hearing was handled by Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes instead of Chief District Judge Waverly Crenshaw, explaining how he believes the strategy of Abrego Garcia’s defenders was to appear before the lower judge who may be more sympathetic to the case.
“These public defenders are putting their arguments about detention at the very beginning of this process. That way they can get it before Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes, and I think that she is a little bit more likely to be sympathetic to Abrego Garcia,” Pappert explained.
He cited a German-owned Politico article suggesting Holmes expressed doubts about Abrego Garcia’s allegations involving minors, which Pappert said he found surprising given that six witnesses reportedly support the government’s claims.
“Politico had an article out on Friday where they claimed that [Judge Holmes] actually was expressing some doubt that Abrego Garcia involved minors in his alleged crimes, which, to me, is astounding. It seems as though the government has six people that are testifying to this effect, so I have a hunch that these public defenders think that they can get a better bite at the apple from Magistrate Judge Holmes as opposed to Chief District Judge Waverley Crenshaw,” Pappert said.
Pappert pointed out, however, that regardless of the hearing’s outcome, Abrego Garcia is unlikely to be released from custody due to an ICE detainer on his record, explaining how if the judge denies the government’s request for a detention hearing, Abrego Garcia will simply be transferred from the Putnam County Jail to an ICE detention facility.
“What’s going to happen is if Judge Holmes should decide in Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s favor, he will not go back to Maryland. He won’t even go to a hotel in Nashville. He’ll go from the Putnam County Jail, where he’s sitting right now, to an ICE facility…So that will just make it so their client, this wonderful ‘Maryland man,’ gets to ride in a bus, locked in chains as he goes from the ice facility – I believe the closest one is in Kentucky – to Davidson County every time he has to go to trial,” Pappert said.
“Either way, it’s not looking like it’s going to be a fun time for Kilmar Abrego Garcia,” he added.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
