A North Carolina man is facing various charges after allegedly kidnapping and raping a woman while posing as an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer who threatened to deport her if she did not comply with his demands.
37-year-old Carl Thomas Bennett reportedly "unlawfully" entered Motel 6 on Appliance Court and began threatening the victim, telling her that he would have her deported if she did not have sex with him, reported WBTV.
He also told the woman that he was a sworn law enforcement officer and flashed fake credentials at her.
Bennett faces multiple charges related to the incident, including kidnapping, second-degree rape and impersonating a law enforcement officer.
He has been denied bond and was appointed a public attorney during his last court appearance, which took place on Jan. 27.
Multiple incidents of people posing as immigration officers have occurred in the state of North Carolina with increased national political tension and evolving stances towards immigration.
Last week, a truck appearing to be affiliated with ICE was parked at the Compare Foods grocery store in a primarily Hispanic neighborhood in Durham. The truck was not really an ICE vehicle, and was allegedly used to scare undocumented immigrants in the area.
The store reported the vehicle to police, but no charges were filed.
"While it is certainly in poor taste, the vehicle's decals do not reference ICE and this case does not meet the elements needed to criminally charge the driver with impersonating a law enforcement officer," Durham police said in a statement.
"Right now we have this perfect storm where people are in a high degree of panic, people are thinking that ICE agents are everywhere," said co-director of Siembra NC, Nikki Marin Baena.
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