Rhode Island judge at center of ICE detainee controversy makes first public appearance

Added: 2026-06-03

[00:00:00]judge who the federal government had to apologize to after the release of an ICE detainee making her first appearance tonight since that controversy started.

[00:00:08]>> admitted that they didn't tell her the man in her courtroom was wanted for murder. The night team's John Perik is live in studio with what she told him.

[00:00:16]John. Emily and Dan, we only spoke for a brief moment this evening as she wouldn't answer any of my questions, but did say she was doing so because of security reasons as her top concern is her safety.

[00:00:30]Rhode Island Judge Melissa DeBose speaking to students this evening at the Gordon School. It's the first time she's appeared publicly since becoming the center of a national controversy.

[00:00:42]Despite the appearance, she wouldn't answer my questions, but she did say her security is top of mind. Late in April, she made national headlines when she ordered the release of ICE detainee Brian Raphael Gomez. The Department of Homeland Security put her on blast in a press release revealing Gomez is wanted for an international murder in the Dominican Republic. DHS calling her an activist Biden judge. But early this month, we learned there was a lot more to the story as the government admitted Judge DeBose didn't have all of the facts. A federal prosecutor is on the record saying he never told the judge about Gomez's international murder warrant because he was under orders not to by ICE who originally took Gomez into custody after he was arrested in Worcester. DeBose in court said she wouldn't have released Gomez if she knew about the murder warrant. The US Attorney's Office apologized. Tonight, we wanted to learn whether the judge feels federal officials are still misrepresenting the case publicly and whether trust has been broken, but she was tight-lipped.

[00:01:51]DeBose's silence tonight comes as she is threatening to hold the federal government in contempt of court. DeBose since has also granted a motion that allows ICE to once again detain Gomez, but it appears they do not have him in custody and no one knows where he is.

[00:02:07]ICE didn't answer our question about it tonight.

[00:02:11]The judge had previously said once Gomez is back in ICE custody, he will need to have a bond hearing. And tonight's event at the Gordon School also featured Federal Judge John J. McConnell, whose rulings have been heavily criticized by Republicans. I'm live at studio, John Perik, NBC 10 News 19.