A knife-wielding illegal immigrant with a criminal past is in custody after allegedly attempting to stab a federal prosecutor in Albany, New York, an incident that has intensified criticism of the state’s immigration policies and renewed calls for deportation enforcement.
The suspect, 40-year-old Saul Morales-Garcia, a citizen of El Salvador who had previously been deported, is accused of confronting U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III outside the Hilton Hotel in downtown Albany on Tuesday evening.
The alleged attack unfolded in public view and ended with Morales-Garcia facing an attempted murder charge.
Authorities say Morales-Garcia began shouting at Sarcone in a foreign language before brandishing a knife and charging toward him.
“I got my eye on him, then I turn back and I’m in front of the Hilton, and I’m just standing there, and I’m looking at him … and he then starts yelling at me in his language that I don’t understand,” Sarcone told the Albany Times Union, per BizPac Review.
“I’m smoking a cigar. I don’t say anything to him … and then he pulls the knife. He’s lunging towards me, and I’m still standing there with the cigar,” he said.
Sarcone, who is the son of a former