A Florida Democrat from Jacksonville, Florida has pleaded guilty to charges of assaulting law enforcement officers who were conducting an immigration operation. Cruz could end up spending a maximum of 20 years in federal prison for her crime. As of this writing, a sentencing date has not been set. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe.
According to information contained in court documents, on January 13, 2026, federal immigration officers, who were being assisted by Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), were conducting an operation in Jacksonville centered on locating and arresting illegal aliens. Cruz was in her vehicle, driving and recording on her cellphone as an FHP trooper pulled a car over for violating a traffic law.
Cruz then parked her vehicle near the site of the traffic stop and began yelling at the trooper while she continued to record. Immigration officers present at the scene soon discovered the two individuals in the car that was pulled over were in the country illegally. A trooper then approached Cruz and talked with her about driving while on her phone.
The Florida Democrat soon became belligerent and started arguing with the trooper. The trooper then told Cruz that he didn’t have a problem with her recording and that his concern was her unsafe and unlawful use of a phone while operating her vehicle. This only seemed to throw fuel on the fire for Cruz, as she immediately launched into a tirade of unsolicited and inflammatory statements.
She then asked the trooper if he supported the “Nazis,” which she soon clarified to mean U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), before asking him not to shoot her in the face. The trooper then told Cruz ICE was present in an official capacity and that he wasn’t going to talk about personal or political beliefs, but would address only her traffic violation.
According to a press release from the Justice Department, the trooper then asked Cruz for her driver license. She responded that she didn’t have it, but had a photograph of it on her phone. She then showed the photo to the trooper. He told her to remain in her car while he conducted his investigation. When the trooper checked her records, he found that Cruz’s license was suspended on June 17, 2025.
Due to her license being suspended, the trooper called in a request for a tow truck to impound Cruz’s vehicle since she was not legally authorized to drive it. While waiting for the tow truck, Cruz took off in her car. Several troopers at the scene jumped into action, turning on their emergency lights and attempted to box in Cruz’s vehicle.
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After the vehicle was stopped, the trooper told Cruz the traffic stop had not been concluded and that her vehicle was going to be impounded because her license was suspended. He then ordered her to get out of the car and give him the keys so the vehicle could be released to the towing company. After exiting the vehicle, Cruz instantly became verbally abusive and refused to surrender her keys.
Cruz then told troopers she was “ready to go,” and after being asked what that meant, she said she was ready to fight. When a trooper tried to retrieve her keys, she hit the trooper in the face with a closed fist. Several other officers then converged on Cruz to arrest her for assaulting their colleague. Cruz resisted arrest and tried to punch and kick the other troopers. Eventually, officers carried her to a patrol vehicle, while she was still struggling, and then attempted to kick the trooper she punched.
While trying to place Cruz in the patrol vehicle, she kicked at an ICE officer, a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent, and the trooper who conducted the traffic stop. During the struggle, a trooper was forced to use his taser on Cruz, which failed to subdue her. She was eventually secured in the vehicle, but kept kicking at the window, roof, and the car camera.
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video